When I started working in the Cabo San Lucas bay was the first time I heard about the Revillagigedo Islands. At the time it seemed like a far away dream, full of magical encounters I could only dream of. I hoped one day I’d be able to hop on a liveaboard and experience it myself. Little did I know, about a year and a half later I’d booked my trip and was sailing away to the archipelago with my camera in tow.
At first, the trip was meant to be an opportunity to capture some of the best images of my career, but a day before we boarded my life changed dramatically and it turned into the perfect opportunity to disconnect from the world, grieve and heal my soul in the company of the ocean and its animals. Simply jumping into our check dive you already feel in a different world cruising above the lava flows and dark sand. The landscape is absolutely surreal.
El Boiler, our first official stop, welcomed us with magic. As soon as we started our descent, we could spot two oceanic mantas circling another group of divers, and it wasn’t long before they came to greet us. You don’t fully understand the scale of a manta until you are swimming on your back, your arms spread out as long as they can go, and they are still not wide enough. I was stunned by the amount of sharks around, both during our dives and at night when we anchored and they circled the boat.
This place is a haven for nature. I have been diving a long time but this place has made me feel so incredibly small, humbled and grateful just to be able to experience these moments underwater and feel embraced by the life that inhabits the ocean around.
Guest Fernanda Cortina
