Sometimes you will wonder if whatever is going on around you is real or just an illusion, more so if mother nature is at work. This is what happened on our fourth dive at Roca Partida. It has been the most amazing dive in years, one that I will remember for the rest of my life.
Here is the story of one of the most memorable days of my life.
We were diving off Roca Partida and after three very quiet dives with two different groups of divers, it was finally the fourth dive of the day. There were not many divers going in now as there was a general lack of mega marine life during the previous dives. However, some resilient guests who loved searching meticulously through all the balconies and cracks of the mystical Mexican snowed rock and were fully committed not to taking any chances of missing out on any amazing surprises decided to stay on.
As soon as we were dropped, one of the divers had an ear block and decided to cancel the dive. We tried for a while to make him comfortable but it was not possible and so I decided to escort him to the skiff.
On our way to the skiff, I saw four really big yellowfin tunas swimming through a massive school of creole fish. Moreover, white-tip sharks that had been in their resting areas were now out and looking and silky sharks were wandering around in shallow waters. For some reason, this scene before me did not look normal and I had a feeling that something astonishing was about to happen. I quickly went over to the rest of the divers and asked them to get to shallower waters in the southwestern area of Roca to see all the activity that I just witnessed.
We had barely made it there when suddenly a school of small yellowfin tunas started to rush by in front of us about 40 feet away. We decided to get closer to enjoy the view better when it all started happening, an ethereal experience for all of us. An authentic wall of tunas started crossing before us. It kept on going and by checking our computers, we realized that already 15 minutes had passed and there were heaps of tunas still moving past us. All of us were going crazy with excitement.
Just imagine the scenario. Submerged in the ocean in the middle of nowhere, just us and thousands of lightning-fast tunas – small ones, big ones, moving in regimented military formation as if on their way to duty. After almost 20 minutes of magic, they were all gone, just 9 silky sharks left behind ruing their chances of a missed gourmet dinner!
As for us divers, we were all mesmerized by what was happening before us almost within hand-shaking distance. We had our hands on our heads and were laughing with joy. Each of us was looking at the other hoping that someone would certify that what we were seeing was actually happening and not a hallucination. After a meditation-like safety stop, we emerged from the water shouting with joy and hugging each other.
Just the magic of Roca Partida, just the magic of Revillagigedo, what else?
