A trip aboard the Nautilus Explorer is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Every dive is exceptional with a plethora of magnificent sea animals everywhere. We have been joined by dolphins, many kinds of sharks, including the majestic Hammerheads, and a wide array of fish varieties. Nothing matches this trip for excitement with the dive sites being among the best in the world.
But what made it so wonderful for all of us was the exceptional hospitality showered on us. From the captain to the dive masters, the kitchen staff, and the engineers, everyone was very professional in their work and went out of their way to make the trip special. And the food could beat any 5-start restaurant on land any day!
Now, let us get into the amazing dives that we experienced on this trip.
A Fantastic Start to our Undersea Adventure
We started the day with a mellow checkout dive at Fondeadero. Typically, checkout dives are quite boring without much sea animals to boast of. But ours was exceptional and we straightaway struck gold. We were greeted by several curious manta rays and even surprised by a couple of hammerheads, a rarity when you are on a test dive.
This set the stage for the next three dives at the El Canon, where we were greeted with more manta rays, silky sharks, Galapagos sharks, free swimming morays, many silvertips, a blacktip, and a school of about ten hammerheads. On the surface, we were lucky to see several humpback whales spouting and breaching in nearby.
We the divers could not have hoped for a better start to our diving trip. Straightaway, on our first three dives, we came up close to a wide variety of sea animals that till now had been what we had all dreamt for. The dive masters led a tight operation, and we were well looked after and expertly guided in the water. Epic first day of the trip! Can´t wait to see what the rest of the week has in store for us. Good vibes all around.
Close encounters with Dolphins at Cabo Pearce
Our dream run of diving continued unchanged at Cabo Pearce. But this time it was not close encounters with sharks, mantas, and whales breaching but with dolphins, supposedly the friendliest creatures on earth.
We had barely settled into our dive when a pod of about 8 appeared out of the blue and took us by surprise. They were very curious about who had infiltrated into their domain and came right up to us, watching us very closely. We were really into eye-to-eye contact with them, a scene that will stay etched in our memories for a long time. They swam between all of us and circled us within handshaking distance. We could see their beautiful tight rubbery skin and athletic bodies, a wonderful creation of God and felt so blessed to be down there in their world.
The last dive of the day in Cabo Pearce was surreal too. We faced some strong currents and after a long while, our patience was rewarded when a pod of dolphins floated into view. Our expert and professional dive masters managed to attract their attention and soon they had swum close to us curious to investigate who we were. At one point we were looking at the dolphins in the eye and they were staring right back at us. Can you ever imagine such a scene even in your wildest fantasies. You should definitely try to make it a reality one day!
And that brings us to the end of a perfect and epic day of diving!
