If you want to move on from seeing marine life at its best in wildlife movies to experiencing them firsthand, I would strongly recommend a diving adventure on the Nautilus Liveboards. Go around Socorro Islands, Roca Partida, Cabo Pierce, and El Canyon, and be up close with the best that Mother Nature has to offer below the vast Pacific Ocean. These places are among the finest diving sites on our planet.
But let me get down to all the details of my trip that I know will thrill you no end.
Amazing Marine Life at Socorro – San Benedicto, Roca Partida
Oh San Benedicto, how much magic you hold! We started our dive seeing nothing but milky white waters and then were surprised by a whole pod of false killer whales emerging out of the blue, singing to us from far or near. Then at the end of our dive, they appeared, mothers and babies, coming right up to us to say hello! As if that was not enough, a giant Manta appeared, swooping, swirling, and floating around us with infinite grace and beauty.
The next day at Roca Partida was very special for me as I fell in love with a baby whale shark and named her Ily for I Love You. I encountered a mother whale shark with an enormous baby girl in tow. The baby swam to me as if she wanted to kiss me or eat me and for a moment, I was not sure which. Swimming with Ily in Roca Partida was not on the list. It was a truly magical moment of discovering Mother Nature.
Apart from Ily, I came up against a wall of white-tip reef sharks swimming with great intent and purpose as well as schools of jacks, trevally, and a 100-pound tuna all coming to the wall looking for a snack.
The third day of our trip to the Socorro Islands was spectacular. There were so many green sea turtles swimming my way and having fun with us divers. The Cornet fish looked like tiny Chinese Dragons and there were yellow trumpet fish too! Giant spiny lobsters and an eel poked its head out to say hello! As night fell on our boat, the sky was bedazzled with stars and we ended the night with the silky sharks lit up by our dive lights. Thank you, Socorro, for an experience that will forever be etched in my mind.
The Show Goes on at Cabo Pierce and El Canyon
Diving at Cabo Pierce and El Canyon and being eye-to-eye with nature’s bounty is what dreams are made of.
At Cabo Pierce, we came up against Manta’s circling up from the deep, swooping in massive circles as though they are there for us to see. Turtles following divers, octopuses having a nice Pufferfish snack, and White tip reef sharks piled up in their den, on top of each other like puppies all cuddled in are some of the sights that I will never forget. Then out of the blue flies a Tiger Shark, a rainbow of beauty, all smiles, stripes, and so majestic and incredible to see.
Finally, who can forget the dolphins at Cabo Pierce? They came up from the deep into a circle of Mantas, through our group just to check us out, then diving down much farther and fast than we could ever go. A great game to play where we do not mind being the loser.
What can I say about our dives at the El Canyon? As soon as we had strapped on the dive clothes and jumped into the milky blue waters, we saw a shadow moving in from the deep. It was a group of Hammerheads, Galapagos, Silver Tip, and Silkies coming to greet us. The sharks moved in and out of their cleaning stations with the cleaned fish ready to go on.
On our last dive in Socorro, all the fish come out to say farewell! The best was a Manta that came right up to me as if to say goodbye. Our eyes locked, it did circles around me and then presented me with its back as if saying “Climb on and let us go fly”.
Thank you, magical creatures, for being so connecting and kind. I will be back someday and see which of you I can find.
