Socorro Islands is one of the best dive sites in the world and a great favorite of mine too. This time I am back again after 2 years on board the Nautilus Undersea Hunter and the same beautiful vibes have come back to me. It is so wonderful seeing the same jolly faces of the wonderful crew.
The hospitality on board the Undersea Hunter is five-star and we were treated like royalty from the time we came on the boat through the days of diving until the end of the trip. The hostess anticipated our needs and took great care of us. The dive masters engaged us in the dive planning, discussing what we could hope to see at each dive site.
Safety was the most important thing followed by FUN and creature sighting. The captain kept us informed of the plans so we knew what was happening each day. The trip must be experienced to be believed and has been one of the most remarkable liveaboard trips of my life!
Close Encounters with the Mantas and Sharks
Diving at Socorro Islands never has a dull moment and for us, it was no exception either. So far, we have seen many Mantas, hammerheads, Galapagos sharks, silky, silver tips, sea turtles, octopuses, and more. I was also fortunate to be inside a spawn ball of steel pompano. The Mantas were amazing along with the Hammerhead sharks. So many schools of fish to entertain us on every dive! Even when we were anchored at night, we were spellbound at the sight of Silky sharks chasing flying fish just beside the boat.
Today, I felt the full impact of happiness after diving at Cabo Pierce. The site is a part of the Revillagigedo Archipelago, another name for the Socorro Islands. I surely feel lucky and can grasp the privilege of diving at a point that is so generous in our sightings of rich marine life.
The minute we hit the water, we were surrounded by sea creatures that were not only spectacular but for me a part of God’s blessings. Two young Hammerheads came to say hi and only a moment later we saw the whole family, 40 of them, in a scene that was straight out of wildlife documentaries. They stayed with us for a good 10 minutes, circling us before swimming away into the blue.
Next, the same thing happened with a pod of dolphins. One young fellow came to greet us to be followed soon by the whole family, about 15 of them with a school of yellowfin tunas to escort them shallower. It was a moment of pure bliss to have been so close to hammerheads and dolphins. At this moment I realized that my trip was drawing to a close and it was my turn to pay respect one last time to this wonderful dive site and enjoy every bit till the next adventure here that I will soon plan out.
Thank you, Revillagigedo, and thank you Nautilus for the wonderful time I had.
Close Encounter with a Tiger Shark
Sometimes the unexpected happens when you least expect it. And this is what happened to us at the Boiler, an iconic dive site.
Throughout the day, we had a lot of action around the rock. Lots of friendly Mantas put on a very entertaining show for us and all divers had their exclusive and personal Manta moment. The Mantas came to all the divers one by one to check them out. On the second dive, we even saw a Tiger Shark in the distance and some Galapagos Sharks swimming around.
But the icing on the cake was the 3rd dive which was extra special. We were looking in the distance to see what would show up when suddenly, we saw a shark coming straight at us from the blue. When it got nearer, I could see it was a Tiger Shark. I never imagined that it would get so close. The juvenile male came within handshaking distance and passed around a meter in front of us. All the guests surfaced, ecstatic and raving about the experience.
Looking forward to the rest of the trip and what it has in store for us!
