Diving in the Sea of Cortez is an incredible feeling. In his post, some of our guests share their fascinating experiences of being with the Hammerheads and the sea lions.
Guest Dennis
We rolled off the Zodiac to start our dive and were immediately surrounded by Sea Lions. They were incredibly curious and amazing to observe up close. They followed as we slowly swam out into the blue. I was laughing at their attempts to keep our attention. Then, as suddenly as they had appeared, they were gone. I decided that they had enough of our company.
That’s when I saw the Hammer Head. It was easily 3 to 4 meters and swimming directly towards us. As he approached, I realized he was not alone. Behind him, in the distance, were dozens. He came close and decided we were no threat. He rejoined the group. They started to circle our dive group. What a rush! Most were young and curious, but the big ones kept them in check.
I have been diving for forty years and I have never seen the abundance of sea life that exists here. Thank you, Nautilus!
Guest Travis Gilliland
22 Aug ‘23 – Today on our morning dive at Las Animas, we encountered a huge school of hammerheads, 50, 100, who knows how many. But it was incredible and I’m so happy I got to see it.
Guest Lori
This was an incredible dive. So many hammerheads! They were everywhere.
Guest Hammerhead Virginia
We had never been on a liveaboard–we were so close in the Maldives but caught Covid at the last minute and couldn´t get on the boat. Since we live in SF and the flight is easy, we decided to take this five-day trip on the Sea of Cortez to try out our maiden voyage. We had heard different reports on what we were likely to see, but it sounded like the sea lions were a sure thing and we had never dived with them, so off we went.
Well, the second day was delivered. Not too long into our first dive, we spotted a couple of hammerheads down below, and then a third. Not long afterward, there was another at our depth, and then another, and another, and then a dozen, and then a couple dozen, and then a few dozen.
We had seen a few one time in Maui but they were far and it was murky–more of a check-the-box sighting rather than a true experience. Also saw a giant one in Rangiora, French Polynesia, but really far away. This was different. We saw them clearly, and not too far. And we kept seeing them for quite a while. They are weird creatures. Definitely the real deal.
P.S. The next dive we had was the best safety stop ever with seals dive-bombing us, nuzzling up to some of us and practically making out with this guy Dennis in our group. Can´t wait to see what´s next.
