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![Sailing aboard the Gallant Lady]()
The Gallant Lady Sails! – Capt. Mike
Read MoreThe Nautilus Gallant Lady is beautiful. Really beautiful. We are so pleased and proud of how she turned out. I feel like a new papa taking loads of baby pic’s!!
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If you need more than just good 'ol manta lovin', we also enjoyed a pod of dolphins swimming with us on our first dive of the trip
Read MoreHappy New Year to all of you Scuba stallions out there! Hope you all rang in the new year with your chosen ones. We have just started our first Socorro Islands trip of 2014, having just wrapped up a great first day of diving at San Benedicto. We departed Cabo San Lucas on the southern tip of Baja California on the night of the 4th and had an absolutely beautiful transit south to San Benedicto with calm seas all the way and enjoying a dolphin escort about halfway down and again as we arrived at the island. We started this morning with a checkout dive at the Canyon. A mild current and 80ft plus of viz made for perfect conditions to dust off the old gear and clear the brain. Most people saw a couple giant mantas and a scattered hammerhead around as well down there so not a bad way to kick off the trip. After our first dive we moved up to the north west side of the island and spent the rest of the day diving the famous manta site the Boiler. Historically in our time diving these islands the Boiler has been the most consistent for…
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Water temperature still hanging at 80 degrees F + at Socorro Island. Vis 100 feet plus!
Read MoreDeparted Cabo San Lucas on Monday just ahead of a major security drill that was to take place with the Port Captain, Navy, and all the major vessels and marina’s in the port. The entire port was going to be shut down. So we untied and post haste and with a timely departure we had a very comfortable trip south to San Benedicto for an arrival about 0945 at the Canyon. That is a pretty normal transit with 24 hours being the norm. Yesterday we did a couple of dives at the canyon and last dive over towards SW Pt. Things were a little slow at all dive sites yesterday. Saw one giant manta both dives at the canyon but only a few sharks. Not as active as we normally see it. This morning however we moved over to the Boiler and as Gordon, the other Captain, likes to call it, we had MANTA LOVING GOING ON!!!. Four Mantas first dive, two the second both in your face close. So all our guests have country wide smiles today at lunch, getting ready to go back for some more this afternoon. Water has been great still hanging in at 27C with…
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Captain’s Log – Roca Partida is kind of like the mega mall supermarket of diving – marine life comes from miles around to check it out!
Read MoreDecember 5 We arrived back to Socorro late last evening after two wonderful days out at Roca Partida. For those who have been to Roca Partida they understand the magic of the location. It’ kinda like the mega mall supermarket, marine life comes from miles around to check it out. Every dive is different even though the area of the dive site is small. Water temps were running a steady 26C although one dive on the second day we had some colder water upwelllings on the SW side that was a good 3 degree cooler. Lots of sharks this trip, with all the tick boxes checked. Hammerhead sharks of course are always a favorite and we had small groups to large schools and when you see them silhouetted against the blue back drop of the water going to the surface, that is priceless. December 6 Today is our last dive day for this trip, then it will be back into Cabo San Lucas. Yesterday we had the opportunity to dive at Roca Oneal a small rockpile/island off the NW corner of Socorro. The prevailing NW winds usually make it a little rough to try and dive this location, but we…
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If you can tear your eyes away from the big fish, you’ll find a vertical wall extending straight down for 200 feet with caves filled with resting white tip reef sharks lined up like sardines
Read MoreRoca Partida as we know it from the surface is a guano covered rock extending about 100 feet into the air and about 200 feet in length, poking up out of the pacific ocean 60 nautical miles from the nearest island of Socorro. In the bigger picture it is the very tip, the last second of a 11,000 foot underwater volcanic mountain. Our great luck that in its formation it managed to break the surface of the ocean, providing us with one of the best big animal dive sites anywhere in the world. We’ve just finished a day of diving here, starting at 0700 and finishing the day just as the sun was setting over the horizon, completing 4 great dives. With a water temp of 26-27C, and visibility around 100 feet, conditions were perfect to enjoy the amazing diversity of pelagic animals that live and feed here. In four dives today we enjoyed at least two giant pacific mantas on multiple dives, schooling hammerheads, galapagos, silky, silver-tip and white-tip sharks, huge yellow-fin tuna hunting the schools of creole fish, schooling cotton mouth jacks, trevally and black jacks, prowling wahoo, and the highlight an adult whale shark circling the rock…
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Today’s crossing to Socorro Island was very gentle with almost glass seas and a very low swell. We spotted turtles on the way, resting on the surface.
Read MoreAlthough each and every trip is different to the Revillagigedo Islands they all start with our departure from the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula which stands as a buttress between the north Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Cortes. Heading generally south we begin our journey to San Benedicto which is the closest island to Cabo San Lucas. For the first two hours we must thread our way through all the small boats and pangas that are fishing or sightseeing near the tip of the Baja. As we clear the last of the boats in sight we are join briefly by a small group of 20-30 spinner dolphins. Today’s crossing is very gentle with almost glassy seas and low swell. We are able to spot the turtles along the way resting at the surface. About mid-way we have the opportunity to slow down to observe a couple of whales as they make a random appearance close off our starboard bow.
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Guest blog – Mind blowing. I’ve never seen anything like it. Hundreds of sharks of every description. The best dive of my life!
Read MoreMind blowing, never seen anything like it; hundreds of sharks from white tips, silvertips, silkies to Galapagos and one hammerhead. Then there were the fish, never seen so many, huge schools of criole, huge black jacks, redtail trigger fish, massive shoals of cottonmouth and some kind of mackerel. The best dive of my life!! – Suzi Another amazing trip on board the NAUTILUS EXPLORER! Five days of Socorro diving proved to be very rewarding. The Silky, Galapagos, Silvertips and even the Hammer heads were at the rendez-vous. What should also be said and repeated is that the whole crew of the Nautilus Explorer is just amazing. They make your trip pleasant, exciting and the food. The very best live aboard crew I have ever had! – Kurt & Manuel San Bendicto Mais um dia incrivel em Socorro, novamente com o presente da ter as mantas voando sobre nos com sua delicadeza indescretivel. A pesar de seus de 6m de envereadura. Um dia penfeito para o fim de mossa viagem! – Ricardo Gloria It was a great pleasure diving with the guests on board the NAUTILUS EXPLORER this trip! After a slow first day the rest of the week proved to…
