High expectations but nothing at the Boiler.

Location: The Canyon and The Boiler, San Benedicto Island, Socorro, Baja California, Mexico This morning we got up there were dolphins swimming around the Nautilus Explorer and some of us where already in the water snorkeling with the dolphins before the pre-breakfast snack/continental  breakfast at 0700.The first dive was really good.  We had dolphins, hammerhead sharks […]

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Flat calm crossing from Guadalupe Island – smooth as glass

Location: Shark Bay, Guadalupe Island, Baja California, Mexico. Divemaster Sten and Sharkmaster Sam reporting.  Buzz and Mike are both on time off right now.  The crossing at the end of the last trip was mirror smooth with just a very long soft swell.   You could have woken up this morning and believed that you were […]

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Blown Out of Blowhole

Dive #2 was “off-slack” at Pearse Wall. The slipper cucumbers here are normally a huge hit but the very strong current was back-eddying the wrong way on the wall and the divers weren’t able to make it to the “hot” part of the dive site. Dive #3 was at the very aptly named Blowhole. Between 20 knot west winds and very strong currents, it’s easy to see why locals call this narrow little pass “Blowhole.” The site is beautiful with anemones and gersemia rubiformis (soft red coral) but the real feature is hundreds of basket stars including a canyon absolutely loaded with them.

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Hammerhead Sharks, Giant Mantas and Big Waves

We did the Giants Causeway (or Southwest Benedicto for Mike) as the third dive and saw 2 or possibly 4 mantas but they did not seem to want to interact with us. Dive day 2 and we went to the Boiler for the first scuba dive. The dive was spectacular, 100+ feet of visibility, a pod of 6 dolphins and almost no current.

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Giant Manta Rays Dance with Scuba Divers

We anchored so that we could swim to the dive site, and with no current and very little waves, we had an open deck for the day so guests were free to dive whenever they felt like. Between dives, a lot of guests chose to accompany Marco, our chief mate, on a tour of the shoreline to see the arches and pinnacles and whale watch. From the Nautilus we watched a young humpback whale leap multiple times out of the water followed by an adult humpback breaching creating some wonderful photographic opportunities.

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6 Hours in the Water Every Day is Not Enough!!

It has always seemed to us that our best giant manta ray interactions tend to be on the second and third scuba dives. This has been reinforced by our experience here on the Boiler on this trip. Although we have been seeing giant mantas earlier in the day they do not seem to wish to stay around and play until about 11am, at which point they are happy to play with us until around 3:30pm. Luckily, this is also the best time for the photography as the light is at its best.

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Giant Mantas Starring in Ashes and Snow

Our first priority was to remove the fishing net that was caught on the Boiler and had been found on our last trip. The crew of the Solmar V had done a good job of removing a large part of the net which made our job a lot easier. As we were finishing up a pod of dolphin and two mantas showed up. We like to think that they were thanking us for our work. The first day of the photo shoot was auspicious. Two giant mantas chose to interact with us, one kept coming back to the camera and the divers, turning and swimming loops around us as the film team and freedivers got used to the conditions and the interaction.

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