Last Diving Day of Our 2007/2008 Socorro Revillagigedos Season

Over the two days all of our divers were able to have closer and more intimate interactions with a couple of giant manta rays than anyone imagined. Some divers saw a small school of 10 hammerheads and one lucky group of divers had terrific interaction with a dolphin who played for 5 minutes before taking off rapidly and leaping out of the water. The silvertip and Galapagos sharks were off the northeast end of the rock circling in and out of view. One of the Galapagos sharks looked like it is recovering from a nasty spear wound to the head. He has a large lump with a hole on the top right side of his head and a hole/scar on the bottom left side by his gills. The good news is that we saw him last trip as well and he seems to be recovering nicely.

Read More

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.

Read More

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.

Read More

Roca Partida – Oceanic Oasis Under a Full Moon

We saw Silvertip sharks, Galapagos sharks, Silky sharks, Hammerheads and White Tipped Reef sharks. There was a school of jacks at between 60 and 80 feet that stayed off the north point for both the days that we were there. The night of the full moon coincided with our night at Roca Partida which always makes for a spectacular evening on the “moon deck,” especially when combined with the flat seas that we were experiencing. A good omen for the rest of the trip.

Read More

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.

Read More

Humpback Whale and Calf Sharing a Safety Stop with Scuba Divers

The visibility and surface conditions were excellent today, and the sharks were very cooperative, with multiple sightings of silvertip, silky, Galapagos, hammerhead, and of course whitetip reef sharks. And at the end of the second dive, a very lucky group of 5 scuba divers saw a female humpback with a calf swim by at their safety stop! This is an extremely lucky experience, and I think I can speak for the group who saw this when I say that it made their trip and won’t be soon forgotten.

Read More

Bid Farewell by a Large School of Hammerhead Sharks and Giant Mantas

At the end of the day, just before coming up from the last dive for fresh baked cookies and champagne mimosas, some of our divers were bid farewell by a large school of hammerhead sharks! Once again, the creatures of Revillagigedos had organized a really nice sendoff for us, practically begging us to return to say hi to them one more time.

Read More