Over the years, we have seen that the manta rays at San Benedicto seem to like to interact with scuba divers, coming back and making eye contact and as divemasters we have felt that they will always single us out and make a close pass as if they recognize us. There are three models/freedivers on this trip who have been diving down and swimming with the giant manta rays and one of them has definitely been singled out by two of the mantas that we encountered. Every time she dives down the mantas will turn into her and circle around her and get very close. The other two divers, one male and one female, are getting are far less interest from the mantas. Hmmm…
Read MoreOur 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.
Read MoreThe scuba diving at Roca Partida was red hot today. Not sure what else I can say! The seas were calm. Everyone saw giant manta rays (as advertised, we are quite sure that these are the “friendliest” mantas in the world), loads of sharks and large schools of fish with everything set to the music of humpback whales singing in the distance.
Read MoreThis trip has been one of the lightest on giant mantas that this divemaster can remember. But fortunately (and none too soon!) we had a stellar eleventh hour appearance from three giant, friendly, photogenic mantas at our last dive site, The Boiler, at Isla San Benedicto.
Read MoreAt 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 MoreSilky, Galapagos, and hammerhead sharks made numerous appearances, along with large schools of yellowfin tuna, almaco jacks, trevally, and the innumerable triggerfish and reef animals that we’ve come to expect.
Read MoreOn the second dive, the giant mantas made an appearance! We had relocated to a site called The Canyon, where we had numerous sightings of hammerhead sharks, most notably a very large and curious fellow who made several circles about the same cleaning station.
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