Fabulous day of diving with giant manta rays at San Benedicto Island

By on February 19th, 2007 in Archive, Captain Mike, Socorro

The giant manta rays were too playful and interactive at the Canyon today. Seriously. Our last dive day turned out to be fabulous, and one of the best days of the trip. The big animal diving at Socorro Island and San Benedicto Island can be wildly variable and while the Canyon was very quiet at the start of this trip, it was smoking hot today. A large school of hammerhead sharks (we estimate at least 100 animals) swam past the cleaning station with 20 or so of the sharks very close to our divers. Some of our divers were only half joking when they surfaced and complained that the overfriendly mantas wouldn’t get out of the way and allow the divers to get unobstructed photos of the hammerhead sharks!

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Red hot diving at Roca Partida

By on February 17th, 2007 in Archive, Captain Mike, Socorro

Measuring 91 metres by 45 metres by 34 metres high, the island is actually the lava plug from a volcano that gradually eroded away around it. It is an amazing 11,000 feet deep around the volcano and we gingerly anchor the Nautilus Explorer in 245 feet of water very close to the lava tube. Roca Partida is a “magnet” for mantas, sharks of all kinds, wahoo, tuna, dorado and all other manner of sub-tropical fish.

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Cleaning station for giant manta rays

By on February 12th, 2007 in Archive, Captain Mike, Socorro

I recently noticed that the highest pinnacle at the north end of the ridge sticks up into the current and seems to be somewhat of a “magnet” for giant manta rays – I suspect that it is a cleaning station for mantas. So I dubbed it “manta rock,” and have been encouraging our guests to hang out there as well as the other cleaning station. Everyone has been having very good luck finding giant manta rays there.

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Flat calm crossing

By on February 10th, 2007 in Archive, Captain Mike, Socorro

Had a great run from Roca Partida straight back to Cabo San Lucas. Sometimes it is a rough crossing with 6 – 8ft seas. Most of the time it is pretty nice, with the ship gently pitching up and down and an easy roll from side to side. And sometimes it is flat calm. This crossing was so calm that it was as if we were already tied up to the dock!

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Night dive at Socorro Island

By on February 3rd, 2007 in Archive, Captain Mike, Socorro

Our friends on the Solmar V frequent a site there called the Aquarium. It is nice but not too sharky, which makes it perfect for a night dive. We arrived there at 8 pm and launched our divers shortly afterwards. You can imagine my sigh of relief when they reported back that it was a great night dive with nice visibility and lots of critters including dense nests of Socorro lobsters. Phew!

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Tiger shark 2 feet away at San Benedicto Island.

By on February 2nd, 2007 in Archive, Captain Mike, Socorro

A couple of our guests are here to free dive instead of scuba dive which is always good fun. One of them has been free diving for over 30 years and had the experience of his career today when he came face to face with a tiger shark. He was on the surface resting between dives when a huge tiger shark came right in towards him at The Canyon dive site on San Benedicto Island. He says that the tiger shark was huge and just kept coming in closer and closer until it was only 2 feet away. Yes, 2 feet away!

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What the crossing is like between Cabo San Lucas and San Benedicto Island

By on February 1st, 2007 in Archive, Captain Mike, Socorro

What a beautiful night. We are anchored in the lee of San Benedicto Island, tucked in beside the moonlit volcano. It is spectacular. I often get asked what the open ocean crossing is like between Cabo San Lucas and Socorro Island…

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