Socorro Islands - April 2015
I knew the Revillagigedo Islands, or Socorro Islands, were renown for "big animal" sightings, but I crossed it off my list long ago since this archipelago is only accessible by boat. Seasickness is my nemesis...and I was not interested in a 26-hour boat ride, each way. That all changed for me this year, as I decided to do 20 New Things this year...including liveaboard diving!
The Rocio Del Mar accommodates 20 divers on their 110-ft vessel. My group consisted of 10 divers. We departed Puerto Los Cabos Marina Friday morning and 26 hours later we anchored at San Benedicto island, the 3rd largest of the Revillagigedo Islands. Diving from the Rocio Del Mar was a new experience - divers boarded inflatable Zodiacs which took us to the dive sites. This became our daily ritual and we got the hang of getting in and out of them, with the help of the amazing crew of the RDM. Our first dive site was Las Cuevitas, where we were immediately greeted by giant mantas! I had seen mantas in Hawaii before, but none of this size and none as curious as these. The boat moved to Socorro Island during the night, where we did 3 dives at Cabo Pearce. Here, the water was clear and teeming with large schools of fish. We were able to "dance" with dolphins, which came in very close to check us out, and a couple of our divers even snorkeled with humpback whales! Our third day of diving was at Roca Partida, the smallest of the islands, and really just a rock pinnacle, 60 miles from Socorro. The water was a little rough this day, making getting in and out of the Zodiacs quite interesting. This was an amazing dive site - a multitude of white tip, gray tip and silky sharks with huge schools of fish. Our fourth day of diving took us back to Socorro, where we dove Roca O'Neal and Punta Tosca dive sites. A few silky sharks followed us around for a while and now I know what it feels like to be sitting in a rubber raft, being circled by sharks. It's a little unnerving to be hanging on the side of a Zodiac and to look into the water only to see a shark heading right at you! We returned to San Benedicto to dive everyone's favorite dive site, El Boiler, a manta ray cleaning station where we dove with many giant manta and dolphins, and even spotted a couple of hammerhead sharks! We had the added treat of watching humpback whales breaching throughout the day. Our last day of diving took us to the other side of San Benedicto where we went out hunting for hammerhead sharks, but only saw a few. Overall, I can say the diving in the Socorro Islands exceeded our expectations. We saw animals that we may never see in such close proximity again!
Now, I must say something about the crew of the Rocio Del Mar. I have never seen such a hardworking and courteous dive crew. The whole crew contributed to every aspect of the trip - from loading the Zodiacs, to serving food in the dining room, to cleaning up around the boat. These guys worked non-stop! Every crew member made it a point to know our names and within a day or two, we felt they were our friends. Our divemasters, Gil, Juan and Mayo, did everything possible to ensure a safe and enjoyable dive experience. The captain and engineer helped get us and our gear into the Zodiacs every day! Our Zodiac drivers, Beto (my brother from another mother) and Julio, were always courteous, patient and helpful. Chef Pancho - wow! The food was amazing. It's a wonder what he is able to do in that little kitchen. Our steward, Joshua, was always so friendly and had our rooms clean every day by the end of our first dive. When I polled each of my divers about this trip, on a scale of 1 to 10, this trip got an overwhelming 10!! Well, there was one rated it a 9.5...but then, someone else rated it a 50!! For all my apprehension about doing a liveaboard dive trip, I thoroughly enjoyed myself. So much so that I booked another trip aboard the Rocio Del Mar for next year.
*Click here to view my video of my Socorro trip!
I knew the Revillagigedo Islands, or Socorro Islands, were renown for "big animal" sightings, but I crossed it off my list long ago since this archipelago is only accessible by boat. Seasickness is my nemesis...and I was not interested in a 26-hour boat ride, each way. That all changed for me this year, as I decided to do 20 New Things this year...including liveaboard diving!
The Rocio Del Mar accommodates 20 divers on their 110-ft vessel. My group consisted of 10 divers. We departed Puerto Los Cabos Marina Friday morning and 26 hours later we anchored at San Benedicto island, the 3rd largest of the Revillagigedo Islands. Diving from the Rocio Del Mar was a new experience - divers boarded inflatable Zodiacs which took us to the dive sites. This became our daily ritual and we got the hang of getting in and out of them, with the help of the amazing crew of the RDM. Our first dive site was Las Cuevitas, where we were immediately greeted by giant mantas! I had seen mantas in Hawaii before, but none of this size and none as curious as these. The boat moved to Socorro Island during the night, where we did 3 dives at Cabo Pearce. Here, the water was clear and teeming with large schools of fish. We were able to "dance" with dolphins, which came in very close to check us out, and a couple of our divers even snorkeled with humpback whales! Our third day of diving was at Roca Partida, the smallest of the islands, and really just a rock pinnacle, 60 miles from Socorro. The water was a little rough this day, making getting in and out of the Zodiacs quite interesting. This was an amazing dive site - a multitude of white tip, gray tip and silky sharks with huge schools of fish. Our fourth day of diving took us back to Socorro, where we dove Roca O'Neal and Punta Tosca dive sites. A few silky sharks followed us around for a while and now I know what it feels like to be sitting in a rubber raft, being circled by sharks. It's a little unnerving to be hanging on the side of a Zodiac and to look into the water only to see a shark heading right at you! We returned to San Benedicto to dive everyone's favorite dive site, El Boiler, a manta ray cleaning station where we dove with many giant manta and dolphins, and even spotted a couple of hammerhead sharks! We had the added treat of watching humpback whales breaching throughout the day. Our last day of diving took us to the other side of San Benedicto where we went out hunting for hammerhead sharks, but only saw a few. Overall, I can say the diving in the Socorro Islands exceeded our expectations. We saw animals that we may never see in such close proximity again!
Now, I must say something about the crew of the Rocio Del Mar. I have never seen such a hardworking and courteous dive crew. The whole crew contributed to every aspect of the trip - from loading the Zodiacs, to serving food in the dining room, to cleaning up around the boat. These guys worked non-stop! Every crew member made it a point to know our names and within a day or two, we felt they were our friends. Our divemasters, Gil, Juan and Mayo, did everything possible to ensure a safe and enjoyable dive experience. The captain and engineer helped get us and our gear into the Zodiacs every day! Our Zodiac drivers, Beto (my brother from another mother) and Julio, were always courteous, patient and helpful. Chef Pancho - wow! The food was amazing. It's a wonder what he is able to do in that little kitchen. Our steward, Joshua, was always so friendly and had our rooms clean every day by the end of our first dive. When I polled each of my divers about this trip, on a scale of 1 to 10, this trip got an overwhelming 10!! Well, there was one rated it a 9.5...but then, someone else rated it a 50!! For all my apprehension about doing a liveaboard dive trip, I thoroughly enjoyed myself. So much so that I booked another trip aboard the Rocio Del Mar for next year.
*Click here to view my video of my Socorro trip!