We went on the Solmar V to the Socorro Islands from December 1 to 10. The trip had an extra day from their usual 8 nights which which well appreciated. I went on the same boat 8 years ago. Many have submitted trip reports on this trip so I'll try to be helpful and not too boring. You needed a negative antigen test 5 days before boarding. We did the at-home with an on-line monitor test, Biovac. Your temperature is taken as you board and that's about the extent of it.
This is the first Liveaboards (my 8th total) that was not part of a LDS group trip where we always had half or all of the boat. It was just me and the owner of the dive shop I teach at. I even left my dive buddy for the last 29 years (wife) at home. There was a group of four and one of three three but everyone else traveled solo. Switzerland, Spain. Lithuania, Ireland, England and the US represented. A great group.
The boat is cozy...meaning small cabins but it worked for me. A full bed on the bottom and single bed on the top of the bunk bed structure. Do not overpack. Very little storage space in the room. They take your big bag and you have to hope to fit your carry-on in the room. They would store it if you wanted to. I had a foldable backpack so so issue.
The dive deck is well laid out and I never felt crowed. Plenty of room on the camera table. There were 6 big camera set-ups and then smaller, point and shoot set ups and it fit. Dining area has four booths that comfortably sit 4 and 4 high tops for 2. We usually squeezed 5 in our booth just based on who hung out with who.
Food was amazing. I remember from 8 years ago how good the lunch soups were. Chef Tony is still there and the soups and all foods were wonderful. It's staff served food, not buffet. You can ask for something else or an adjustment if you don't like the entree. I actually had a PB&J one day for lunch because I thought the chicken fettuccine was a bit heavy for lunch.
Crew was amazingly efficient and helpful. We had Danny as our DM who I also had 8 years ago. His ability to lead us to see what he hoped we'd see was quite impressive. Our group told him we'd be OK spending some part of some dives just going out in the blue and seeing what happens. We were rewarded more often than not. He was a great DM/guide. When we wanted to explore on our own, he was fine with that. He advised us where the stronger current was and asked us not to get swept away. Nobody went to far and, in our group, we were all comfortable surfacing on our own.
He was genuinely excited before every dive and we all fed off that excitement.
Diving: This trip had much more big sea life encounters than 8 years ago. On our very first dive the morning after our afternoon checkout dive, we interacted with dolphins (I got to pet 3 who just stopped in front of me), mantas and large numbers of Silver tips and Galapagos sharks. We did 22 dives over the trip and only a few were "quiet". Roca Partida which can be hopping was pretty quiet, but did have large schools of fish to see against the huge wall of the island. We only spent one day there. On one dive at the dive site, El Boiler, we had 10 mantas with us the whole dive, including 3 circling us during our safety stop. Danny found three large (50 or so) schools of hammerheads and I got fairly close to a small school. Not Cocos Island close, but pretty darn close. One of my favorite dives was letting the group go down to 100 or so to watch a hammerhead school, while I stayed at 60 and had my own time with a manta which circled three times so I could be under, over and to the side. I felt like it was mine.
This trip exceeded even my highest expectations. Sometimes, things hit on all cylinders. On the return, easy antigen testing at the Cabo San Lucas airport.
One big issue. On the website, it states that you need at least 50 dives worth of experience. This is mostly blue water diving with some currents, though this trip had less than 8 years ago. We had one diver with only three dives beyond his training dives and no ocean diving experience. As you could expect, things did not go well including a serious incident that required oxygen treatment. When booking his spot, he told the Pacific Fleet's staff (new owners of the Solmar V) what his experience was and they said that was fine for the trip. I have written to the Pacific Fleet in my trip comments and used words that were bit stronger and requested that they please enforce their own standards.
What I learned about the Socorro Islands from this trip is just how amazing it can be. One of our boatmates has been on the boat 11 times and said a few of our dives were his best ever on those sites. We all know it's the ocean and anything can happen, but this was a real treat. I highly recommend the destination, the boat (remember it is cozy and not new) and very much the crew. I can only hope the owners clean up their act a bit and stop taking money from divers who don't meet even the boat's minimum standards.
A few pics to show I was actually there.
Rob
This is the first Liveaboards (my 8th total) that was not part of a LDS group trip where we always had half or all of the boat. It was just me and the owner of the dive shop I teach at. I even left my dive buddy for the last 29 years (wife) at home. There was a group of four and one of three three but everyone else traveled solo. Switzerland, Spain. Lithuania, Ireland, England and the US represented. A great group.
The boat is cozy...meaning small cabins but it worked for me. A full bed on the bottom and single bed on the top of the bunk bed structure. Do not overpack. Very little storage space in the room. They take your big bag and you have to hope to fit your carry-on in the room. They would store it if you wanted to. I had a foldable backpack so so issue.
The dive deck is well laid out and I never felt crowed. Plenty of room on the camera table. There were 6 big camera set-ups and then smaller, point and shoot set ups and it fit. Dining area has four booths that comfortably sit 4 and 4 high tops for 2. We usually squeezed 5 in our booth just based on who hung out with who.
Food was amazing. I remember from 8 years ago how good the lunch soups were. Chef Tony is still there and the soups and all foods were wonderful. It's staff served food, not buffet. You can ask for something else or an adjustment if you don't like the entree. I actually had a PB&J one day for lunch because I thought the chicken fettuccine was a bit heavy for lunch.
Crew was amazingly efficient and helpful. We had Danny as our DM who I also had 8 years ago. His ability to lead us to see what he hoped we'd see was quite impressive. Our group told him we'd be OK spending some part of some dives just going out in the blue and seeing what happens. We were rewarded more often than not. He was a great DM/guide. When we wanted to explore on our own, he was fine with that. He advised us where the stronger current was and asked us not to get swept away. Nobody went to far and, in our group, we were all comfortable surfacing on our own.
He was genuinely excited before every dive and we all fed off that excitement.
Diving: This trip had much more big sea life encounters than 8 years ago. On our very first dive the morning after our afternoon checkout dive, we interacted with dolphins (I got to pet 3 who just stopped in front of me), mantas and large numbers of Silver tips and Galapagos sharks. We did 22 dives over the trip and only a few were "quiet". Roca Partida which can be hopping was pretty quiet, but did have large schools of fish to see against the huge wall of the island. We only spent one day there. On one dive at the dive site, El Boiler, we had 10 mantas with us the whole dive, including 3 circling us during our safety stop. Danny found three large (50 or so) schools of hammerheads and I got fairly close to a small school. Not Cocos Island close, but pretty darn close. One of my favorite dives was letting the group go down to 100 or so to watch a hammerhead school, while I stayed at 60 and had my own time with a manta which circled three times so I could be under, over and to the side. I felt like it was mine.
This trip exceeded even my highest expectations. Sometimes, things hit on all cylinders. On the return, easy antigen testing at the Cabo San Lucas airport.
One big issue. On the website, it states that you need at least 50 dives worth of experience. This is mostly blue water diving with some currents, though this trip had less than 8 years ago. We had one diver with only three dives beyond his training dives and no ocean diving experience. As you could expect, things did not go well including a serious incident that required oxygen treatment. When booking his spot, he told the Pacific Fleet's staff (new owners of the Solmar V) what his experience was and they said that was fine for the trip. I have written to the Pacific Fleet in my trip comments and used words that were bit stronger and requested that they please enforce their own standards.
What I learned about the Socorro Islands from this trip is just how amazing it can be. One of our boatmates has been on the boat 11 times and said a few of our dives were his best ever on those sites. We all know it's the ocean and anything can happen, but this was a real treat. I highly recommend the destination, the boat (remember it is cozy and not new) and very much the crew. I can only hope the owners clean up their act a bit and stop taking money from divers who don't meet even the boat's minimum standards.
A few pics to show I was actually there.
Rob