Hi Matt,
I just got off the boat two weeks ago from a trip to Socorro on the Solmar V. This was my fourth Socorro trip since the new owners took over the operation over two years ago (so I guess they are not that new anymore). They have made SIGNIFICANT improvements to the boat. You can see the changes
on their website which covers most the details. They have NITROX onboard now, better food, better wine, a computer workstation for guests to use, wide screen TV, tuna tower has been removed, new carpeting throughout, new mattresses on the beds, new hardware in the cabins and heads, etc. There are only a few boats I've been on where I can honestly say that each trip the boat gets better, but the Solmar V is definitely one of them.
This was also my 5th trip to Socorro and as always, I highly recommend it. However, what you see there is very much dependent on chance. These are wild animals in the middle of a big ocean, so there are no guarantees. There were some trips where we had all the action at the Boiler at San Benedicto Island, other times the Canyon was the hot spot. I've had trips to Roca Partida where we saw schools of hammerheads, whitetip sharks, silvertip sharks, mantas, whalesharks, Galapagos sharks, and silky sharks, and others where the water was dead calm and we saw a couple of whitetips. On my recent trip we saw all of the above (except the whalesharks which are not in season), but this doesn't mean that the folks on next week's trip will see the same action. At Socorro Island we got into the water at Cabo Pearce and were greeted by 20-30 dolphins that stayed with us the entire dive, but other than a couple of occasional dolphins in past trips, I've never seen anything like this before.
I do think that I'm seeing more activity now than I did several years ago. I can tell by the photos from years ago that many of the same mantas keep coming back. I've also seem more hammerheads than I had in the past. Definitely more sharks than I've ever seen there before.
The Solmar V is in their 15th year of diving Socorro and has made around 300 trips out there. I really love seeing the same crew each time I get onboard. Rey, Pedro, Luis, Geronimo, Aurelio, Eric, Daniel, and a few relief crew members were on the trip this time. They are all fantastic and will do everything they can to make your trip as good as it can be.
I haven't had time to post my trip photos online yet, but I have a stripped-down slide show on YouTube.com that you might enjoy:
Socorro Island Manta Diving Aboard Solmar V
Other Socorro videos:
January 2007:
Diving with Mantas at Socorro Island from Solmar V
December 2007:
Dreaming of MANTAS & SHARKS at Socorro Islands on SolmarV
January 2007:
Diving with Hammerheads & Mantas at Socorro Aboard Solmar V
Have a great trip!
Bonnie
