Question Best month for Socorro 2023/2024

[ooobarracuda]

Hi all, I'm very much looking forward to my first liveaboard EVER!!!!! I'm planning on heading to Socorro for all the big stuff but curious which month is best. My options are May 2023, November 2023, or January/February 2024.

Some considerations:
• I know there might not be as many as in Cocos/Galapagos but looking for some big schools of hammerhead sharks
• I know seeing a humpback whale is very rare but I have read a few accounts on the Solmar V dive reports and on a few forums that people have been seeing (or at least hearing them) early in the year
• I have snorkeled with whale sharks before but would be VERY grateful to dive with them underwater

I know many things have changed in the last few years due to climate change and differing amounts of vessels in water but which is the best month to see THE BIG STUFF and LOTS OF 'EM?

Thank you kindly!

 

[bethie]

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[mcohen1021]

Whatever you do, stay away from the Cantamar boat, formerly known as the socorro aggressor

 

[AdivingBel]

I like November 'cause the water is warmer...see plenty of big stuff. Not sure it's the best 1st liveaboard situation, but have your s*&t together, be a "no drama" diver, have fun, and enjoy the view.

 

[ooobarracuda]

I like November 'cause the water is warmer...see plenty of big stuff. Not sure it's the best 1st liveaboard situation, but have your s*&t together, be a "no drama" diver, have fun, and enjoy the view.

Did you mean because of the cold and currents re: not the best 1st liveaboard? Thanks!

 

[AdivingBel]

Did you mean because of the cold and currents re: not the best 1st liveaboard? Thanks!

It’s a relatively long, deep water crossing in variable conditions so you may need your sea legs. It’s pretty stark & remote once you’re there so again you’ll want to be pretty comfortable on the water. The diving is straightforward, can be a bit deepish with some current. You don’t need special skills, just competent, confident OW (I do recommend nitrox). You’ll probably be diving with photogs and other experienced divers. I don’t mean to sound discouraging…just not a fluffy, pretty reef liveaboard many go for on their first, but the wildlife is outstanding and you will be immersed in it. If your skills are solid and you feel up for it, go for it. You won’t regret it. Have fun. All IMHO, YMMV.

 

[scubadada]

Hi @ooobarracuda

Welcome to SB, I see you joined very recently.

Your profile is slim, how long have you been diving, how many dives, where have you dived, have you dived any place similar to the Revillagigedos?

The Revillagigedos is not the most difficult diving, but it is also not the easiest. Personally, I think a diver should have somewhere in the intermediate level of diving experience and skills to maximally enjoy the dives at San Benedicto, Socorro, and Roca Partida. This is the description of the dive conditions from my trip report on the Nautilus Explorer in May of 2019:

Dives were from a back roll off the RHIB with a prompt descent. Some of the large cameras were handed down. We made our dives as a loose group and ascended together for boarding. I did not dive with a buddy. One removed weights, BC and then, fins, before climbing the ladder. The water temperature varied from 72-74 degrees, mostly 73. I dived a full 7 mm wetsuit and a 5/3 mm hooded vest. I was very comfortable on all the dives. Some divers had less exposure protection and ended up very cold at times. Visibility was between about 40-100 feet, mostly something like 60-80 feet. My maximum depths were an average of 93 feet (67-108 feet) with average depth of 59 feet (46-68 feet). There was significant current and/or surge on some of the dives. Due to the route, there was some diving against the current at times. Dive times averaged 51 minutes (40-59 minutes). Surface intervals during daily repetitive dives averaged 2 hours (1:09-2:36).

To safely and easily execute all dives using an AL80, I would recommend having gas consumption that is a little bit better than average, a RMV somewhere in the mid 0.4s cu ft/min. I believe most, if not all, boats offer a 100 cu ft cylinder as an option.

 

[Manuel Sam]

Given your dates of Jan/Feb vs. May vs. November:

1. Schooling Hammerheads do not have a specific season. The largest schools I have seen have been on a January 2006 trip (~80), a November 2011 trip (~60) and a December 2021 trip (maybe 100). On other trips, if schools were seen, they were typically 10-30. None of them were the size of the Cocos, Malpelo or Galapagos schools, as you well observed.

2. Humpbacks - as you also well observed, very unusual to see them in the water. I've never seen them in Socorro waters in three winter month trips there. On the water, from the boat? Yes. Hearing them, yes. If humpbacks were your sole criteria, you can pretty much discard May and November as your dates. Also, be advised that swimming with baleen whales in Mexico is illegal, altho I doubt that it is strictly enforced. On the other hand, if you just happen to be in the water when the whale decides to change course and come straight at you, then that's fine. As an aside, if you are really bent on seeing Humpbacks in the water, do a liveaboard to the Silver Banks in the Winter months or go to French Polynesia in the early Fall.

3. Whalesharks - As was aptly put by someone in another thread, the whalesharks probably do not know how to read a calendar because they have been seen in Fall, Winter and Spring months. November trips have produced the most encounters for me, altho I did see one on an April trip. And if you go in November and do not see one, take a day trip afterwards to La Paz where there is a decent chance to see one while snorkeling in La Paz Bay, altho the water viz there isn't good.

I've done Socorro in November, December, January, February, April and May. My best trips have been November/December. My two April trips - one good, one so-so. My one May trip was a dud. Can one draw "Best Month" conclusions from this? Probably not - I like November the most because the water is at its warmest.

Bottom line: pray for luck and go more than once to improve your odds.

 

[Hoag]

You ask what the best time to go is. To a large degree, that depends on what you are looking for. Here is a screen shot from the Solmar V website that shows month by month what you are likely to see and what the temps are. Keep in mind that this is no more than a guide. It is an ocean, not and aquarium and you might see something not listed or something which is listed may not come around.

It is almost all "blue abyss" diving, in which the bottom is nowhere close. You will need to have pretty good buoyancy. As a minimum, you should be able to hold your depth with no visual reference.

Also, something to keep in mind is that since you are roughly 24 hours transit back to shore, depending on the boat, the crew might check the max depth on your computer when you get back on board and if you have exceeded a certain depth (on my trip it was 100 feet), you get to sit out for the next 24 hrs. If anyone on board "gets bent", everyone loses two days of diving so they can be pretty strict about depth.

Hope this answers a couple questions.