Boat recommendation for shark cage diving in Guadalupe?

[DanielM]

I did the trip a few years ago on the SolmarV was very happy.. Capt. an Crew did a excellent job.. an the Cook.. omg more like a Chef still think about coming out of the cage after almost two hours.. an getting handed a cup of tortilla soup omg so good.

Thanks for sharing your positive experience! Were you in a single cabin by any chance and have comments on that? So far "tiny cabins" seems to be the only critical feedback of Solmar V (plus there seems to be love for the Belle Amie, but not in comparative way to the Solmar V). If Solmar V could have done one thing differently for you what would that be?

 

[DanielM]

You can usually book as a single sharing room if you dont want to pay more for a single berth.
Belle Amie is a great boat for Guadeloupe, for Soccoro I went with Solmar V since there are fewer divers on the boat hence fewer divers in the water.

Good insight! Curious, what is the reason you wouldn't pick the Solmar V for Guadalupe (other than the cabin size)? From everything I read, there isn't much between choosing either boat, except Solmar V has tiny cabins, so I wonder if there is anything else…

 

[DanielM]

Several Years ago, I did that trip on the SolmarV.

Awesome, a first-hand report!

The common areas of the boat were gorgeous; mahogany with brass & frosted glass trim. The cabins, however were TINY. There is not enough room for 2 people to stand up at the same time. The only storage space was in "cubbie holes" along your bunk. The Head was located in the shower so that when you had a shower, you had to straddle the head.

It sounds like this was the biggest drawback for you. If you did it without a roommate, would you still mind the size of the room so much?

It was a good trip, and I was there for the sharks not the boat, but if I was to do it again, I would probably book on a different boat.

Thank you for sharing your perspective! Curious if you would re-consider the Solmar V now that they have the SPOC option (albeit at $675 per 45-minute immersion)? Self Propelled Ocean Cage (SPOC) – Solmar

 

[JulieM]

We went the end of August and had a 15 ft and always at least 6 sharks in the water. They offered a last minute BOGO which was too good to pass up. On the Belle Amie we were scheduled a few times each day for 45 minutes with three total divers in each submersible. After noon because the water is very cold, there was almost always room in the submersible if you wanted to go. Also, the surface cages were always available.

 

[dirtfarmer]

Nice! See my response on another branch of this thread, the cage situation seems to be the same across boats when you factor in the number of passengers and the 3-dive limit on using the submersible cage.

What month would you go if you did it again? They say you see fewer but larger sharks later in the season. My thinking is that when looking back I'll only remember my one or two best moments in the cage, so those 1-2 memories might as well be of the largest shark possible . Sadly I could only find a spot for Sep 27th, hopefully that is not too early…

There are different ratios among the boats of divers to cage capacity. On the Belle Amie you have to be certified to dive the submersibles, and you are scheduled for at least 3 dives a day in the submersibles. If there is an open spot on the submersibles you can sign up for that spot.. Surface cages are also scheduled and again if there is an open spot you can jump in anytime.
I went in November for the big females. Word is that there are fewer females compared to males and males are less elusive and more aggresive.
From my research the time frame that books up first are eearly to mid October for what is both Male and female season and then late Octobermid-November for big females. When I go again I want to go early to mid October for hopefully a mix of sexes.

 

[dirtfarmer]

Good insight! Curious, what is the reason you wouldn't pick the Solmar V for Guadalupe (other than the cabin size)? From everything I read, there isn't much between choosing either boat, except Solmar V has tiny cabins, so I wonder if there is anything else…

I didn't mind the cabin size of the Solmar V and I'm tall. I took my showers on deck instead of in the cabin head.
There is a slightly better ratio of divers to cages on the Belle Amie, that is why I prefer her over the Solmar V for Guadeloupe. The food was better on the Solmar V, the crew awesome, and my guide top notch on the Solmar V in Soccoro. Solmar V has free beer , wine and booze, but Belle Amie has a large beer and wine and booze selection. Belle Amie has wifi, Solmar V doesnt ( leading to more interaction between divers) Belle Amie is huge and broad making her a very good choice for those prone to sea sickness. Solmar V does sit pretty low in the water though helping in rough seas.

Both excellent boats and operations that have small differences, as I said originally I choose Solmar V over The Belle for Soccoro as I wanted the smaller amount of divers in the water ( who wants to have a bunch of divers in your picture of a majestic oceanic Manta? ).

 

[HalcyonDaze]

I did Solmar V two years ago through my local dive shop; we got a 10% break on price so I snapped it up.

• That was before they had the self-propelled ocean cage, so I can't comment there. I definitely would like to go back for that experience, and also to go a bit later (I did an early October trip) in hopes of getting some heavyweights.
• They had two surface cages that fit up to four people at a time, plus the submersible cage which was limited to two at a time (plus a crewmember). The submersible cage requires a SCUBA cert; the surface cages do not.
• The 60-minute rotations for the surface cages are the standard, but as the trip goes on people tend to sit out. If that happens you're allowed to stay in until someone is in line for your spot; we had some diehards who were in for a few hours at a stretch. I felt like I got in as much time as I wanted. This also means that as the trip goes on you're more likely to have more elbow room in the surface cages.
• The view from the top deck aft means you don't really miss out on your surface interval; you can look straight down while sipping your margarita and watch the action.
• Regs were washed out between uses (I forget with what exactly, but it was good enough that I didn't feel icky about taking one they'd cleaned out after someone had upchucked through it).
• I definitely felt like they covered the whole "keeping us fed" bit pretty well; meals were excellent.
• Crew was great. "Crazy Luis" has a definite fan following. I think, although I'm not 100% certain, that at the time at least Solmar V was the only Mexican-flagged boat going to Guadalupe Island, so it was more of a local feel.
• I had the v-berth up forward, so my cabinmate and I had more elbow room than most at the expense of taking the worst of the wave action. Seas were building as we left, so it was a rocky, noisy night on the way home.
• Emergency evac - going to cover this since it's a concern on liveaboards after the Conception and RSA I. Crew ran us through a lifejacket and muster drill after we boarded. As far as I'm aware there are not any additional exits from the berthing deck besides the two stairways at the front and back of the salon; however, there are exits from the salon port, starboard, and aft. In hindsight I would be a little more concerned about being up forward as the forward staircase is actually in the middle of the berthing deck, but so long as the lower deck corridor was still passable we would have been able to make it to the aft stairs.
• The main area for charging batteries was at the aft end of the salon; there were enough outlets there and throughout the salon that I don't recall ever seeing power strips jammed chock-full of charging items. Charging procedures may have changed since the Conception fire the following year; someone who's been on in the past year might be able to comment. I certainly charged small items down in my berth but then again I wasn't taking anything crazy (two sets of rechargeable AAs for my strobes, which as it turned out I didn't really need, and my TG-5).

Overall it was a pretty darn good trip - the count was 24 white sharks over three days, most of them on the smaller end (still bigger than anything I've dove with outside of mama tigers) with the largest being a 15-ft male. The main complaint I had was that after a few hours standing in a cage with a 30-40 lb weight harness gets grueling; I figured out that the tighter you can cinch it down the less it hurts later. After the first day I was feeling like I'd come off the rack and would have gladly traded the weights, hookah, and cage for a tank, BC, and fins (except you quickly realize that even with 100 ft+ vis and absolutely no obstacles white sharks are still really, really sneaky).

 

[Hoag]

I took a screen shot to maintain the context.

I went as a single, but they paired me up with a random roommate who had also booked the trip. Because of this, I didn't have to pay a "Single supplement". To be honest, I don't know if I would go back on the Solmar V again even if I had my own room. Having to straddle the head to have a shower was a bit of a trick if the boat was rolling at all. Even without a room mate, the rooms at the bow of the boat would still be small, but the ones in the midsection are a little bigger and they might not be as bad.

As others have mentioned, the food was incredible

For me, I was happy in the cages. When you see a 17 foot GWS a few feet away, the thrill and the adrenaline rush from that will be enough for most people. I would not have paid the extra for a trip in the SPOC.

 

[Living4Experiences]

While I don't typically run into it personally (usually my wife joins me), I too see this as a penalty, and like you I consider the cost important. The Solmar V has single cabins for $200 more, which I think compares favorably to the 25% you mentioned. Please check my math:

• Solmar V: $3495 + 16% tax = $4,054.20 + marine park fees + gratuity
• Nautilus: $3993.75 + 5% tax + $65 port fee = $4,258.44 + marine park fees + gratuity

Your math is correct. However, if you add the $225 marine park fees to Solmar V that is not refunded in company credits as Nautilus does, the net cost comparison is $4258.44 for Nautilus and $4279.20 for Solmar V. Since I haven't traveled with Pelagic Fleet, I can only give my opinions about Nautilus. If you booked with Nautilus in an above-deck superior cabin, your base fare is $4618.17 ($3695 X 25%). That's only $625 more for a bigger room above deck (150 sq ft). Keep in mind, too, the Nautilus trip is 6 days, 5 nights, and the Solmar V trip is 5 days, 4 nights, so your per night cost is less with Nautilus.

If you have doubts about not using the Nautilus credits, you can burn that $225 onboard to purchase a Nautilus Lifeline (designed by the company owner) or other things I listed previously. It's also nice you can roll over the credits to a future trip. I usually only dive destinations once because there's so much to see in the world and so little time to do it, but when I was in Socorro last month, the diving blew my mind! My favorite diving is reefs, but the deep blue diving with the large pelagics, sharks, and dolphins was spectacular! It was the best dive trip I've ever done! There was even daytime bioluminescence in the form of blue sparkles and venus girdles which I've only seen while blackwater diving in Kona. I am returning to Socorro in May 2021 for the bait ball season. Socorro is a trip not to be missed and I highly recommend it for a future trip!

 

[Living4Experiences]

Solmar V has beer included, and this can be translated to a dollar value to add to the Nautilus side of the equation. On Solmar V there is no Wi-Fi, you'd have to choose the Vortex for that. It sounds like Nautilus at least offers the Wi-Fi as an add-on option to pay, so that would be an advantage to them.

The wi-fi on the Nautilus Explorer was $100 for the week. This is not cruise ship quality wi-fi. We were told it was super slow and only good for sending a quick text. I didn't get it because I like to stay unplugged anyway. At the end of the trip, I needed to check in for my flight, so the captain let me use his computer and it took 30 minutes to load the Southwest Airlines web page, then froze.