Dive experience needed for Socorro in December

[msw0603]

Hi all,

My boyfriend and I are thinking of going on the Nautilus Explorer trip to Socorro the week before Christmas with a group from our local dive shop. I'm a little worried that I don't have the experience necessary for a trip like this. I've been diving two years, and only have 50 dives. My dives have been in West Palm, Key Largo, Little Cayman, and Morehead City. Almost half were in Little Cayman...widely considered to be "easy diving". Would I be "in over my head" (no pun intended ) at somewhere like Roca Partida? I've been told by other divers a few times that I underestimate my abilities as a diver...but I'm a bit of a worrier and tend to be quite cautious.

Thanks for any input!

 

[peeweediver]

This is a tough one. We went in February as a dive shop group on the Solmar V. We had 14 folks, a few with less than 50 dives and many with hundreds, a few instructors and divemasters. On all three islands currents were a bit tough but not "ripping". The most important aspect is the ability to be comfortable with buoyancy control in blue water. The surge on Roca can take you from 30 to 70 and back up again. It took me a day to get used to "going with the flow" as opposed to trying to get back up from 70-90 ahead of the natural surge that would get me up. Relax and go with it. Much easier. All of our divers were happy that they went and did the dives. To be honest, a few of the folks not from our group complained that we brought people who should not have been there. Every trip has a few dive snobs and these were them. The water will be warmer when you go which will make it slightly easier. I was more tired after these dives than most due to the current and surge, but what we saw was amazing. If your local dive shop has a good sense of your diving skills, they will be honest about your ability to handle the trip...remember the 24 hour boat ride and drugs if you need them. Our shop owner and I, the 2 instructors, made sure we stayed with our newbies on the first few days until we knew they were good to go and they were when we hit Roca.
It is a wonderful experience and our crew from Solmar made sure everyone had a blast. I'm sure the Nautilus crew will be the same. Again, no ripping current that you have to hold on for dear life. It's all about blue water buoyancy and relaxing with any surges. Skip a dive if apprehensive, tired, or ear problems. We had a number of folks skip one occasionally and that worked great for them. Be fluent with a 6 foot safety sausage. A must as you wait for the pangas to get you and they're fun to play with in the waves.
Good luck and enjoy.

Rob

 

[Doubler]

If you are worried you don't have the experience then you don't have the experience. Roca is awe inspiring and can be a challenge. This is blue water diving with surges and strong currents. You MUST be comfortable hanging at 15 feet in the open sea with the occasional Silkie sneaking up on you. My advice would be not to go, get more experience. Soccoro will still be there and you will enjoy it more.

 

[msw0603]

Thank you both so much for your input! I sincerely appreciate you taking the time out of your day. Great advice! You both reaffirmed my thoughts. I think I would do fine on the trip, but I'd rather wait a year so I can be certain I'll be prepared enough to relax and have a great time. Back to the drawing board for our December trip

 

[Kmludwig76]

Only you know your level of ability and confidence.

Having said that, I went to Cocos with under 25 dives and had no real problems. I was certainly noobish about the equipment (safety sausage in particular), got nitrox certified on the trip, but I did not struggle in currents like a few divers did. I did not find it difficult to stay at 80-90 feet while most divers started in the 120-130 range.

I too am now booked for Socorro in December and feel quite confident about it having done Cocos already.