moorish8idol
Contributor
Hi folks,
I have recently returned from a fabulous 9 day trip to Malpelo on the lovely Ferox and as promised, am going to share the details of my experience. TLDR: It’s a fantastic trip, a fantastic site and Tony’s operation is amazing. This is not a “luxury” liveaboard in the traditional sense but it is a huge luxury to have such a fantastic dive site ALL TO YOURSELF and with a highly competent, kind and safe boat/crew.
Intro
As many of you know, the Ferox is a new operation and has been running Malpelo trips for just about 18 months now. The owner Tony is a Colombian-American former merchant marine and bought the Ferox from the Swedish navy. He has made a number of adjustments and improvements to make the sturdy vessel into a more dive-friendly vessel. Since he still considers this a burgeoning op, it appears that Tony accompanies most (or all) of the boat's dive trips just to make sure that crew are excelling and guests are happy. I enjoyed our many chats and really wish him and his operations the best of luck and look forward to joining the Ferox again in the future.
Cabins and boat space
At present, Tony takes a max of 12 divers - there are 4 single cabins, all with en-suite and individually controlled AC in addition to 2 twin cabins and 2 double cabins (all in the lower deck except for 2 single cabins on the main deck where you will find the dive prep area and dining space). I saw one of the double cabins and it was very spacious with a TV and a long, narrow bathroom. I LOVE that Tony has made for small but highly functional and private single cabins and wish more dive ops did this. As much as I have been ok sharing my cabin with other (strangers) divers in the past, this has really spoilt me. While at Malpelo, the bow area has space for some sun loungers and there is a covered dining and chill area on the stern of the main deck. The stern of the top deck also has sun loungers and a bar space. Your dive equipment and tanks stay on the tenders for the duration of the trip so you only need to get on and off with your wetsuit, mask and camera. Since the seas can be rough, you gear up into your vest and tank once you arrive at the dive site. A lot easier and more comfortable! Tony is rightly proud of his all-Colombian crew and especially his two lancheros who are experts at navigating the Malpelo marine terrain and making sure they are following the divers’ bubbles (or not - they purportedly even manage to follow rebreathers!) and we never had any issues with pickups once the dive was over. By popular demand, Tony built an upstairs indoor lounge with AC, TV screen and couches, though admittedly this is seldom used. We really only stayed in there during the Park presentation on the way over (a Malpelo park ranger accompanies all trips and will dive with you throughout the week) and during a photo sharing ceremony at the end. We didn’t encounter super hot or sunny weather on our trip (it was mostly overcast with some wind and rain and with the diving) so we tended to congregate in our warm clothes and ponchos in the social-dining areas between and after dives.
Diving style
Security and safety is Tony’s number 1 priority and it shows. All divers are equipped with Macready GPS beacons and must carry them at all times. Tony is the only recreational vessel using these GPS beacons. Independent diving is not permitted at Malpelo. You will be in one of two dive groups and need to stay together for the duration and ascent together. There is little to no tolerance for divers that refuse to respect this and for good reason - we encountered fairly tame conditions during our trip (only a few examples of moderate current and tricky swells/surge) but Malpelo is famous for having some very rough and tough conditions in the water and topside and they can change in the matter of an instant. There are 3 dives a day but longer dives are certainly possible if the group can manage their air effectively. My all-female group was excellent on air consumption so we generally were able to stay down for 60-75 minutes each dive. Since I was the least efficient on air, Tony happily gave me one of his 15 L tanks to extend my time with my buddies - he is the only operator in Colombia that has these tanks available for diving so take advantage!
Quality of the diving and wildlife - really excellent!
Not all Eastern Pacific dive sites are alike - based on what I had read beforehand, I think I was really quite pleasantly surprised about Malpelo and would have to say that I prefer it to Socorro (though Socorro is still excellent and highly recommended - I haven’t been personally but fellow guests that have also traveled to Cocos appeared to agree that Malpelo topped their experiences there as well - the Galapagos appears to still take the top-spot however). The diversity of the wildlife and the dive sites/types of diving makes Malpelo extremely interesting. The topography changes quite a bit from site to site so at times we were “chilling” off of rocks at a cleaning station or swimming through channels, exploring caves or drifting around the rocks, pinnacles and some sandy bottoms. We saw hammerheads on every single dive. Numerous individuals regularly made fairly close passes and we saw large schools (at varying distances) every day (most dives I would say) ranging from 20-100 sharks or so. I am told that for much closer interactions with even bigger schools, February is one of the better times of the year (due to much colder water in the 18-21 degree range). In August, we encountered water temps around 25-26 degrees on average though the hammerheads were frequently seen very high up at around 10-15 metres! Silkies were regularly encountered closer to the surface and during safety stops. I am told the best chance at seeing the huge schools of (up to 1000) silkies is in the month of May (though I was also told that such schools aren’t necessarily present every year). I have never seen such huge Galapagos sharks and we reliably saw small groups of them on most dives and at cleaning stations. These buddies were regularly seen in the 3 metre range and came very very close, as in almost uncomfortably close! Our group had very very good luck at El Acuario site where you hang around the rocks and see 7-8 or more come in very close for cleanings while we the hammers also came in for a clean, though less close. August is whale shark season and we were lucky to encounter different animals on 2 different dives, one a very curious 8 m juvenile male who hung with the group for about 25 minutes and another very large about 12 metre animal that made a couple passes. We also were lucky to encounter dolphins a few times. Free swimming moray eels are ever present and eagle rays are an extremely common sight - we were able to encounter mobulas a few times and even met with a decently sized oceanic manta when coming out of the Gringa cave heading into El Bajon site (where schools of hammerheads also patrol the channel). Schools of jacks, snappers etc also very common. On less exciting moments at the cleaning stations, we were entertained by curious hog fish, super cute gobies, very well fed white-tip sharks, Moorish idols and so on. The sand-tooth tiger shark (aka the monstruo aka the Ferox shark) tends to congregate in non-recreational depths so we didn’t see one though we were told they are more commonly seen as rec levels in the cold water months (ie January-February). Nitrox is free and obligatory on this trip and we used 32% mixes on each dive so didn't exceed the 30 metre threshold though this was plenty deep for the action. The colder water months mean you can stay even shallower and spent a lot more time underwater if you like.
Food and drink
Food and drink were plentiful and largely Colombian (seafood, fish, pasta, burgers, curries with rice, soups, plantains, beans etc) and the kitchen was happy to accommodate special dietary needs such as vegetarian and pescatarian diets. The bar isn’t huge but we had regular access to wine, Colombian rum and Poker beer. Snacks between dives were always on offer and there is hot water/coffee/hot chocolate available all day. If you need anything at any time, the crew is there to help you out.
continued...
I have recently returned from a fabulous 9 day trip to Malpelo on the lovely Ferox and as promised, am going to share the details of my experience. TLDR: It’s a fantastic trip, a fantastic site and Tony’s operation is amazing. This is not a “luxury” liveaboard in the traditional sense but it is a huge luxury to have such a fantastic dive site ALL TO YOURSELF and with a highly competent, kind and safe boat/crew.
Intro
As many of you know, the Ferox is a new operation and has been running Malpelo trips for just about 18 months now. The owner Tony is a Colombian-American former merchant marine and bought the Ferox from the Swedish navy. He has made a number of adjustments and improvements to make the sturdy vessel into a more dive-friendly vessel. Since he still considers this a burgeoning op, it appears that Tony accompanies most (or all) of the boat's dive trips just to make sure that crew are excelling and guests are happy. I enjoyed our many chats and really wish him and his operations the best of luck and look forward to joining the Ferox again in the future.
Cabins and boat space
At present, Tony takes a max of 12 divers - there are 4 single cabins, all with en-suite and individually controlled AC in addition to 2 twin cabins and 2 double cabins (all in the lower deck except for 2 single cabins on the main deck where you will find the dive prep area and dining space). I saw one of the double cabins and it was very spacious with a TV and a long, narrow bathroom. I LOVE that Tony has made for small but highly functional and private single cabins and wish more dive ops did this. As much as I have been ok sharing my cabin with other (strangers) divers in the past, this has really spoilt me. While at Malpelo, the bow area has space for some sun loungers and there is a covered dining and chill area on the stern of the main deck. The stern of the top deck also has sun loungers and a bar space. Your dive equipment and tanks stay on the tenders for the duration of the trip so you only need to get on and off with your wetsuit, mask and camera. Since the seas can be rough, you gear up into your vest and tank once you arrive at the dive site. A lot easier and more comfortable! Tony is rightly proud of his all-Colombian crew and especially his two lancheros who are experts at navigating the Malpelo marine terrain and making sure they are following the divers’ bubbles (or not - they purportedly even manage to follow rebreathers!) and we never had any issues with pickups once the dive was over. By popular demand, Tony built an upstairs indoor lounge with AC, TV screen and couches, though admittedly this is seldom used. We really only stayed in there during the Park presentation on the way over (a Malpelo park ranger accompanies all trips and will dive with you throughout the week) and during a photo sharing ceremony at the end. We didn’t encounter super hot or sunny weather on our trip (it was mostly overcast with some wind and rain and with the diving) so we tended to congregate in our warm clothes and ponchos in the social-dining areas between and after dives.
Diving style
Security and safety is Tony’s number 1 priority and it shows. All divers are equipped with Macready GPS beacons and must carry them at all times. Tony is the only recreational vessel using these GPS beacons. Independent diving is not permitted at Malpelo. You will be in one of two dive groups and need to stay together for the duration and ascent together. There is little to no tolerance for divers that refuse to respect this and for good reason - we encountered fairly tame conditions during our trip (only a few examples of moderate current and tricky swells/surge) but Malpelo is famous for having some very rough and tough conditions in the water and topside and they can change in the matter of an instant. There are 3 dives a day but longer dives are certainly possible if the group can manage their air effectively. My all-female group was excellent on air consumption so we generally were able to stay down for 60-75 minutes each dive. Since I was the least efficient on air, Tony happily gave me one of his 15 L tanks to extend my time with my buddies - he is the only operator in Colombia that has these tanks available for diving so take advantage!
Quality of the diving and wildlife - really excellent!
Not all Eastern Pacific dive sites are alike - based on what I had read beforehand, I think I was really quite pleasantly surprised about Malpelo and would have to say that I prefer it to Socorro (though Socorro is still excellent and highly recommended - I haven’t been personally but fellow guests that have also traveled to Cocos appeared to agree that Malpelo topped their experiences there as well - the Galapagos appears to still take the top-spot however). The diversity of the wildlife and the dive sites/types of diving makes Malpelo extremely interesting. The topography changes quite a bit from site to site so at times we were “chilling” off of rocks at a cleaning station or swimming through channels, exploring caves or drifting around the rocks, pinnacles and some sandy bottoms. We saw hammerheads on every single dive. Numerous individuals regularly made fairly close passes and we saw large schools (at varying distances) every day (most dives I would say) ranging from 20-100 sharks or so. I am told that for much closer interactions with even bigger schools, February is one of the better times of the year (due to much colder water in the 18-21 degree range). In August, we encountered water temps around 25-26 degrees on average though the hammerheads were frequently seen very high up at around 10-15 metres! Silkies were regularly encountered closer to the surface and during safety stops. I am told the best chance at seeing the huge schools of (up to 1000) silkies is in the month of May (though I was also told that such schools aren’t necessarily present every year). I have never seen such huge Galapagos sharks and we reliably saw small groups of them on most dives and at cleaning stations. These buddies were regularly seen in the 3 metre range and came very very close, as in almost uncomfortably close! Our group had very very good luck at El Acuario site where you hang around the rocks and see 7-8 or more come in very close for cleanings while we the hammers also came in for a clean, though less close. August is whale shark season and we were lucky to encounter different animals on 2 different dives, one a very curious 8 m juvenile male who hung with the group for about 25 minutes and another very large about 12 metre animal that made a couple passes. We also were lucky to encounter dolphins a few times. Free swimming moray eels are ever present and eagle rays are an extremely common sight - we were able to encounter mobulas a few times and even met with a decently sized oceanic manta when coming out of the Gringa cave heading into El Bajon site (where schools of hammerheads also patrol the channel). Schools of jacks, snappers etc also very common. On less exciting moments at the cleaning stations, we were entertained by curious hog fish, super cute gobies, very well fed white-tip sharks, Moorish idols and so on. The sand-tooth tiger shark (aka the monstruo aka the Ferox shark) tends to congregate in non-recreational depths so we didn’t see one though we were told they are more commonly seen as rec levels in the cold water months (ie January-February). Nitrox is free and obligatory on this trip and we used 32% mixes on each dive so didn't exceed the 30 metre threshold though this was plenty deep for the action. The colder water months mean you can stay even shallower and spent a lot more time underwater if you like.
Food and drink
Food and drink were plentiful and largely Colombian (seafood, fish, pasta, burgers, curries with rice, soups, plantains, beans etc) and the kitchen was happy to accommodate special dietary needs such as vegetarian and pescatarian diets. The bar isn’t huge but we had regular access to wine, Colombian rum and Poker beer. Snacks between dives were always on offer and there is hot water/coffee/hot chocolate available all day. If you need anything at any time, the crew is there to help you out.
continued...
