Trip Report MALPELO review on the Ferox liveaboard

[funscuba]

Saddly, no diving for me in latin america this year 'cause of the outbreak.

 

[Sunn]

Saddly, no diving for me in latin america this year 'cause of the outbreak.

not even allowed to fly outside Europe (for touristic purpose) ....

 

[Dom@DiveAdvice]

Hi all - Colombia is open to international travelers and so is Malpelo,

If anyone can go at last minute, we still have 4 spaces aboard the FEROX for November 1-12, 2020 at special rate of $4000 for single cabins.

Dive Advice Special - 11 nights from Colombia - Max 10 guests - Free nitrox - $4000 plus Park fees @ $40 per dive day x8 $320 - contact us for details.

Dominick Macan
Dive Advice Travel
dom@diveadvice.com
www.diveadvice.com
Tel: +33 492 94 02 99 (France)
SKYPE: adventuredom

http://www.diveadvice.com/liveaboard-availability … for up-to-date liveaboard availability worldwide

"In Partnership with Amazing Adventures Travel of Mill Valley, California"

 

[Dan]

No pre-test for COVID-19?

 

[Dom@DiveAdvice]

On the contrary, as most destinations now require (which is a good thing), a pre-test showing negative result is required to enter Colombia.

• For air travel into Colombia, a negative PCR test result issued within 96 hours prior to your departure will be required by the Colombian authorities. If you cannot get a test or certification, contact your airline directly
• Travellers with a negative PCR test result will not be required to quarantine on arrival in Colombia
• • Between 24 hours and 1 hour before departure, you must fill out the ‘Check-Mig’ form, available on the Migración Colombia website. You will receive a confirmation email that you will need to present upon arrival in Colombia. You will need to also complete this form 24 hours before your departure from Colombia.

 

[Dan]

@Dom@DiveAdvice thanks for the info. I told this news & special deal to my buddies. It’s too short of a notice for me and the flight from Houston to Cali is still pretty steep. I’ll just stick with the original plan of being there next July.

Saw this interesting video by Didier Noirot during his visit last year to Malpelo with MV Ferox.

 

[scubadada]

Hi @Dan

@Trailboss123 and I are with you next July, we are diving with Sten. I'm trying to wait patiently

 

[Dan]

Hi @Dan

@Trailboss123 and I are with you next July, we are diving with Sten. I'm trying to wait patiently

It's going to be SB 1/3 charter trip then, as @CWK will be there too.

 

[Dan]

Here's my trip report from just two weeks ago:

About the location
Malpelo is a collection of islands (one large, several smaller rocks), part of a seamount 500km/300mi off the coast of Colombia, in the Pacific.

Map: Google Maps


It is a National Park and subject to strict restrictions in terms of tourism:

• Visiting boats need to leave from Colombia (since 2018)
• No more than 1 (yes, one!) liveaboard with divers on site at any time
• No night dives, no snorkeling

How to get there
The only way to get to Malpelo (for diving) is on board a liveaboard vessel - at this time only the Ferox offers scheduled trips to the rock. Trips depart from Cali (in front of the Intercontinental hotel), whereupon you sit in a bus for ~3 hours, driving to Buenaventura. There you board the boat, which promptly departs on the long journey to the island. Depending on weather conditions this is a 28-36 hours (or thereabouts) trip - conditions range from ‘the flattest sea possible’ to multiple meters of swell and waves. Bring sea sickness medication just in case!

When to go
Lying just above the equator, Malpelo can be dived all year around, albeit with varying conditions and marine life present. Dry season (January to May) generally has tougher conditions, July to December is the rainy season with warmer water and better visibility. May to July has lots of silky sharks around, July to September is whale shark season. The largest schools of hammerheads have historically been seen in January.

What to see
Sharks! So many sharks. Eagles rays! And fish! So much fish.

There’s very little coral and you’ll mostly be diving over sandy bottom or bare rocks, but that doesn’t mean the ocean is devoid of life at all. Massive schools of barracudas, eagle rays, snappers, creole fish, and of course groups of hammerheads.

Things to consider
This is not a place for inexperienced divers. I would go as far as to say that diving in Malpelo is among the most challenging I’ve done. Conditions can change rapidly in regards to temperature, visibility and current. We had dives with 9 degrees (Celsius!) temperature difference between surface (27.5°C) and 28 meters depth (19.5°C). Ripping currents, sometimes pointing downwards. Visibility changes from ~20 meters to 7 meters and back in 48 hours.

Dives Rating
5/5 - Fantastic!

There are many aspects of diving in Malpelo that are absolutely outstanding:

• Big fish sightings: Hammerheads, Galapagos and Silky sharks, Eagle rays, Tuna, Barracudas
• Massive schools of fish: La Cara del Phantasma especially had several huge balls of fish of several species
• Short trips to dive sites: Zodiac rides never took more than 15 minutes, sometimes were as short as 3 minutes

Operator Rating
4/5 - Great!

Traveling with Ferox is a pleasure:

• Perfect safety set up: Everyone gets issued with a GPS finder that you dive with on every single dive, briefings cover everything important, guides keep counting guests under water.
• Food is plentiful and good: Colombian food, freshly prepared, and lots of it!

Things that could be off putting (but weren’t to me!):

• The Ferox is very utilitarian. Cabins are relatively small, bare, and don’t offer much in terms of luxury - apart from the fact that Ferox actually has single person cabins, which is unusual for a liveaboard in my experience.

Hammers!

• coinee
• Feb 7, 2020

Fish!

• coinee
• Feb 7, 2020
• 2

I saw this cool video by Nurkowanie FreeActive.pl published in February 2020 also. Were you on the same trip?

 

[Dan]

According to this video by Reto Müler, there is 2nd liveaboard, MV Seawolf, that also began to operate in Malpelo in February 2020