Wadya see? Thats usually the first question I get upon returning from a dive trip. This most recent trip was to Revillagigedos Islands. All of the four islands (San Benedicto, Socorro, Roca Partida, and Clarion) are volcanic in origin and the island group is located about 200 miles southwest of the tip of Baja. This area is known for big animal diving and it didnt disappoint. During the week we had dolphins, whales, manta rays, scalloped hammerhead sharks, silky sharks, Galapagos sharks, silvertip sharks, white tip reef sharks, turtles, eels, and octopus, along with the usual subtropical fish. I think the only thing I didnt see this week were nudibranchs. Im sure they were there, but I was too busy watching the big stuff.
After waking up Saturday, April 22nd, at 3:30 am my wife and I loaded up and headed to the Tampa Airport from our home in Lakeland to begin our trip to Soccorro. We had a very uneventful trip with a 2 ½ hour flight to Houston and then another 2 ½ hour flight in Cabo San Lucas. We arrived into Cabo around 11am local time and took a shuttle to the Los Patios hotel where we awaited our transfer to the Nautilus Explorer. Lunch at Los Patios was outstanding. Carol and I shared the fish tacos and a chicken sandwich, both of which were outstanding.
At 4pm it was time to head to the Nautilus Explorer. We were picked up in a nice air-conditioned bus for the trip to La Paz. Unfortunately, due to some politics involving the Solmar V and the Nautilus Explorer, the Nautilus must depart from La Paz though it can return to Cabo. The bus trip was about 2 ½ hours and we then finally arrived at the boat in time for dinner. We were all introduced to each other (24 passengers), shown to our cabins, introduced to the 9 crew members for the trip, and given our safety briefing and lifeboat drills. I was immediately impressed by Mike, the captain, and his crew. It was very evident that he ran a very tight ship and safety was job one. The Nautilus Explorer has standard cabins with private bathrooms, two executive suites which are larger with queen sized beds, and (for the economically inclined) a forward bunk area that sleeps four. Carol and I opted to spend the extra money on the executive suite for the week.
After the briefings we left for the 36 hour trip to the islands. The trip was arranged through Long Beach Memorial Hospital and included a diving medicine course during the trip. The plan was for lectures on both the trip out to the islands and then back to shore, supplemented by nightly lectures as well. Well, that was the plan at least!
Upon awakening Sunday morning we were falsely reassured by the calm seas as we had not yet rounded the tip of Baja. The forecast was for 4-6 foot seas. Unfortunately, reality was 8-10 foot seas with the occasional 12 footer. The original plan was for us to have lectures all day but the seas got some of the faculty and many of the students very sick. Very little was accomplished that day! Dinner (which I missed due to sleeping off the mal de mer) apparently was great for those not throwing up barbecued salmon that apparently was to die for.
Thankfully, Monday we awoke to calm seas at San Benedicto. This island has had the most recent volcanic activity, last erupting in 1952. Our welcoming party of dolphins on the bow wake met us about an hour from the island and cruised with us all of the way in. Water temps during the week were around 73-74 degrees and most dives (four per day) were around 70-90 feet deep, though I did hit 120 feet on one dive and some other CCR divers went a little deeper on occasion. Most people were in 5mm wetsuts and a lot of people were in hoods. There was even the occasional 7mm suit. Some of you may know Im a closed circuit rebreather (CCR) enthusiast and I had heard there were going to be other CCR divers on the boat. Of the 24 divers on board, we had about 10 on rebreathers for most or all of the dives. Jeff Bozanic who literally wrote the book on rebreather diving (Mastering Rebreathers) was one of the faculty members for the dive medicine course so it was great to talk to him during the week. I was on my Sport Kiss as was one other diver. There were also two Inspirations, two Evolutions, two Prisms, one Megalodon, one Drager Dolphin, and one Drager Ray that had been converted to a closed circuit rebreather.
The first dive at San Benedicto was the best of the day: one manta ray, hammerheads, Galapagos sharks, eels, and octopus. Then on the surface interval we had two humpback whales come by, a mother and her calf. Not bad for only being lunch time on the first diving day!
We did three more dives at the Canyon, all about the same. Dinner was the infamous Nautilus Burgers. The deal that Mike, the captain, has is that if you can eat three of them within 2 hours you get a free trip to anywhere the Nautilus Explorer. If you are unsuccessful, however, you must pay a fee to the conservation fund. We had no takers! Apparently they have had one winner and about 20 losers through the years.
Tuesday morning we dove Southwest Corner. It is known for sharks but we saw none. We then did two dives at The Boiler and had a great manta encounter. The last dive of the day was at White Tip Shark Cave. Without a dive guide we missed the cave but enjoyed the tropicals and the pretty hard corals. Dinner was Chinese food and then it was off to Soccorro.
Wednesday we were at Soccorro, the largest island of the group and about 4-5 hours south of San Benedicto. There is a Mexican naval base on the island and after boarding by the Mexican navy to clear us we dove both points of the Island Punta Tosca and Cabo Pierce. Not a lot of manta action but we had silvertip and Galapagos sharks. That night after dinner there was night snorkeling with silky sharks who were hunting the flying fish brought in next to the boats due to the lights. After hearing about the three guests who had been bitten on these night snorkels (no serious injuries!) I decided to stay on the boat. Wednesday night we headed to Roca Partida.
The trip from Socorro to Roca Partida was very rough! In fact, the Captain said the seas were the worst he has seen there. The diving there was definitely advanced! Roca Partida which means split rock is just a rock sticking out of the middle of the Pacific. As it is 60 miles from the nearest island this rock is a magnet for marine life. On our arrival the seas were still at least 6-8 feet with strong winds. Getting into and out of the pangas, both from the boat and from the water was a real challenge! However, once we got into the water it was great. We were dropped on the upcurrent side of the island and then drifted around. While drifting we saw a ledge covered in white tip reef sharks, several Galapagos and silvertip sharks and the usual subtropical fish. Once on the lee side of the island the mantas greeted us. We had three very large mantas that stayed with us the remainder of the dive. It was truly magnificent! We did four dives there. Each was great. We even had humback whales and their calves right next to the boat. Snorkeling with whales was truly unbelievable!
Thursday night we moved back to San Benedicto for the last day of diving. Due to the rough seas and strong winds (> 20-30 mph), we were only able to dive The Canyon as it was on the leeward side of the island. We made four dives there, each with scalloped hammerheads, silvertip, and Galapagos sharks. There were also flounder in the flats and lots of tropicals. I even stumbled upon an octopus in its lair. Dinner was steak and amberjack, but most people ate light due to the rough seas. Even after several days at sea the conditions were rough enough to keep a lot of people queasy.
The whole day Friday was spent at sea headed back to Cabo San Lucas. We had some diving medicine lectures and our exam. Afterwards it was time to pack up dive gear, etc. Our last meal was pasta night and we arrived back into Cabo around 10pm. The more adventuresome crowd headed into town to the Giggling Marlin and Cabo Wabo. Carol and I (the old boring married couple) spent the evening on the boat talking with new-found friends.
Saturday morning it was off to the airport and back home to Florida. Truly a great trip! I would recommend the Revillagigedos Islands and the Nautilus Explorer to anyone interested in big animal diving!!! Just make sure you pack seasickness medicine and have books, magazines, DVDs, etc for the long crossing.
Check out photos from the trip at the link below. All were shot with a Canon Digital Rebel in a Sea & Sea housing with dual Sea & Sea YS-120 strobes:
http://debersole.com/layout/0001/gallery_view.cfm?g=85
After waking up Saturday, April 22nd, at 3:30 am my wife and I loaded up and headed to the Tampa Airport from our home in Lakeland to begin our trip to Soccorro. We had a very uneventful trip with a 2 ½ hour flight to Houston and then another 2 ½ hour flight in Cabo San Lucas. We arrived into Cabo around 11am local time and took a shuttle to the Los Patios hotel where we awaited our transfer to the Nautilus Explorer. Lunch at Los Patios was outstanding. Carol and I shared the fish tacos and a chicken sandwich, both of which were outstanding.
At 4pm it was time to head to the Nautilus Explorer. We were picked up in a nice air-conditioned bus for the trip to La Paz. Unfortunately, due to some politics involving the Solmar V and the Nautilus Explorer, the Nautilus must depart from La Paz though it can return to Cabo. The bus trip was about 2 ½ hours and we then finally arrived at the boat in time for dinner. We were all introduced to each other (24 passengers), shown to our cabins, introduced to the 9 crew members for the trip, and given our safety briefing and lifeboat drills. I was immediately impressed by Mike, the captain, and his crew. It was very evident that he ran a very tight ship and safety was job one. The Nautilus Explorer has standard cabins with private bathrooms, two executive suites which are larger with queen sized beds, and (for the economically inclined) a forward bunk area that sleeps four. Carol and I opted to spend the extra money on the executive suite for the week.
After the briefings we left for the 36 hour trip to the islands. The trip was arranged through Long Beach Memorial Hospital and included a diving medicine course during the trip. The plan was for lectures on both the trip out to the islands and then back to shore, supplemented by nightly lectures as well. Well, that was the plan at least!
Upon awakening Sunday morning we were falsely reassured by the calm seas as we had not yet rounded the tip of Baja. The forecast was for 4-6 foot seas. Unfortunately, reality was 8-10 foot seas with the occasional 12 footer. The original plan was for us to have lectures all day but the seas got some of the faculty and many of the students very sick. Very little was accomplished that day! Dinner (which I missed due to sleeping off the mal de mer) apparently was great for those not throwing up barbecued salmon that apparently was to die for.
Thankfully, Monday we awoke to calm seas at San Benedicto. This island has had the most recent volcanic activity, last erupting in 1952. Our welcoming party of dolphins on the bow wake met us about an hour from the island and cruised with us all of the way in. Water temps during the week were around 73-74 degrees and most dives (four per day) were around 70-90 feet deep, though I did hit 120 feet on one dive and some other CCR divers went a little deeper on occasion. Most people were in 5mm wetsuts and a lot of people were in hoods. There was even the occasional 7mm suit. Some of you may know Im a closed circuit rebreather (CCR) enthusiast and I had heard there were going to be other CCR divers on the boat. Of the 24 divers on board, we had about 10 on rebreathers for most or all of the dives. Jeff Bozanic who literally wrote the book on rebreather diving (Mastering Rebreathers) was one of the faculty members for the dive medicine course so it was great to talk to him during the week. I was on my Sport Kiss as was one other diver. There were also two Inspirations, two Evolutions, two Prisms, one Megalodon, one Drager Dolphin, and one Drager Ray that had been converted to a closed circuit rebreather.
The first dive at San Benedicto was the best of the day: one manta ray, hammerheads, Galapagos sharks, eels, and octopus. Then on the surface interval we had two humpback whales come by, a mother and her calf. Not bad for only being lunch time on the first diving day!
We did three more dives at the Canyon, all about the same. Dinner was the infamous Nautilus Burgers. The deal that Mike, the captain, has is that if you can eat three of them within 2 hours you get a free trip to anywhere the Nautilus Explorer. If you are unsuccessful, however, you must pay a fee to the conservation fund. We had no takers! Apparently they have had one winner and about 20 losers through the years.
Tuesday morning we dove Southwest Corner. It is known for sharks but we saw none. We then did two dives at The Boiler and had a great manta encounter. The last dive of the day was at White Tip Shark Cave. Without a dive guide we missed the cave but enjoyed the tropicals and the pretty hard corals. Dinner was Chinese food and then it was off to Soccorro.
Wednesday we were at Soccorro, the largest island of the group and about 4-5 hours south of San Benedicto. There is a Mexican naval base on the island and after boarding by the Mexican navy to clear us we dove both points of the Island Punta Tosca and Cabo Pierce. Not a lot of manta action but we had silvertip and Galapagos sharks. That night after dinner there was night snorkeling with silky sharks who were hunting the flying fish brought in next to the boats due to the lights. After hearing about the three guests who had been bitten on these night snorkels (no serious injuries!) I decided to stay on the boat. Wednesday night we headed to Roca Partida.
The trip from Socorro to Roca Partida was very rough! In fact, the Captain said the seas were the worst he has seen there. The diving there was definitely advanced! Roca Partida which means split rock is just a rock sticking out of the middle of the Pacific. As it is 60 miles from the nearest island this rock is a magnet for marine life. On our arrival the seas were still at least 6-8 feet with strong winds. Getting into and out of the pangas, both from the boat and from the water was a real challenge! However, once we got into the water it was great. We were dropped on the upcurrent side of the island and then drifted around. While drifting we saw a ledge covered in white tip reef sharks, several Galapagos and silvertip sharks and the usual subtropical fish. Once on the lee side of the island the mantas greeted us. We had three very large mantas that stayed with us the remainder of the dive. It was truly magnificent! We did four dives there. Each was great. We even had humback whales and their calves right next to the boat. Snorkeling with whales was truly unbelievable!
Thursday night we moved back to San Benedicto for the last day of diving. Due to the rough seas and strong winds (> 20-30 mph), we were only able to dive The Canyon as it was on the leeward side of the island. We made four dives there, each with scalloped hammerheads, silvertip, and Galapagos sharks. There were also flounder in the flats and lots of tropicals. I even stumbled upon an octopus in its lair. Dinner was steak and amberjack, but most people ate light due to the rough seas. Even after several days at sea the conditions were rough enough to keep a lot of people queasy.
The whole day Friday was spent at sea headed back to Cabo San Lucas. We had some diving medicine lectures and our exam. Afterwards it was time to pack up dive gear, etc. Our last meal was pasta night and we arrived back into Cabo around 10pm. The more adventuresome crowd headed into town to the Giggling Marlin and Cabo Wabo. Carol and I (the old boring married couple) spent the evening on the boat talking with new-found friends.
Saturday morning it was off to the airport and back home to Florida. Truly a great trip! I would recommend the Revillagigedos Islands and the Nautilus Explorer to anyone interested in big animal diving!!! Just make sure you pack seasickness medicine and have books, magazines, DVDs, etc for the long crossing.
Check out photos from the trip at the link below. All were shot with a Canon Digital Rebel in a Sea & Sea housing with dual Sea & Sea YS-120 strobes:
http://debersole.com/layout/0001/gallery_view.cfm?g=85
