Thanks for sharing-- I was hoping to see some sort of trip report from you about this trip.
My official review:
If you’ve never been to revillagigedo, it is freakin awesome for large animal and shark diving. We saw 6 different species of shark, 2 types of mantas, dolphins, yellowfin tuna and wahoo (king fish)… We also had humpback whales breaching all around the boat and a few mantas breaching and doing mid air flips…
The Good:
1. Crew – outstanding. Especially the engineer, you’ll learn more about that shortly
2. The Divemaster – Rana (and Trucu) were awesome… Fun and energetic as well as knowledgeable, Rana used to DM on board the nautilus. He even mentioned to me in private it was the 1st time since working on the Aggressor that he enjoyed it bc all of the divers were advanced. He kept asking me if I was cold bc I dive arms crossed. lol
3. Food – Food was very good, but I would rank it down one notch from Red Sea, only because they fed us tuna 3x, and tuna is inedible to me.
4. Drinks: They had a full bar – not just beer and wine
5. Cabins: Compared to the Red Sea boat, the cabins were much larger, we had enough room to walk around and not bump into each other. Beds were not as soft as RSA I.
6. The scuba: was truly badass, as described above.
7. Water clarity and temps: If you’re looking for Caribbean clear water and temps, then this is not for you. This is 5 mil territory, and clarity varies based on sun/clouds, currents, thermoclines and sometimes volcanic ash.
The Bad:
1. The boat itself: It is in need of cosmetic fixing up… some flooring, carpet, plumbing work is needed.
2. The boat anchor – the winch broke while we were at San Benedicto on the 1st day, and after a few attempts to rig a new pin, no dice, option 2 was under way. The rigged several large plastic gas cans and a 55 gal barrel to use as lift bags and got the anchor about 2’ up from the bottom, so now it was up to option 3, which was to use the rear winch, 15’ ft at a time.
3. Meanwhile, there was an electrical short circuit that took out all the boat’s electric grid… So the winch would not work until the electrical was fixed.
4. We then had the come to Jesus speech to set trip expectations, as to whether we’d continue on the trip or head home… Ugghh
5. After the electrical was repaired, they started immediately working on raising the anchor. We were soon on our way to Roca Partida, the trip was saved.
Now you know why I said the engineer was awesome – he is stubborn and determined to never give up. He literally saved our trip.
The Ugly:
1. After the electric was fixed, we still were without AC overnight and the majority of the next day
2. We were unable to anchor the boat the remainder of the trip due to not having a properly functioning anchor. With the boat drifting, this made for the long to/from taxi rides to the reef.
That being said, the crew made a huge difference in things and one of the reasons I would go back on the same boat. But I am also open to others.
