Manuel Sam
Contributor
I think that putting up with a lot of other divers is, for the most part, a fact of life these days when traveling to Socorros unless the boat is not full. Travel.padi.com lists 10 liveaboards that do Socorros. And the list seems to keep growing. So even if there aren't a lot of divers on your boat, it is inevitable that you will be sharing divesites with a lot of other divers. On my last trip there in April, sometimes we had up to two other boats at the same divesite, never mind on the same island. The only saving grace was that unlike on prior years, this time, the boats that were at the same divesite were a bit more civil, communicated with each other, and therefore took turns dropping divers in.
But to your question: I am mostly shooting from the hip, but most boats currently in operation there are 18 passengers and above. Pelagic Fleet's Solmar V, the one I have been on for 9 previous trips, holds 22. Not sure how many divers she holds, but Nautilus Belle Amie has 17 cabins..........and I don't think that they are all singles.....you do the arithmetics.
When Pelagic Fleet's Vortex goes into operation, it will hold the lowest number of divers - 14 max when full. But that level of "exclusivity" and purported luxury will come at a price of at least $6000 for a standard 9 day/8 night trip, so if price is no obstacle......
The Nautilus Undersea is another one that holds under 20 (18, I think). FWIW, Rey, who was mentioned in a previous post by Augustus, left the Rocio del Mar and at least in April, was captaining the Undersea.
On the Solmar V and on other boats that I have seen while there, they carry two tenders/dinghies (some maybe more), and as indicated by Dlofting, they split up the divers into groups of perhaps 6-8. That could provide you some relief from crowding while underwater, but not much: if you are diving at a rather small divesite like The Boiler or even at a more expansive divesite as Roca Partida, if the action is occurring at let's say the Northwest corner of the divesite, guess where everyone is going to be?
Also as a bit of clarification, trips of greater length than the standard 9 days/8 nights are already being offered by multiple boats. The four trips that I have done as charters on the Solmar V in recent years have been 11days/10 nights.
But to your question: I am mostly shooting from the hip, but most boats currently in operation there are 18 passengers and above. Pelagic Fleet's Solmar V, the one I have been on for 9 previous trips, holds 22. Not sure how many divers she holds, but Nautilus Belle Amie has 17 cabins..........and I don't think that they are all singles.....you do the arithmetics.
When Pelagic Fleet's Vortex goes into operation, it will hold the lowest number of divers - 14 max when full. But that level of "exclusivity" and purported luxury will come at a price of at least $6000 for a standard 9 day/8 night trip, so if price is no obstacle......
The Nautilus Undersea is another one that holds under 20 (18, I think). FWIW, Rey, who was mentioned in a previous post by Augustus, left the Rocio del Mar and at least in April, was captaining the Undersea.
On the Solmar V and on other boats that I have seen while there, they carry two tenders/dinghies (some maybe more), and as indicated by Dlofting, they split up the divers into groups of perhaps 6-8. That could provide you some relief from crowding while underwater, but not much: if you are diving at a rather small divesite like The Boiler or even at a more expansive divesite as Roca Partida, if the action is occurring at let's say the Northwest corner of the divesite, guess where everyone is going to be?
Also as a bit of clarification, trips of greater length than the standard 9 days/8 nights are already being offered by multiple boats. The four trips that I have done as charters on the Solmar V in recent years have been 11days/10 nights.
