Debbie and I went to the Socorro Islands just before the holidays. I wanted to submit a trip report in case you haven't heard about this great dive destination. We are planning to do a group trip, probably next year, so keep this in mind when you plan travel for 2010. I put together a Picasa Web Album with some of our pictures. If you would like to see then follow this link and click "Slideshow":
Picasa Web Albums - Mark & Debbie - Socorro (Revi...
A filmmaker was on board with us filming a documentary. He made a short You Tube video of the Manta Diving part of out trip. It is Debbie and my Internet Video debut! (all 5 seconds of it!) You can find the video with this link (or search "Diving with Manta Rays" on You Tube):
YouTube - Nautilus Explorer-Diving with Manta Rays
The Socorro Islands are called the Revillagigedos Islands locally and are made up of Socorro Island, San Benedicto Island and Roca Partida. I won't call Roca Partida an island because it is just a rock that sticks up out of the Pacific, but it draws an amazing amount and variety of large animals (spelled "sharks").
San Benedicto is a barren volcanic island that is uninhabited. We saw mantas and several hammerheads in the distance. The diving here was in the 80 - 90' range, vis was 50 - 60' and the water temp was 80 degrees.
We made 2 stops at Socorro Island (on the way out and on the way back). On the first visit we saw many dolphins and several divers on our boat had personal close encounters with the dolphins while diving. Again a few sharks in the distance and we found an electric ray for the second time in our dive experiences. Morays, Moorish Idols, Cortez Angelfish, Red Tail Triggerfish, Guineafowl Puffers and the endemic Cortez Damsel were all in abundance.
The next stop was Roca Partida. This was a very different dive experience. The diving was deep (90 - 125') and challenging. There were unexpected currents and downwellings but everyone did fine. We did 2 days of diving there. On one dive, we descended into a hammerhead cleaning station and had 10 - 12' Hammerheads all around us. (Deb said "we were in Hammerhead soup"). On another dive we saw Hammerheads, Silver Tips, White Tips, Galapagos, and Silky Sharks all on the same dive!! On one side of the rock, there were many shallow caves filled with white tip sharks, crammed in laying side by side and sometimes stacked on one another like a litter of puppies cuddled up. Divers could come quite close and these sharks did not seem to care. At times they see Whale Sharks and Humpbacks at Roca Partida, but not when we were there. Vis was about 30' and the water temp was 78 degrees.
On the way back we stopped on the other side of Socorro Island at a site called "The Boiler". There were multiple 15 - 18' Giant Mantas! There were at least 2 Chevron Mantas and a Black Manta, but there could have been more. The really seem to like divers. When they would approach you, the sight was so awesome that Debbie said that she could feel her heart rate increase. It was a magical experience. The mantas would circle around, coming back to interact with the divers over and over again. We had 2 - hour long shallow dives and the Mantas were with us the whole time! I think they like the feeling of our bubbles! The Picasa slide show has only a few of our many manta pictures! We saw sharks or mantas or both on every single dive of the trip.
The boat was the 116' Nautilus Explorer. It was very nice. They take 22 passengers. The crew was outstanding and took very good care of all the guests. The food was great.
All in all a worthwhile dive destination, I hope you may be able to join us when we return. Let me know if have an interest, so I can know whether to reserve half of the boat or the whole boat!
Remember our June Lembeh, Indonesia trip still has a few spots left. Happy New Year!
Picasa Web Albums - Mark & Debbie - Socorro (Revi...
A filmmaker was on board with us filming a documentary. He made a short You Tube video of the Manta Diving part of out trip. It is Debbie and my Internet Video debut! (all 5 seconds of it!) You can find the video with this link (or search "Diving with Manta Rays" on You Tube):
YouTube - Nautilus Explorer-Diving with Manta Rays
The Socorro Islands are called the Revillagigedos Islands locally and are made up of Socorro Island, San Benedicto Island and Roca Partida. I won't call Roca Partida an island because it is just a rock that sticks up out of the Pacific, but it draws an amazing amount and variety of large animals (spelled "sharks").
San Benedicto is a barren volcanic island that is uninhabited. We saw mantas and several hammerheads in the distance. The diving here was in the 80 - 90' range, vis was 50 - 60' and the water temp was 80 degrees.
We made 2 stops at Socorro Island (on the way out and on the way back). On the first visit we saw many dolphins and several divers on our boat had personal close encounters with the dolphins while diving. Again a few sharks in the distance and we found an electric ray for the second time in our dive experiences. Morays, Moorish Idols, Cortez Angelfish, Red Tail Triggerfish, Guineafowl Puffers and the endemic Cortez Damsel were all in abundance.
The next stop was Roca Partida. This was a very different dive experience. The diving was deep (90 - 125') and challenging. There were unexpected currents and downwellings but everyone did fine. We did 2 days of diving there. On one dive, we descended into a hammerhead cleaning station and had 10 - 12' Hammerheads all around us. (Deb said "we were in Hammerhead soup"). On another dive we saw Hammerheads, Silver Tips, White Tips, Galapagos, and Silky Sharks all on the same dive!! On one side of the rock, there were many shallow caves filled with white tip sharks, crammed in laying side by side and sometimes stacked on one another like a litter of puppies cuddled up. Divers could come quite close and these sharks did not seem to care. At times they see Whale Sharks and Humpbacks at Roca Partida, but not when we were there. Vis was about 30' and the water temp was 78 degrees.
On the way back we stopped on the other side of Socorro Island at a site called "The Boiler". There were multiple 15 - 18' Giant Mantas! There were at least 2 Chevron Mantas and a Black Manta, but there could have been more. The really seem to like divers. When they would approach you, the sight was so awesome that Debbie said that she could feel her heart rate increase. It was a magical experience. The mantas would circle around, coming back to interact with the divers over and over again. We had 2 - hour long shallow dives and the Mantas were with us the whole time! I think they like the feeling of our bubbles! The Picasa slide show has only a few of our many manta pictures! We saw sharks or mantas or both on every single dive of the trip.
The boat was the 116' Nautilus Explorer. It was very nice. They take 22 passengers. The crew was outstanding and took very good care of all the guests. The food was great.
All in all a worthwhile dive destination, I hope you may be able to join us when we return. Let me know if have an interest, so I can know whether to reserve half of the boat or the whole boat!
Remember our June Lembeh, Indonesia trip still has a few spots left. Happy New Year!
