Trip Report Trip Report: Sea of Cortez on the Rocio Del Mar

[Cali_diver]

You could go dive in California... much of the same macro just a bit colder and more surge etc. I have been on the Rocio many times and always loved the boat and the different macro dives of the Sea of Cortez, so I would go back in a heartbeat. Maybe you could get enough divers to charter the sister boat (Quino El Guardian). Problem would be trying to find the openings as the sea of Cortez trips fill up. Another option would be to stay in La Paz and charter a private dive boat.

 

[living4experiences]

I would edit my OP as I realize it comes off a bit more negative of the Rocio than I intended. I think if it hadn’t been for Covid and/or the stuck in harbor part, we would be singing praises of this trip.

One thing that could have improved our experience was more bottom time. The sea of Cortez is listed many places as one of the best macro sites in the world. 50 minutes of bottom time does not let you really experience that. As 2.5-3 hour divers at the bridge, I realize we are spoiled. It would be really nice if there was some way to allow the macro hunters (we were all on one panga) to do eliminate a dive, and do one single long, shallow dive in the afternoon, skipping a snack to do so.

Looking at my photos, I’m finding more macro life than I realized, that I would have seen had I been able to do my usual searching. It is extremely challenging to find sub 5mm nudis with a 50 minute time limit, of course.

If we ever did want to return to the Sea of Cortez, are there any recommendations on how we could do something more like this? I could definitely get a group of macro hunters together to charter a small boat, I think.

I enjoyed your trip report and did not interpret it as too negative of the Rocio. I like to read candid reports about all aspects of liveaboard diving. I've never been interested in the Rocio, but now I would never even consider booking it since they pollute the ocean, and there's no excuse to pay thousands of dollars to stay in moldy and rusty rooms. They've had two years to work on their boats for proper maintenance and repair. These liveaboard companies make a boat load of money (pun intended) and I expect conservation to be a priority.

Hopefully, this was your worst dive trip ever and now it's behind you, and it'll never be worse than this trip.