Archive for the ‘Punta Tosca’ Category
Sunday, June 6th, 2010
The romance of the sea takes on a whole new meaning when you get to not only sail the high seas, but also dive them. Especially when that diving involves a very personal interaction with very large, wild animals! Our final expedition of the season to the magical Islands of the Socorros had plenty of that interaction for everyone, guests and crew alike. I personally had one of my best dives ever, at the incomparable Roca Partida. There I spent a 45 minute dive alone in the company of a beautiful 9 meter whaleshark. So close you could touch her, so big you felt like you were swimming next to some pre-historic animal from a time long before your own. And the Giant Pacific Manta Rays, here for our last trip in the numbers we always hope for. 4 and 5 at a time circling the divers, in the beautiful clear, blue water surrounding the Boiler, spending not just 1 dive but the entire day with us, as they did with us the previous two days at Pta Tosca. Nothing else in the sea moves like a Giant Manta, an animal so big but moving as if you are watching it in slow motion. Probably all the old salty dogs back in Newfoundland and Nova Scotia would think I was crazy for diving with sharks and rays. They mostly prefer to stay on the boat, in the dry wheelhouse preferably, but of course all us divers know the truth. Mind you there is a lot to be said for a hot cup of coffee in a dry wheelhouse, the other reason why I love my job.
Talk at ya next time from the Sea of Cortez,
Captain Gordon Kipp
Tags: giant manta, Punta Tosca, Revillagigedos, Roca Partida, Socorro, whaleshark
Posted in Captains Log, Giant Mantas, Punta Tosca, Revillagigedos, Roca Partida, Socorro, Whalesharks | No Comments »
Friday, June 4th, 2010
It is easy to get jaded about diving when you work on the Nautilus Explorer. For example, I went diving in Hawaii this past April and, although the dive was quite pretty, I couldn’t help but feel a little unfulfilled when the dive was over. No sharks, no mantas, no dolphins…. This afternoon I dived “The Boiler” at San Benedicto and Socorro - if I had wings I would be soaring with sheer delight! Even though I’ve dived this site many times, and have played with the giant mantas many times, it still amazes me just how friendly and interactive they really are. As soon as I jumped off the back deck of Nautilus and started my decent to the rock, I was very pleased to see FOUR giant mantas waiting for me. I went down to about 17 metres and was very quickly surrounded by big, beautiful, black-and-white mantas. Above me, below me, beside me – eye to eye, finger tip to wing tip. Wow. I didn’t even have a chance to swim around The Boiler because the mantas stayed with me the entire dive! 40 minutes with some very friendly mantas. Can it get any better?
‘Till next time… Hostess Ashley
We had four fantastic dives at Punta Tosco with lots of MANTAS, DOLPHINS, SHARKS!!! What else can a diver wish? We found everything we expected and even more!!! Lets wait for tomorrow. Andrea from Austria
Faboulous Diving at Punta Tosca!!! Not only MANTA rays, but also DOLPHINS, playing games with us on 3 of 4 dives!!! Nice reef with lot’s of fish, big big lobsters and stunning swarms. For me it was the first time diving with dolphins in more then 970 dives, so big, big smile and lot’s of fun. This trip is really great from both diving and crew how does everything to get us happy and smile… now that we had those, were snorkeling with sharks and already WHALESHARK and many other sharks at rocca partida, only the whales itself and seals are missing… Hello from a very happy diver 
Ruth/Germany
We had expected a lot from this trip – and so far it even got much better! After the first 5 days of diving we have seen more than in several dive holidays before – and most of the animals not just only seen but long time contact – interaction… the whaleshark we had circeling around us for more than half an hour at one dive, the dolphins kept ‘playing’ with us and the HUGE (!!!) mantas enjoy circeling and looping around in our bubbles. Even the first hammerhead shark we saw… and are looking forward to the next days of diving with this very professional – and all of them absolutely enthusiasticly – diving and helping crew. But now we will enjoy another fine dinner (my girlfriend already wants to marry the chef cook) being served by to really charming young ladies 
Andreas Ritzenhofen/ Germany
We had a nice day today, my first interaction with a manta ray. Wow!!!… I think one of the best dives I ever had the last 10 years. I ll be sure we coming back. Service from the crew is unbelievable.( 24 hours eating, sleeping, diving.) Never seen this before like so professional. Roman and Elvira/ Germany
Tags: dolphins, giant manta, Hammerhead shark, Nautilus Explorer, Punta Tosca, Roca Partida, shark, Socorro, The Boiler, whaleshark
Posted in Destinations, Giant Mantas, Guest Blog, Hammerhead shark, Nautilus Explorer, Punta Tosca, Roca Partida, San Benedicto, Socorro, The Boiler, Whalesharks, dolphin, shark | No Comments »
Sunday, May 23rd, 2010
The sea state was actually not too bad when I woke up this morning at 0530 for my turn on watch. A fairly long 6-10′ from the NW which we were riding over quite smoothly. I must have done something to upset the ocean G*ds though because around 20 minutes after I stepped onto the bridge the wind started blowing, leading to our present state, with a stiff 20-25 kts from the NW, turning the original long 6-10′ into a choppy 8-12′. Not what I was hoping for on this transit north, but certainly nothing that this ocean going vessel can’t handle, just a little lumpier than our guests were anticipating. After departing Roca Partida we have spent the last three days diving at Isla Socorro and Isla San Benedicto, and have had some superb dives. Pta Tosca on the west side of Socorro delivered a beautiful morning dive with 2 Giant Pacific Mantas spending nearly the entire dive sharing themselves between all of the divers in the water, circling around and overhead, and making eye contact as they cruised by only a few feet away. The afternoon at Pta Tosca was not so hot, with visibility diminishing and our manta pals moving on to other more important things apparently. However we did finish the day strong with an adrenaline inducing night snorkel with around 6-8 feisty silky sharks!
Up next was Cabo Pearce, where we stayed a full day and completed 4 great dives. The day began with an amazing dive featuring 30-50 schooling hammerheads AND 6 Giant Manta Rays, all of which circled closely giving all the divers in the water some great Manta lovin’. Visibility was great at around 80ft/24m and our 6 lovely Mantas stuck around for dives 2 and 3, with at least 4 of them being ‘players’, coming in very close and providing some great interaction. Also had a couple brief dolphin sightings, a couple solitary hammerheads, and a huge school of Bonito that swam by in the blue and seemed to go on and on forever. By dive 4 the current had increased to very strong and the big animals said their goodbyes. We rounded out the Socorro part of our itinerary with a day at San Benedicto. After a very brief and murky dive at the canyon we spent the rest of the day at the Boiler, having some more great Manta interaction, this time with one ‘player’ and one ‘dancer’, one interacting with divers while the other showed off its agility with moves that would have made a stealth bomber look bad. A couple of big Galapagos sharks cruised around on dive 4, eliciting some high fives for our divemasters after the dive!
Now on to the Sea of Cortez. ETA for our first divesite is 0800 tomorrow morning, and we’re all looking forward to the very small seas forecast for the next few days of diving on the east side of Baja California Sur. More to come from the Sea of Cortez.
Captain Gordon Kipp
Surface conditions: Wind moderate (avg 15 kts), sea state at Socorro small to moderate (5-7′ swell), air temp 75-80F, mostly sunny
Diving conditions: Visibility poor at Canyon (10ft/3m), to excellent at the Boiler (80-100ft/24-30m) and everything in between, water temp 76f, current mild to very strong.
I’m the newest deckhand on board the Nautilus Explorer. I began working here just under a month ago, and every day has been filled with wonderful experiences followed by beautiful sunsets. On my way here I was worried about fitting in with the crew as they are a very close group – almost like family. However, my fears were groundless. As soon as I arrived, they began showing me the ropes (ha!) and were very understanding during my learning curve.
In the past few weeks I have seen all sorts of interesting creatures, both from the surface and underwater. At San Benedito, I saw manta rays and whale sharks from the surface, and a moray eel underwater. At Roca Partida, I watched magnificent frigate birds stealing fish from masked boobies as I waited for the divers to surface. While we were en route to the Nautilus dolphins frolicked in my wake. At Socorro Island I again saw mantas but this time underwater – truly awe-inspiring. We also did a night snorkel with silky sharks, which was incredible. Film doesn’t quite pass on the atavistic shiver when you see a 6 foot shark swimming towards you out of dark sea. Upon leaving the Revillagigedo Archipelago we continued on toward the Sea of Cortez, where I swam with sea lions, and saw vultures and sea hawks circling.
Truly it is a privilege and a pleasure to work here regardless of the long hours. It is more a way of life then a job.
Thanks for reading!
Tess Szostakiwskyj
Deckhand on the Nautilus Explorer April – June 2010
Tags: Baja California, cabo pearce, dolphins, giant manta, Hammerhead shark, mexico, Nautilus Explorer, Revillagigedos, San Benedicto, silky shark, Socorro, socorro island, Whalesharks
Posted in Animals, Baja California, Cabo Pearce, Captains Log, Destinations, Galapagos Shark, Giant Mantas, Nautilus Explorer, Punta Tosca, Revillagigedos, Roca Partida, San Benedicto, Sea of Cortez, Silky Sharks, Socorro, Whalesharks, dolphin, hammerhead, sealions | No Comments »
Wednesday, May 12th, 2010
So we went in the water and this is so typical diving at Socorro, me and my group we went all around saw 1 giant manta ray passing us and nothing else, Next group with Pedro just landed in the water and directly they got visited of our friendly dolphin that we see here every now and then and people got up totally exited!
She never came back any more but we stayed at Punta Tosca at Socorro for 2 very curious Chevron Female Giant mantas staying with hall of us. It was just an overdose of manta encounters. I looked at my maxdepth in this manta dive 46 ft no more! No reason to go deep when the animals comes to you. We stayed at the same place the whole dive.
It was a good diveday the whole day spiced with hammerheads, silvertips and silky sharks as well.
Something totally different On board on the Nautilus we been having a free passanger since Cabo San Lucas. She is a little brown headed cow bird.Size of a finch That have decided to adopt the Nautilus. he is jumping around on the dive deck, drinking water from the camera water dip tanks and chasing the small crabs that runs on deck and eats them. he is as unafraid now that she even have come up sitting on our hands. He likes to sleep under the rescue boat at night. See if he jumps of in Cabo, or have been spoiled of the service on our vessel. Marco the captain has baptised him Duncan wich in celtic means brown head…
Surface conditions: A bit windy , compared our totally calm days , mostly sunny and 27 C Under water, very mild current , very little surge, 70-90 ft 23-24 C ca 74-75 F
Dive guide Sten
Tags: giant manta, Hammerhead shark, Nautilus Explorer, Punta Tosca, shark, Socorro
Posted in Animals, Cabo San Lucas, Captains Log, Destinations, Giant Mantas, Nautilus Explorer, Punta Tosca, Silky Sharks, Socorro, Socorro Island, dolphin, hammerhead, silvertip reef shark | No Comments »
Tuesday, April 6th, 2010
We came up at Cabo Pearce after our traditional navy inspection. Setting the anchor with a decending line for making it it easy for divers out on the lava finger that have been poured out from Socorro Islands Mount Everman. We dive it down for our scuba divers and move it to the place close the cleaning stations so we can maximize our bottom time and air as it is fairly deep. A bit of effort especially a day like today when it was what we say here a little bit “windy” underwater, but then the line makes it as well safe to hand by hand working your self slowly and safe and not getting swept away from the dive site.
I like Cabo Pearce cause if you don’t like current dive we can dive by the same lava flow that has a nice cheer wall and no current at all. It does not have as much pelagic life like the sharks and Tunas, but often mantas and I have seen diving humpback whales passing by the wall with a few ocations. Today we got the best result for us who dived the easy one. We dropped straigt on a manta at 60 ft she liked us direct and stayed with us and cirkeled us over and over again left and 5 minutes came back and in the end of the dive a second manta cirkeled us. During the whole dive we have moved a distance of 40 m no more. You can chase all over , but often it works best to take a good spot and sit and wait and see what comes. The rest of the day was a bit harder on the big animals. A few hammerheads sharks and passing mantas nice humpback whale songs. A few dolphins came in and had a look at us but not the once that we play with her, wonder where she is this dolpins that have been giving me a hug with her pectoral fins pulling me backward holding my fins… A Tiger shark passed over our heads in a quick pass, nice to see they are here and a few silvertips came in when we wispered them in.
On our Humpback whale trip we had both in water sighting some with beautiful film shots from some of our guests and above water close sights. But some times you need patience, but here some times it can be so many that you dont know wich whale group you will try to approach.
We had two good days at Punta Tosca and now looking forward to Roca Partida Diveguide Sten.
Surface conditions: 30 C calm seas cloudy with some sun.
Underwater conditions: viz was down to 40 ft temp 24-25 c 76 F Strong current out on the outside lava finger.
La danza de las mantas fue el dia de hoy acompanada por el dulce canto de las ballenas, Punta Tosca nos trajo un sonido de esperanza y dulzura de la naturaleza, un atardecer acompanado de fotos y experiencias compartidas, que mas se puede pedir….
Susana B.
Hoy en Punta Tosca, trabajamos haciendo los censos de peces en invetebrados acompanados de tres mantas, que transmitieron su tranquilidad e hicieron de nuestro trabajo un dia de relajacion, que convinado con el azul del oceano, nos dan mas ganas de seguir explorarando las bellezas del oceano, aunado a esto, tuvimos musica de fondo, el canto de las ballenas que te hacian sentir la vibracion circundante, haciendo mas placentero el dia…. trabajando en el oceano, disfrutando de las bellezas arrecifales, mantas, y cantos de ballenas, es un trabajo que muchos me han de estar envidiando, me encanta mi trabajo jejeje…
Arturo Bocos.
Today in our dive in Punta Tosca we had a very beautiful sunlight dance with a big manta playing with us for several minutes. We had then the opportunity to face humpback whales and dolphins, both mom and baby that came near us during our morning zodiac trip …
Well, today was the day we all came here for. All of the divers had multiple manta sightings, a few hammerhead shark sightings, whale songs all day and for the icing on the cake, in-water humpback whale encounters! We still have the night-time silky shark snorkel ahead of us. We’ll remain anchored in the same protected bay overnight and will hopefully do it all again tomorrow. In-between all of this diving we have been pampered by the crew of the Nautilus Explorer, non-stop. Fantastic meals and snacks after every dive. Every crew member onboard does their best to accomodate every guest’s wish. It’s going to be real hard to go back home after this!
John D.
First dive this morning was awesome. At the bottom of the line was our first manta waiting. As we made our way up the ridge we encountered a large male green turtle, before coming across two more mantas hovering above the ridge. Back near the ascent line a curious bottlenose dolphin cruised by taking a good look at us. Only a few minutes after that I looked up to see a big hammerhead slightly above us, weaving slowly back and forth at around 40ft, and only 30 feet in front of the hammerhead another manta was cruising along. On our safety stop two mantas hovered nearby, eyeing us up curiously. Lots of humpbacks around today too giving us some great topside views.
G-diddy
Tags: cabo pearce, dolphins, giant manta, Hammerhead shark, humpback whales, Punta Tosca, Roca Partida, shark, socorro island, Tiger Shark, Tuna
Posted in Animals, Cabo Pearce, Captains Log, Destinations, Giant Mantas, Hammerhead shark, Humpback Whale, Manta, Punta Tosca, Roca Partida, Socorro Island, Tiger Shark, Tuna, dolphin, shark, whales | No Comments »
Saturday, March 20th, 2010
So we sarted our pilot project to skip a scuba dive and go out in small groups in the morning to watch the humpback whales. It was an Success!! We managed to see whale in the water twice the first try and our training that we have got is giving results it made me excited! Something new to do at Socorro Island. All the guests I talked to said it was defenitely worth skipping a scuba dive for this. So we will go on.
We had so much whale at Punta Tosca (Socorro) that you did not know where to look. and the singing was so strong, That just laying in the water closing your eyes hold your breath and listening is a beautiful time of meditation and contemplation.
Punta Tosca was not giving easy on the other animals, we got manta both dive but viz was low all over. We tried to go up to Roca Oneil, but rthe swell was to big so in to Aquarium and a exploratary dive close by was not that bad guest named it for Area 51 after the place where aliens fly over Nevada , cause of its strange vulcanic topography.
At cabo pearce last day we had a beautiful day flat water and sunny, down under again,, hard to get the animals, we did get hammerhead sharks and a very curiouse silvertip shark in fullsize again coming in on a sharkwispering. And a giant manta ray, but not for long.
Interessting was to find barnacles from humpback whales laying on the bottom of Cabo Pierce, wonder if a whale either has scraped him self on the rock or maybe more possible lost them under a fight over a pretty girl humpback whale. The barnaclesare good 2 inches big and very heavy and are just like spikes on their pectoralfins that they use to fight with sometimes.
This trip was hard to get the big animals, vizibility was low, but the animals are there.
Dive guide Sten
Surface conditions: very little wind sunny and warm =30 C
Underwater conditions: A bit turbid water , but cleared up now and then 35-40 ft on the west side of Socorro. And 30-60 ft on the east side. Temp down to 74F 24 C
————— Guest Log ————–
Christy – The dive started with DM Pedro doing his patented manta dance at the bottom of the line. 15 minutes later, two giant mantas, one of which decided to hang around and visit. Very cool! Go Pedro! Now if he would just stop scaring the crap out of the snorkelers on the night snorkel with the silky sharks.
In general, I had expected to see more mantas, and have more pelagic interaction, and the visibility was not as good as expected. However, I did have some good dolphin dives and had my first dives with galapagos sharks. Of course this is not a zoo, it’s the wild, so I would love to come back to give it another shot. Lori
Ron – The most unique experience for me this trip was snorkeling with a humpback calf and the mother. That was an experience worth giving up a dive for, amazing.
Joe – My giant manta coincided with my first camera dive… stand still while I turn it on and set the profile!!! too close… back up a little… the second pass I was able to get some sweet shots.
Engineer Dusan – I was cleaning barnacles along the side of the ship with my snorkel gear, and Joe was with me watching. Suddenly Joe said to me, in a very calm voice, Dusan, do you know there is a shark underneath us? I looked down, saw the shark, and start to squeeze the screwdriver in my hand. I said, work’s over! I was glad to make it back to the boat, and all night for some reason I was dreaming about lions. Now everytime I go anywhere with Joe I will feel safe.
Tags: dolphins, giant manta, Hammerhead shark, humpback whales, shark, Socorro, socorro island
Posted in Animals, Cabo Pearce, Captains Log, Destinations, Galapagos Shark, Giant Mantas, Guest Blog, Hammerhead shark, Humpback Whale, Manta, Punta Tosca, Roca Oneil, Socorro, Socorro Island, dolphin, shark, silvertip reef shark | No Comments »
Thursday, January 14th, 2010
Location: Socorro Islands, Baja California South, Mexico
We just completed our last dive day of this 10 day expedition to the wilds of the Socorro Islands, offshore Pacific Mexico. This place never ceases to amaze even the most seasoned veterans of the area with the sheer variety of big marine animals to be seen and experienced up close. Where else in the world can scuba divers encounter a pod of dolphins who will present themselves vertically an arm length away from divers, several Giant Manta Rays competing for attention by hovering an arm length above the divers and catch a glimpse of a big Tiger Shark as it enters your field of vision and just as quickly is gone, all in one dive!? That is exactly what we experienced in the last few days on more than one occasion, not to mention the hammerheads, silky sharks, white tips, abundant schools of Jacks and Surgeon fish, and humpback whales on the surface. We wrapped up the last few days at Socorro Island itself, diving at Cabo Pearce, Punta Tosca, Roca Oneill and the Aquarium. A huge school of hammerheads and a couple Tiger shark sightings at Cabo Pearce highlighted our day there, with of course a few mantas and dolphins spending some quality time with us as well. In the afternoon I decided to go for a quick swim, so I put a mask on and jumped in to cool off, and ended up spending the next 20 minutes with 8-10 dolphins and a very curious silky shark who made several very close approaches towards me. Not bad for a quick dip! After Cabo Pearce we spent two days on the west side of the island diving at Punta Tosca for the majority of that time, which is where we encountered the unusually sociable dolphins in combination with the ever-friendly Giant Manta Rays. One dolphin in particular, who has been claimed as the girlfriend of all of our male divemasters, is the most interactive of the pod and makes a point to visit each diver, going from one to the next as she presents herself vertically, literally an arm lengths away. More and more the other dolphins of her pod seem to be imitating her and are also becoming increasingly interactive with us. Not to be outdone, 3-4 Manta Rays in the area would appear directly above the divers and hover close by, as if to say, “hey, don’t forget about us!”. Today we came back to San Benedicto to finish with three dives at the Boiler experiencing more friendly Manta Rays and dolphins. Another hugely successful dive expedition to the Socorro Islands, with humpback season just getting warmed up, lots more tales to come!
Captain Gordon
Surface Conditions: Mostly sunny with beautiful sunsets, 80-82F, winds light to moderate (10-15 kts), swell 4-9 ft with a long period.
Diving conditions: Water temp 76-78F, Visibility 40-100 ft, current mild to strong, often surgey from the swell.
Tags: cabo pearce, dolphins, giant manta, Hammerhead shark, humpback whales, mexico, Punta Tosca, San Benedicto, silky shark, socorro island, Tiger Shark
Posted in Baja California, Cabo Pearce, Captains Log, Destinations, Giant Mantas, Humpback Whale, Jacks, Punta Tosca, San Benedicto, Silky Sharks, Socorro Island, Tiger Shark, dolphin, hammerhead, mexico, whitetip reef shark | No Comments »
Wednesday, January 13th, 2010
San Benedicto Island & Socorro Island..
Team Manta were up bright and early for yet another aqua-mission. at Socorro Island Punta Tosca proved itself once again as a fantastic spot for tagging Manta’s. Our previously deployed VR2 receiver was in good condition, patrolled by Bottlenose dolphins, silver-tips and Manta’s. Three male giant mantas were successfully tagged on the first dive, two on the second. The Dolphins were friendly as ever, with the ‘alpha’ female dolphincoaxing other members of the pod in for diver interaction. The dolphins were closely followed by a lone silver-tip. We sighted at least two humpbacks with calves and a pod of false killer whales which one guest snorkeled with for around 10 minutes. Roca Oneil and Aquarium were mellow in comparison to the morning dives, big swell hampering matters at the rock and mild waters gave to a relaxing swim at Aquarium. Presently cruising back to San Benedicto to hopefully deploy our last receiver and our last tag. A most enjoyable and successful day. We are utterly sad to think about our last diving day tomorrow. However, we will be back! A truly spectacular dive destination, ridiculously lovely, efficient, professional, helpful crew and a beautiful boat. Thanks!!! Rory Moore
Beginning in the late 1970s I began studying the biology and ecology of the manta ray (Manta birostris) in the Sea of Cortez and at the Revillagigedos. Using photographic identification methods the Pacific Manta Research Group has gathered data on manta rays from the Revillagigedos Archipelago from 1978 forward. Many thanks to the crew and divers on the Nautilus Explorer for their many photographic contributions over time. To date we have identified 287 individual manta rays at the Revillagigedos Islands. Of these, 80 have been seen repeatedly between two and 12 times, one of which has a sightings span of 18 years and several others have been seen for 15 years. Currently an average of 62.2% of the mantas seen on a trip are resighted. Mantas move between islands, sometimes within a few days time. To date six animals have been seen both at San Benedicto and Socorro Island, two at both Socorro and Roca Partida, 14 at both San Benedicto and Roca Partida, and one manta at all three islands. In addition, one manta was seen at both San Benedicto and Isla Cerralvo in the Sea of Cortez. This last observation is especially important and encouraging, as it suggests that the Revillagigedos population may be able to contribute to the badly depleted population of the Gulf of California. We have several other manta related projects on going in the Revillagigedos and in the Sea of Cortez. If you have photos that might contribute to our research or want to know more about the Pacific Manta Research Group. please contact us.
Thank you,
Robert Rubin, Program Director
Karey Kumli, Project Manager: Manta.birostris1@gmail.com
Tags: giant manta, Revillagigedos, Roca Partida, San Benedicto, socorro island
Posted in Animals, Destinations, Giant Mantas, Guest Blog, Nautilus Explorer, Punta Tosca, Revillagigedos, Roca Partida, San Benedicto, Sea of Cortez, Socorro, Socorro Island, bottlenose dolphin, dolphin, silvertip reef shark | No Comments »
Monday, January 4th, 2010
Location: Cabo Pearse, Punta Tosca, Roca Partida, Socorro Island, Revillagigedo Archipelago
We had decided to stay around Socorro Island for having better options of more dive sites because the weather and wind would be picking up during this days. So we alternated in between Cabo Pearce first day we where accompanied by dolphins during several dives and we also had been snorkeling with them from the Nautilus Explorer. We got some good schools of hammerhead sharks and just some short visits from Giant mantas. AND we could hear the humpback whales singing for the first time this season! We seen them , but first time hearing them under water. They are here and will come more and more now for each trip we do down to Revillagigedo Archipelago.
Punta tosca made our day next day with playing giant mantas, just the way it should be they just did not leave during the dive and we had almost no current so we could be up in the water layer without getting drifted away. At the same time this same bottle nose dolphin came in and made approach to some divers and stayed just in front of their masks, letting her getting petted. A really good day!
The third day the current was hard and after first dive in Punta Tosca we moved down to a calm relaxed dive at the Aquarium. First I would think it would be a dull scuba dive , but when on the north side of the Aquarium a little bit deeper we got 5 silvertip sharks bolting in towards some of us, first juvenile and then a full grown up one that gave a bit more respect! Wow! thats why to dive here! We also had a manta ray coming by but she did not stay for long. Good dive!
We ended up our last two dives at Cabo Pierce to have the choice to either go out on the lava finger with some more exposed water , but chance to see more pelagic or a easy quiet dive in the bay with chance to see smaller stuff and mantas. Actually if some one is interested there is the endemic Clarion Damselfish in one corner here at Socorro Island. They stay in very small colonies in just a few places around Socorro. We had a massive school of Scalloped hammerhead sharks on the outside. And sightings of mantas in the bay.
Dropping down in to the water at Roca Partida the viz was some of the dives like what they just to say like gin clear. We also had this green cold water coming up but often without that you wont have so much life. And this days boy we did! Scalloped hammerhead sharks in schools, silvertip sharks everywhere all the time, Big huge Tunas and a black friendly manta that kept us company for several dives. Bottlenose dolphins staying and laying on their backs sinking down to the bottom trying to call us down to the deep like sirens..
And the on top of that whale shark!! And NO current at all.. The Bonitos starts to gather up in to what seems to be a bigger and bigger bait ball and that has also attracted the silkie sharks, not many , but a few, what is strange is that the Galapagos sharks we saw all the time before seems like they moved on. That what makes this island interesting to dive in, it all change each time we get down here and it also change from one minute to the next. It was a perfect way to finish up this trip and when you hear divers coming up with. Wow! MY God! hey where were the humpback whales I ordered? and best dive of my life!
Divemaster Sten
Surface: Mostly sunny , easy swell, calm wind
Water: Mostly very good Viz up to easy 100ft some times, green water has always a poor viz to 30 ft. Just to stay above it. NO CURRENT!! Easy surge.
Tags: bottlenose dolphin, dolphins, giant manta, Hammerhead shark, humpback whales, Punta Tosca, Revillagigedos, Socorro, socorro island, whaleshark
Posted in Cabo Pearce, Cabo Pearse, Captains Log, Destinations, Galapagos Shark, Giant Mantas, Hammerhead shark, Humpback Whale, Manta, Nautilus Explorer, Punta Tosca, Revillagigedos, Roca Partida, Socorro, Socorro Island, Whalesharks, bottlenose dolphin, dolphin, silvertip reef shark | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, December 30th, 2009
Dave/ Dec 30 \nautilus explorer- Soccorro island
Diving started with hammerheads, then slow at the Boiler at San Benedicto Island and then on to Soccorro Islands. The first day current was ripping. The only players were a silvertip and two whitetips. Next morning off to Punta Tosca, Soccorro Island. early morning dive, not much, only one hammerhead shark and a giant manta from the distance. Then things heated up. second dive manta encounter at 20 feet for 10 minutes, swimming upside down, staring a remora in the eye and exhaling into the gills, the manta slowed, waiting for more bubbles. Next dive, another encounter 20 minutes at 10 feet, after while no one around, except Edward, me and a 20 foot manta – she was a “player”, you just don’t feel the same after staring mantas in the eye for a couple of minutes and then having her swim with you to the boat and looking sad as you leave the water, pretty awesome, stay tuned…
Susan:Manta Magic The giant mantas have welcomed us to their home waters around Socorro Island and we are all pleased. Although we have seen hammerheads, white tip sharks and a range of reef life the rays have us all mesmerized.
eddie/dec 30 on board the nautilus.
i would have liked to report some other things than diving but i unfortunately cannot. the reason to our first major encounter with the pacific giant manta.
we had seen it in our first 2 days of diving but today was different : 5 divers and the manta dancing around each other for 45 minutes of eye to eye contact, upside down diving. unforgettable. the octopus i spent 20 minutes with at the end of the day also gets credit, as well the crew and the pampering and the food, as always, but tonight i’ll be falling asleep with manta dancing in my mind.
Tags: giant manta, Hammerhead shark, ocotpus, Punta Tosca, San Benedicto, socorro island, The Boiler
Posted in Animals, Destinations, Giant Mantas, Guest Blog, Hammerhead shark, Manta, Octopus, Punta Tosca, San Benedicto, Socorro, The Boiler, silvertip reef shark, whitetip reef shark | 1 Comment »
