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Giants Manta Wings Waving Goodbye – Great White Shark Teeth Grinning Hello! From Socorro to Guadalupe.

Wednesday, June 23rd, 2010
Divemaster Dan here.  Writing from Vancouver, British Columbia where I left the warm water and wonderful pelagics behind for “doing time” in the office (it’s actually really easy – I just talk to  people all day about how cool it is to have a staring contest with a Great White Shark from only 4 feet away, or what it feels like to ‘dance’ with a Manta Ray)!
So I haven’t posted in a while and I thought I’d drop by with a little note to update everyone on some of the very exciting things happening on the Nautilus Explorer.
The Socorro season ended well.  The last trip combined diving the Revillagigedo Islands (Socorro) where all our favorite friends came out to say good bye – Dolphins, Hammerhead Sharks, Whale Sharks and of course the Giant Mantas (check out the pictures below) – and the Sea of Cortez, where we were reminded of just how much Baja, Mexico has to offer: Sea Lions were the most welcoming – maybe TOO welcoming (next time you see hostess Ashley, ask her about her new camera being a sea lion’s snack!), octopus, stingrays and the photographer’s favorite macro subjects: Nudibranchs and Seahorses!
So what now? Well as I type this, one of the largest crews we’ve ever had onboard (about 25 people) are all hard at work finishing up a huge overhaul on the boat in Ensenada.  You, our guests, have made your suggestions and comments over the years and we have listened.  The next time you see the Nautilus Explorer you will find a brand new head on the dive deck.  So no more how-fast-can-I-rip-my-wetsuit-off dances to get down to your cabin head in time! We have also done away with our dorms.  Instead we have converted one of our staterooms into a triple occupancy room with full air-conditioning and an en suite bathroom for more privacy and comfort.  If you already have a booking in the old dorm, no worries, you will be upgraded to the triple at no additional cost.
And the big change that is going to have everyone talking:  Two new luxury, high-end suites added to our hot tub deck.  The new Dofleini suite has all the comfort and space of the Nautilus and Rosario suites.  Then there is the brand new Emerald suite, our premium accommodation with “all the fixings”.  A very private bedroom with a queen size Simmons Beauty rest mattress with pocket coils for ultimate comfort.  Two plasma TVs; one in the bedroom and the other in the Emerald suite`s private lounge.  Also in the lounge is a futon providing additional sleeping space.  Sitting on this couch you can look out of the suites window and enjoy spectacular views of the ocean and islands.
We have also dropped our single occupancy rates as we know for some folks, having a little more space and privacy is very important.  Give us a call or send an email and we will be happy to tell you about out different rates.
If you are on our email list, keep an eye out for our latest newsletter, hot of the press.  It will have more details on the new layout and some great photos and diagrams too.  If you are not on the email list and want to be, go to our website www.nautilusexplorer.com and feel free to sign up.  Otherwise, just drop us an email or phone and we will be happy to add you to the list.
Also we are thrilled to announce that our Grand Prize draw for all 50/50 entrants has been made and the winners will all be announced in the upcoming Newsletter.  We have given away over 25 great prizes including a free trip to Guadalupe or Socorro, pay for one and your friend comes free and lots of free upgrades and free rentals and your bar-tab paid for etc…So be sure to check that out!
Thank you for all your support of our conservation efforts in Socorro and Guadalupe.  Together, we have raised over $140,000 dollars!  Find more details on that in the newsletter.
And after the refit is done?  We have a few Channel Islands trips and then it’s all about Guadalupe.  Here we go again! 102 different sharks and counting.  We are all looking forward to seeing some of our favorites like Stumpy, Bruce, Chica and Shredder.  And of course we hope to make a few new friends this season.  We have had a lot of bookings and the season is filling up fast.  However, its not too late to snag the Emerald suite or maybe get a last minute berth in the new triple stateroom.  Please send us an email, call us or check out the website for detailed information on availability and schedules.
Well that is it for me.  I better get back to work here!  Enjoy the photos (my favorite is the one of the crew making the end-of-season, celebratory leap off the back of the boat!)
Dan

Thanks to DM Peter Schalkwijk, Captain Gordon Kipp and Jacqueline Weideli for the photos.

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Posted in Animals, British Columbia, Captains Log, Channel Islands, Destinations, Ensenada, Giant Mantas, Great White Shark, Guadalupe Island, Hammerhead shark, Manta, Nautilus Explorer, Revillagigedos, Socorro, Socorro Island, Whalesharks, dolphin, mexico, nudibranch | No Comments »

Orange seahorse that we spotted here 2 weeks ago has moved a total of 2 metres — mate and diveguide log – Nautilus Explorer – May 30, 2010

Sunday, May 30th, 2010

Another successful trip!

I’m writing this by the pale, ghostly light of a full moon shining over a flat calm sea on a warm night near San Jose del Cabo, driving the Nautilus Explorer back to port after a 12 day trip to the Socorro Islands and the Sea of Cortez.

What a beautiful night. It’s nights like these that make me glad to be a seafarer, and although I’d like to say the weather’s like this all the time at , our friends who have been on previous trips will be quick to tell you that we’re not always so lucky! That doesn’t detract from the beauty of tonight, however.

We’ve been blessed with beautiful conditions for most of this trip, save perhaps the sole exception of a rather bumpy transit north from Socorro to the Sea of Cortez. Nothing that the Nautilus Explorer’s beautifully and very strongly built steel stability hull can’t handle, and nothing our guests couldn’t take care of with suntanning and napping! And to top it off, as soon as we made our turn around the Baja California into the Sea of Cortez the seas dropped down to nothing and we’ve enjoyed 4 days of glassy smooth weather.

I’ve got some new underwater memories from this trip, including a dive I did with our new deckhand Tess, at Cabo Pearce. Boy that was some current! Hanging on to our (very prudently and thoughtfully placed) descent line we felt like flags in a stiff breeze! There were 2 beautiful Giant Manta Rays gliding effortlessly through the easily 2 knot current, and they approached us eyeball to eyeball as if to ask us what we were doing in that kind of current!

I also dove in Los Islotes, in the Sea of Cortez, again with Tess and our chief engineer Larry. Boy those are some curious and playful Sea Lions! The hardest part of the dive is keeping your head on enough of a swivel to keep track of these sleek animals rocketing through the water around you, as if to finally drive home how clumsy and awkward we humans are in the marine environment. Photographing sea lions at play is a challenge to say the least! You have to be quick with a shutter.
Well, back to the job at hand, driving the Nautilus Explorer through this moonlit night. I’m looking forward to one last trip to the Socorro Islands and the Sea of Cortez before saying goodbye to Baja California Sur for this season. We had a great one, and made lots of new friends and new memories. Now bring on the Great White Sharks of Guadalupe!
Sandy Curtis

Espirito Santo and la Reina , Sea of Cortez Baja California Sur. Mexico

So I took the computer and am sitting on the top deck writing this log. I am looking to the west and see the sky red , orange by the mountains of Baja California Peninsula as the sun went down since an hour ago down looking to the south a fullmoon has risen first deep red and have now been changing colour to silver. The sea is flat.

To come up in the sea of Cortez is making such a change in caracter above water as well under beneith compared with Islas Revillagigedo that always moves and is more dramatic. It is nice to during the same and one trip meet two totally different seas. The big stuff in the Socorro islands and then a bit slower paste and more slow meditative diving in the Sea of Cortez. And the amount of fish this waters has!! Tousands and ten tousands of schooling scads and grunts , Creol fish that just in a never ending traffic like rush hour in Mexico City it just comes and comes and comes. Then for those who want to get harrased by the playful sealion, spinning around you and makes you feeel as agile as a refrigerator.

Or go for a nudibranchunt , or blennies and gobies , want to see a few houndred pufferfish, I mean schools of them? Go to the wreck salva tierra. It is loaded of them. And snappers and groupers. Or the funny looking bluespotted jaw fish peeking up with its head looking like kermit from the muppet show. And its big brother the finespotted jaw fish that reah up to 40 cm in lenght. Kormorand birds hunting under water swimming quickly trying to grab the scads. You can just park your self at a spot and sit there and watch. On top we still see dolpins, common dolpins today, we still had a left over humpback and the mobula rays that are juming high up in the air looking like they try to fly but lands with a big splash back in water. Or snorkel with the whaleshark by the mogote. And in the evening jump on a beach of thean island and get away  and take in total stillness watching the sun settle behind the mountain of Baja. It is just a beautiful place to have as a change now after been working down in Revillagigedo To actually work where I started 8 years ago and close to home. Diving in my backyard and show people this pearl of the planet. We finished up our days diving at la Reina . Lots of playful sea lion and , the orange seahorse that we spotted here for 2 weeks ago had moved maybe two meters since last.

Good way to end up the trip and for me to take a vacation for a month and next time meet up with Nautilus Explorer in Ensenada to start a exploratory dive trip to isla Guadelupe the 3 of July.

Until then dive safe.

Sten

Surface conditions Sunny hot 32-34 C south slow wind in the Sea of Cortez

Underwater conditions Viz was a bit low as 8-12 M best this trip in la Reina with 15 M temp varies a lot from 21-26C Low 70s to 80 F This trip mild current

Posted in Baja California, Cabo Pearce, Captains Log, Destinations, Giant Mantas, Great White Shark, Guadalupe Island, Humpback Whale, Los Islotes, Nautilus Explorer, Revillagigedos, Sea of Cortez, Socorro, Socorro Island, sealions | No Comments »

25 different species of coral at Socorro Island and more diversity than in all the mexican pacific + voyage into the Sea of Cortez – crew and guest log – May 28, 2010

Saturday, May 29th, 2010

This is my last trip of the season to Socorro Island, with a group of German divers and a mexican researcher Laura Escoboza which has a Master degree in Marine Biodiversity and conservation at Scripps Institution of Oceanography in Ca, USA. I made a couple of dives with her and she share her observation she found 25 different species of coral. These islands is where you can find more coral diversity in all the mexican pacific. Between those species you can find pocillopora captata, P. Verruscosa, P. Meandrina, pavona gigantea, to name a few. Between the dive sites the Boiler hold the most variety, although it is the smaller place. Most of the coral larvas come from the Indopacific sea where is located the golden triangle of coral. I found this interesting and is good to have researchers working on this amazing place which is too remote and hard to come but thanks to the people like Capt. Mike Lever, owner of the Nautilus Explorer, and other dive operators it has been possible. Also Mike Lever been a pioneer and founder of the Nautilus Foundation in cooperation with other dive operators in the area and thanks to all our guests that have been helping with their donations and been involved in benefit of our beloved islands, Mantas, sharks, dolphins, you name it we have it! We hope to protect them. Soon will be time to leave to another spectacular place, a new adventure Guadalupe Island Great White Shark submersible cage diving. I can’t wait!  If you want to know how the Germans liked my last trip, they said Fantastic!   Divemaster Pedro

Another adventure in the Sea of Cortez, since the beautiful sunrise that I saw today to the calm ocean, it’s interesting how some guests don’t want to miss any dives, and others are happy to enjoy the sun and the great view of the hills. This is a group of Germans, tranquilo, and very nice they get happy to see everyday the sunset. They look like they are so relaxed and are without worries. That is they way to have a vacations! Diving, relaxing and see all the wonderful places that we have, like Socorro and the Sea of Cortez. One more day in the paradise, what else can we ask for?   Hostess Silvia

Today was an exciting day for the divers. First, whale sharks, then playing with sea lions, then exploring a wreck! All in one day! What an adventure! Tonight for dinner we had an assortment of delicious pastas. It’s one of my favourite dinners of the whole trip – I’m a sucker for spaghetti! And Juan Carlos does a delicious meat sauce with lamb. Mmm mmm! Oh, and my caramel cinnamon squares this afternoon were a huge hit! Yay!

Sadly, the trip is nearing it’s end. One more day of diving in the Sea of Cortez. We’re going back to Los Islotes to play with the sea lions again tomorrow. I’ll have a chance to get in the water too, and I’ll be sure to bring my camera! The divers have already taken some great photos of the sea lions, I’m excited to get some pictures of my own!    ’Till next time…   Hostess Ashley

Another great day with a Great crew on an awesome ship.  Besides the weather being great so was the diving and company.  To start with I took a few guests on a site seeing tour and had some close experiences with some Sea Lions,we took some pictures and almost got close enough to pet them.  Later in the day I had a great dive with our friendly Mate,Sandy.  We saw lots of tropical fish and played with a young sea lion (hope the pictures and video turns out)  Off to La Reina.  That’s all for now
Chief Engineer Larry

The trip is about to end, tomorrow will be our last diving day, and suddenly you want to extend the day more than 24 hours. It has been a one of a kind experience! Socorro Island is a  healthy ecosystem; you can find little species, such as sea cucumbers and urchins, all the way to the big ones (silky sharks, mantas, false killer whales). Also Revillagigedo represents the most diverse place in the Mexican Pacific regarding corals, a total of 25 species have been register here and it exists the possibility to make the list longer since the islands are a stepping point of the larvae that make it from the Indo-Pacific. I also noticed that many fish species are some how “unafraid” and really curious, I never had experience something like that and maybe it has to do with the fact that there is no fishing allowed and that the amount of scuba divers is really reduce. Hopefully all the conservation efforts that have been put up will grow and continue, Nautilus Explorer is one of the several actors pushing for better and greater actions. At the end you will have a true wild diving experience!! And to top it all we had the chance to visit several places at Sea of Cortez. The experience couldn’t have been so great with out the terrific crew members that help you and go beyond what ever you need. And if you feel like learning how to fill tanks and basic boat procedures, they will do that for you. Thanks to all for making the trip so fun and unforgettable. I leave with an expanded horizon of ecological information and, most importantly, with good friends.    Laura Escobosa

Photos taken by Robert Wilpernig and DM Sten Johannson

Posted in Animals, Captains Log, Destinations, Great White Shark, Guadalupe Island, Guest Blog, Los Islotes, Manta, Nautilus Explorer, Revillagigedos, Sea of Cortez, Silky Sharks, Socorro, Socorro Island, The Boiler, Whalesharks, dolphin, sealions, shark | No Comments »

Yellow-fin tuna hunting underwater and then becoming prey when false killer whales moved in on us – Captain, hostess and guest blog – May 22, 2010

Saturday, May 22nd, 2010

More great diving at the one of a kind Roca Partida today, despite the wind and choppy sea state. For those of you not familiar with Roca Partida, from the surface it is nothing more than a rock, roughly 200 ft long by 100 ft high, jutting up in mid-pacific, hundreds of miles from any mainland and 65 miles from the closest island, Isla Socorro. It is covered in booby-bird guano and of course the boobies themselves, giving it a whitish hue. Because of it’s small size and location it does not offer any protection for us from the weather, so when we anchor out here we are literally anchored in open ocean. Luckily in these days of communications we receive daily updates on weather from Captain Mike who studies and watches the computer weather models very closely.  that basically decide when we can come dive out here. It has made diving at Roca Partida a lot more comfortable than in times past. Today unfortunately we did have to deal with some less than ideal weather conditions, inevitable from time to time. A fresh breeze from the North West made the seas quite choppy and made getting into the dive tenders a little more of an adventure! But, as always, we prevailed and managed to get in 4 great dives. Again today not as sharky as Roca Partida can be, but instead our guests enjoyed a huge school of yellow-fin tuna, hundreds (or maybe thousands??) of them hunting the food-rich waters surrounding the rock. To see a yellow-fin tuna hunt underwater is quite impressive. Usually the first thing you see is a huge school of fish suddenly scattering, followed by a sound like thunder as the tuna rocket out of the blue into the school of panicked fish. As fast as these tuna can swim, they can also be food for some bigger animals like the false killer whales, which appear similar to pilot whales. With so many tuna around right now we were not surprised to see a big pod of these impressive animals as we made our way back in the tenders after one of our dives today. They seem to be attracted to the noise of the outboard engines, so as the pod of 30-50 converged on us, all onboard donned their snorkel gear and backrolled into the blue to be surrounded by the curious animals. To keep their attention I had all the snorkelers in a tight group and drove the zodiac in circles around them, exciting the false killer whales as they danced and whirled around us for around 10 minutes. A great show!

Tonight we depart for Isla Socorro, where we will spend the next two days diving in search of more Giant Pacific Manta Rays and…who know what else??

Talk soon,

Captain Gordon Kipp

Surface conditions: Wind 15-20 kts, seas 6-7′ chop, mostly clear skies, air temp 78-80F

Water conditions: Visibility good to excellent 20-30m (65-100ft), water temp 76F, current moderate to strong

I dove “The Boiler” yesterday. If you know Socorro Island, you know that “The Boiler” is famous for its intimate interaction with the giant mantas. Sadly, there were no “Friendly Giants” around for my dive. (Although the divers before me saw 3 mantas!) Everything else was perfect for diving today – the sun was bright and warm, so much so that I could feel its warmth at 80ft down!, there was virtually no current to speak of, visibility was over 120ft… – the site was brimming with lively activity. Since I did not have any mantas to play with, I took the opportunity to examine the small things on the rock that are always overshadowed by the giant mantas. I saw a flounder for the first time! I saw a type and color of starfish I’d never seen before! I saw white-tip sharks, moray eels, lobster, box fish, yellowfin tuna, moorish idols and butterfly fish! I saw my favourite fish, the porcupine fish! Being a girl from the Canadian Prairies, places like “The Boiler” are a far-cry from home – no wheat fields! So I always try to seize every underwater moment I can. Although I did not see mantas today, I did develop a renewed appreciation for all things under the sea, big AND small.  I’d say that’s a good dive! ‘Till next time…  Hostess Ashley

Hai,Hai,Hai

wir haben heute einen Schnellkurs in “maentisch” bekommen und hatten tolle Interaktionen mit Mantas – unglaublich aber wahr. Es hat geblasen ohne Ende, die Sicht war maessig – aber trotzdem sehr, sehr geile Tauchgaenge ! Am Morgen hatten wir noch als Zugabe eine Hammerhaischule mit mind. 30 Tieren und der “Maennertauchgang” am Nachmittag war einer Feldstudie der pazifischen Leopardenflunder (Bothus Leopardinus) vorbehalten. Wir brechen jetzt auf in die unendlichen Weiten des Pazifics nach San Benedicto und harren der Dinge, die dort auf uns warten. LG Wir (Daniela und Martin aus Mannheim, Michael aus Idar-Oberstein, Joerg und Steffi aus Ludwigshafen)From Germany

Today we had three dives with Mantas (black and chevron) eye in eye at Cabo Pearce (Socorro Island) interacting with us, swimming up to us, hovering directly over us and enjoying the bubbles, crossing from diver to diver. At the end of the dive they were following us to the surface and seeming sad, that we were leaving them alone, but greeting us happily when we were returning for the next dive. All we had to do was waiting calmly in the water and sooner or later a manta would come up to us and trying to look in our eyes or taking a bubble bath. We saw some dolphins but they weren’t interested in us and the hammerhead we saw was circling in the blue. In the afternoon the current was getting stronger and we felt like a flag hanging on the rope of the anchor. With greetings from a wonderful trip (and it’s going on!) Bettina & Roland from Egelsbach, Germany


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Posted in Cabo Pearce, Captains Log, Destinations, Giant Mantas, Guest Blog, Moray Eel, Roca Partida, Socorro, Socorro Island, The Boiler, Tuna, dolphin, hammerhead, whales, whitetip reef shark | No Comments »

Captain’s log – Duncan the stowaway on our Socorro Island trip. He is a wee bit smaller than a manta. May 16, 2010.

Sunday, May 16th, 2010

Hello,

Much time has passed and great distances sailed this week; From our outbound Cabo San Lucas departure to Socorro Island, we have visited the three islands in the Revillagigedos Group in Latitude 18North, then all the way up to 24North in the Sea of Cortez. An 850 Nautical Mile journey to see everything from our usuals: Manta and Hammerhead sharks to some unusuals: False Killer Whale, California Sealions, Wahoo  -  and a Brown Headed Cowbird.

This Cowbird, which I named ‘Duncan’ (from the celtic for ‘brown headed’) made his presence aboard known on our first day of the Southbound Transit when he flew into the wheelhouse from the deck.

I don’t mind saying that I love birds,  they are my wildlife interests in these voyages. We have great birds in Mexico not seen in Canada, like the Magnificent Frigatebird who has the longest wingspan to body length ratio of any bird and is a near constant companion soaring for hours at our masthead with a momentum matching the ship. And the comical ‘Booby’, one of the only seabirds with forward sited eyes, rather like a human. A bit of a feather brains, these birds populate our foredeck when at anchor and then stare lamely up at the sky without the vaguest clue how to achieve it. Pre-departure, I go forward and gamely pick them up to toss overboard; I once saw one trying to squeeze his seagull sized frame through an aperture in the deck not larger than his body, all the while flapping its wings to reach the sea and sky before him.. and after 10 minutes of trying he made it through.. didn’t think to just fly up?
Cowbird was our mascot. For six days the bird was’ imprisoned’ in the confines of the ship, freedom to wander about but being a landbird, not able to return from sea. Its not uncommon for us to inadvertantly transplant finches and the like from Cabo to Socorro; I find them on the Sundeck under a lounger looking doleful at the cheerless prospect of never seeing land again. The first scent of the islands on the horizon and they break away for them. Not Duncan. He stayed day in and day out and my hopes were in returning him somehow to his home in the Baja. He took our offerings of water and bisquit as he took to our programme of diving; every divetime he would watch the deck activities with interest from his perch above, then with increasing absorbtion he would skitter across the dive deck between the feet of our guests chasing the tiny larval crabs that are washed up on deck.

Duncan was a favorite, by day three he was eating out of our hands and posing for photos with the guests. Unfortunately, we’ll never know how he fared for by the morning of our Northbound transit Duncan was not in his usual places nor did he appear again. A moderate breeze out of the Northwest was giving us gusts to 20 knots and seas to 8 feet.  The only lively seas in our whole voyage. I don’t think a Brown Headed Cowbird can make Baja from over a hundred seamiles out, and athough he was astute enough not to strand himself at the Revillagigedos, I hope he did turn back to Isla San Benedicto to await our return. He was a most welcomed stowaway and I do wish him well.

Captain Marco

Photos supplied by Sten Johannson and Victor Silva – thank you.

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Posted in Animals, Cabo San Lucas, California Sealions, Captains Log, Destinations, Hammerhead shark, Revillagigedos, San Benedicto, Socorro Island, mexico | No Comments »

Return to the Sea of Cortez for some really nice diving brings back memories – dive guide log – 14 MAY 2010

Saturday, May 15th, 2010

So after finishing up last day diving in San Benedicto and Socorro Island with A LOT of hammerhead sharks at the Canyon and actually no big animals at the Boiler we decided to run north to the Sea of Cortez for a couple of days of scuba diving. . We met som decent waves on our way up north that made the activity on board was a litle less then normal. Coming in to Sea of Cortez we met flat sea and started of with a whale shark search bby the mogote, we had 3 whalesharks , but not for so long. So we went up to Swanne reef and did an hour and a half dive on the shallow reef. Playing with a group of california sealions and watching various small neat cleaning stations. Coming from Revillagigedos all the time scanning the blue water for big animals , Sea of Cortez makes a nice change to dig our heads in to the sand and rocks looking at fish beahviour and nudibranchs, kind of contemplation.. well until the sealions comes to bug us!

Ah ! We also watched the bird Cormorant fishing under water. It reminds me of some kind of stressfull cartoon caracter speeding around the rocks after fish.

We ended the first day in the sea of Cortez with a night dive at los Islotes. Great spot to see a lot of stuff coming out at night you would never see at day here. Like the seaslug the sea hare , up to a foot long and having a strange behaviour to stick its head in the but of an other sea hare…The biggest sea hare can get are up to 14 kg!! Even if ours here had just gets up to a kg. The arch gets full of yellow cup corals that blooms and make the walls golden.

Our second day we did two dives at Los islotes, we let our Rebreather divers have the possibilities here to make 3 hour dive if they wanted. It is a good place to do so, as it is easier to  have control watching over the divesite.

Sealions and fish, big groupers in shallow waters. Viz was not the best though.
As a lat dive we steamed down to La Reina and had a bunch of sealions playing around. A lot of  male youngsters now days in the spring that have been chased away from Los Islotes  by the the bigger bulls. A little surprice was to see a orange seahorse hanging hard on a barnacle in a sweeping current.

A nice dive to end the trip with. Actually we had some of our guests that said that the best dive of the trip was the first dive and the last dive.

Surface conditions: Sunny , flat water. 30 C

Underwater conditions: all from 21-25 C 72-76F Calm water except La Reina that was a bit “windy”

Dive guide Sten

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Posted in Animals, Captains Log, Destinations, Hammerhead shark, Los Islotes, Revillagigedos, San Benedicto, Sea of Cortez, Socorro Island, Whalesharks, sealions | No Comments »

We have been having a free passenger since Cabo .. he likes to sleep under the rescue boat at night.. dive guide log. Socorro Island. 12 May 2010

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

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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 »

Obama followed us today! The giant manta that is!!! The Boiler dive site, San Benedicto Island. Socorro. Dive guide log – April 30/10.

Monday, May 3rd, 2010

So back to the Boiler again! Today it was a bit windy and current was quite strong for being the boiler. But soon we had giant mantas again. Today a chevron male manta turned up first and followed by a huge Chevron female that was very curious and stayed a big part of the day. But our manta that followed us today was a black manta called Obama, though it is a she.

I’ve seen her several times before and she has a funny behaviour. She comes in close to you and just when you think she almost will hit you she makes a loop and lays with her beautiful anchor patterned belly letting the light catch it and very photogenic so to say. She followed us for long time today over and over. We stopped filming early today cause the light was a bit poor cause of clouds so we went for a fun dive at the canyon. At a moment we saw just a couple of silver tip sharks and then for a sudden a wall of hammerheads. We went hiding by the rocks , but they never came back.

Surface conditions: Windy and choppy and cloudy. temp 25 C

Underwater conditions: 25 C , 75 F Good viz ca 70-100ft. Current , not much of surge.

Dive guide Sten

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Posted in Animals, Captains Log, Destinations, Giant Mantas, Hammerhead shark, San Benedicto, Socorro, Socorro Island, The Canyon, hammerhead, silvertip reef shark | 1 Comment »

The start of our annual expedition to Clipperton Island with an enroute stop at Socorro plus some trip pic’s. k- April 12, 2010

Monday, April 12th, 2010

On the Nautilus Explorer we love adventure.  We cater to experienced scuba divers looking for challenging diving.  Folks who share our passion for adventure, venturing off the beaten track, diving with big animals and exploring new areas. Sounds like a tall order huh!!   But that’s how we got  started diving in northern B.C. and Alaska  -  nobody had ever tried to run a dive boat there but even after 10 years of Alaska operations, we are still continuously discovering new dive sites, new species of animals and pushing the envelope diving cool situations such as icebergs, large numbers of giant stellar sealions or  fields of millions of moon jellies.  Just wait until we start operations into the Aleutian Islands.  At the other end of the “water temperature” spectrum, we have been exploring the outer coast of Baja California, Mexico and venturing further south to places like the remote coral atoll of Clipperton Island.  Heck, very few people have ever stepped foot onto Clipperton and we are the first and only dive boat loco enough to stage trips out there.   The adventure continues and the Nautilus has just departed Cabo San Lucas for our second ever trip to Clipperton.  Stay tuned for lots of logs and blogs over the next 2 weeks.   Cheers for now and hope you can join us soon.  Captain Mike.
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Also know as Isle of Passion, the French atoll Clipperton Atoll is our main destination for this 15 day expedition. After leaving Cabo San Lucas, Mexico we enjoyed another great transit south with calm seas all the way to San Benedicto, Socorro Islands, where we stopped for two dives at the Boiler. We had a great show from numerous bottle-nose dolphins for the last two hours of transit time approaching San Benedicto, with the dolphins repeatedly leaping as high as 8-10 ft out of the water near our bow as we approached the island. Not normally a check-out dive location, with the favorable conditions on arrival we opted to head straight for the Boiler which has traditionally been one of our best Giant Manta Ray sites. Unfortunately the diving has been slow here for the last month, with only occasional manta sightings and sporadic interaction. The first 4 months of this year’s Socorro season was sizzling hot with animal sightings and interaction but we have been in a lull for the last month.  At least things seem to be on the uptick again. Visibility was low today at around 30 ft, water temp quite nice at 75-76F (24-25C). Big animal life again was a little slow, with one Giant Manta spotted cruising by, a couple hammerhead sharks and a few white-tipped reef sharks. After our two dives we again headed south, stopping at the Socorro navy base for our mandatory inspection, before setting out for the voyage to Clipperton Atoll.  Clipperton has an extremely rich and amazing history, way too much for me to go into right now. It is home to over 5 million land crabs, a half a million booby birds, and a huge moray population that has evolved the ability to emerge from the water to hunt the beach for the abundant land crabs. For us this week, it offers the opportunity to explore an island that is one of the most remote and least visited in the world. Certainly one of the least dived on as well. We are also supporting several scientific endeavors during the trip including shark tagging and placement of radio receivers to track the movement of Hammerhead sharks and Giant Manta Rays. The recent grounding of a maltese chemical tanker on the barrier reef at Clipperton will also give us the opportunity to examine the damage done to the reef by that incident.  ETA for Clipperton is the morning of the 14th and we are all looking forward to some great exploratory diving.
Lots more to come, check back soon for the latest updates!

Captain Gordon Kipp

Diving conditions at San Benedicto: Viz 30-40 ft, Water temp 75F (24C), current mild, moderate surge from the ground swell
Surface conditions: Sea height small to moderate with 13-15 sec. period (very comfortable!), air temp 75-82F (24-28C), mix of sun and clouds, high humidity

Pictures taken by Scott Davis.

Posted in Alaska, Baja California, British Columbia, Cabo San Lucas, Captains Log, Clipperton Island, Destinations, Giant Mantas, Hammerhead shark, Nautilus Explorer, San Benedicto, Socorro Island, The Boiler, bottlenose dolphin, dolphin, mexico, sealions, whitetip reef shark | No Comments »

Diveguide Sten speaks candidly about diving Socorro + guest logs in spanish and english – April 10, 2010

Saturday, April 10th, 2010

After my time diving and guiding here on the Island of Socorro and the Revillagigedos. It is now my 5th season and my trip number 54 down here. I skipped my work in palau to come back to Socorro. It is not easy diving and getting in to big animals are not easy. It takes patience. As a guide it gets sometimes a bit frustrating. Big animals are often careful, and you have to read current, water temperature, fishlife and look around and UP! I see often scuba divers being far to much speeding around , going deep for no use wasting their bottom time and air for no reason, and with jerky fast movements making big animals move on or not approach. Chasing animals does not work either. I use to compare it if you want to see a deer in the forest it does not help if you are running like a crazy breaking branches and scream at the same time… The same in big animal diving. Go slow, look around, if it is sharks and especially hammerheads ..hide , giant mantas let them come to you, stay as shallow as you can. Over and over again I see divers swimming fast away from me when I got a animal just in front of my nose and then divers comes up and say they did not see anything. I wished sometimes that people used us guides a bit more and followed us instead of running away from us. My time as a shephard is over with following divers My work is to go go where I beleive I find the animals and hope that our divers will trust me and look where I am looking;)

So yes we have schools of 100 hammerhead sharks here at Socorro, we just have to find the hot spot!

So we are back with two nice days with calm seas finishing up at Roca Partida. We got a few repeaters who has been come to be Roca Partida Junkies. I am admitting I am one..

Each dive each dive is different. And learn to searching of this special spot where current, temperature and fish life makes a certain spot hot. And when it is hot….WOW!! This time we managed to get on the spot a few times and in a time we got in just in a massive wall of hammerhead sharks, 100 and more, just turning up from nowhere and as well we have been taken by surprise they are gone again. We have some massive Galapagos and not afraid at all, i whispered them in and a few time s it got enough excitments and stopped when they got to close. Interesting to see yellow fin tunas following Galapagos sharks and strike them self against the shark. Why do they do that? Is it a defense or to scratch parasites of them. Seen them do the same against the great White shark when we operate in Guadalupe Island.

The beautiful silver tip shark was there as well. Great two days diving at the rock. We could see a few humpbacks and hear a few, but not that many as last trip. We had one pass by a manta, it did not want to stay and play.

After last dive we started to go up north back to Cabo San Lucas. We are having a calm trip going up north, charing pictures and sleeping , reading books amd a few films and talking before we get back to Cabo San Lucas. No wish to go there..after days like this at sea. Diveguide Sten

Surface conditions: Long medium swell, did not bother much our loading of divers. 30C and mostly sunny

Underwater condition: almost no current at all, almost to calm under water. 24-25 C 75-77F Viz between 50 and 60 feet and up to 100 foot on the best dives.

Guest logs….

Perfect day of diving at Roca Partida! Four dives each one as exciting as the others. More sea life than one can comprehend at one time. Delicious yellowfin tuna, hammerheads, Galapagos, whitetip sharks and a supporting cast of thousands. The boat is wonderful and they give us cookies after every dive, what a perfect slice of life!!

Wow! What a day at Roca Partida. The Hammers were out in force today. We also had a few encounters with Wahoo. jodi

Excellent day, super visibility, and several cool shark encounters with Hammers, Galapagos, and the white-tips stacked on top of each other on their balconys. Huge schools and highways of massive fish – Wahoo, Tuna, Jacks, etc. Wasn’t totally over the top for us, but Sven and the Italians claim to have seen a wall of 100 maybe 200 hammerheads at the end of the 3rd dive (when unfortunately we had to surface due to empty tanks)… Too much fun!!

Un dia lleno de tiburones, emociones, profundidad y mucho buceo no paramos de asombrarnos de ser invitados por Galapagos, Silkies, Hammer a una fiesta de excitacion y excelentes fotografias.
Susana B.

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Posted in Cabo San Lucas, Captains Log, Destinations, Galapagos Shark, Giant Mantas, Great White Shark, Guadalupe Island, Guest Blog, Humpback Whale, Revillagigedos, Roca Partida, Socorro, Socorro Island, Tuna, hammerhead, shark, silvertip reef shark | No Comments »

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