OMG!!! My first experience with giant mantas! I was not disappointed! Awesome! Fantastic! So friendly, graceful, and beautiful. They actually love being with us. They were waiting for us to play with them. I am so glad I booked this trip! If you want to see Giant Mantas this is the place to be. I have now one less thing to see or experience crossed off my bucket list. Thank you, Nautilus Explorer! Lisa Giudici, Fernie, BC.
First dives of the trip. As we are getting our dive briefing, divemaster Sten spots giant manta rays off to the side of the Nautilus, everybody is very exited. We all gear up quickly and get in the water, the giant animals do not disappoint. Within minutes we have somewhere between four and eight giant manta rays circling us. These creatures span 10 to 20 feet across. They block out the sun as they glide over top of you. Amazing!!!! Not shy at all, I’m sure one was posing for the cameras. They are the most amazing animals I have ever seen. We did three dives on this site and the manta’s were there for all of them. Along with the big stuff there were plenty of little fish to look at. I lost count of the number of lobsters, plus an octopus or two. Hi to everyone at home, looking forward to another great day tomorrow.
Patti and Lynn Richmond BC
Best check dive ever!
David Vik
First dive ever with Mantas! OMG!! Now I know why they’re called Giants!! Amazing life experience! So happy to be on the Nautilus Explorer! The crew is incredible and anyone who’s a diver needs to come and experience this!!!
Nathania & Pete, London, Ontario
After a few days alongside in Cabo San Lucas sprucing up the Nautilus Explorer after a very successful great white shark season we set off once again for the Socorro Islands. Heading south from the southern tip of Baja California it is an overnight journey to the island of San Benedicto, normally our first stop. The transit south was perfect with nothing more than a gentle breeze for the entire 24 hr journey and a long gentle swell that was just enough to rock us to sleep. It’s not always like this, of course, but tonight was just perfect. Just before arriving at San Benedicto we were greeted by dozens of bottlenose dolphins who came to surf our bow wake. On arrival and finding perfect conditions we headed straight for the Boiler. The Boiler is one of the divesites here at the islands famous for great Giant Manta Ray encounters. Immediately after anchoring we caught our first glimpse of one these beautiful, giant creatures from the stern of the vessel. This was enough to spur everyone on and before long divers were returning with tales of 4 or 5 giant manta rays playing with them for the entire dive. The surface conditions were flat and calm. Visibility was 80 ft of blue water, and the mantas stayed with us all day from the time we dropped the hook until the last diver climbed up the ladder. A total of 6 individual Manta Rays were identified, and divers also enjoyed some really big octopus, silver-tip sharks and white-tip reef sharks. Lots of smiling faces in the hot tub this evening and a few enjoying a well- deserved cold beer from the bar!
A gorgeous day to start the trip, tonight we head for Roca Partida in search
of more amazing marine wildlife.
Captain Gordon Kipp
Surface conditions: Seas calm, wind light, sky clear, air temp 80F (27C)
Diving conditions: Current mild, visibility 80 ft, water temp 78F (25.5C)
OMG. My first experience with giant mantas – Guest and Captain's Blog – 18 November, 2010
