40 years of diving brought myself to this fantastic day of diving on San Benedicto Island a solo personal encounter with four wild dolphins surrounding me at 40 feet ascending from the Canyon ridge. The encounter went on for several minutes as there were dolphin whistling to each other, two of them turned onto their backs staring at me from three feet away. Four dives on the Canyon ridge today, 8-12 foot large Galapagos sharks (up to 400 lbs) in significant numbers essentially surrounding us with the utmost curiosity. In two whole weeks at Cocos Island, Costa Rica I never had an encounter of this magnitude.
Dan H. | Los Angeles, California
So, over the years I show my non-diving friends (could there be such a thing?) the underwater video and pictures I take. They all look in amazement of the shots of the sharks. Are you crazy they ask? Well today was an absolutely crazy day. Every dive, BIG sharks. Really big. Like heart thumping big, a meter away, coming right at you. No cage. One in front of you, another coming in from behind you. They say the sharks can feel your heart race. Do they see my eyes bugging out too? Twelve feet long, muscular, hunting. Magnificent, powerful, an apex predator staring at me, coming closer. What a great, wonderful and totally crazy day!!!!
Mark Freedman | Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Close encounters of a shark kind: Day 3. San Benedicto. Canyon.
Returned back to the Canyon at Socorro Island today. Since we were the only boat in town we were able to park right near the sweet spot. Short drop down to 80 to 90 feet and sit on the bottom and wait. Only took a few minutes for the show to begin and begin it did! Large hammerheads (10 to 15 feet) and duskies would swim by within 20 feet or so. If we all stayed still they would swim closer and on my last dive I hit a home run and a 15 foot hammerhead swam within 5 feet of me (I have the film to prove it). I stared right into his eye on his hammer. Wonder what he was thinking? The audio on my video shows I held my breath for 10 seconds while he went by!! Visibility was not the greatest (30 to 40 feet), but good enough to see the action.
Tomorrow to Roca Partida, hopefully new stuff. Crew continues to excel. The cook bakes the bread and pastries. Even with 4 dives per day I may come back heavier than I came. Water is plenty comfortable with a 5mm suit and a 3mm cap. Ready for tomorrow.
Preston | San Diego/Del Mar
Si en la primera inmersion del viaje (check dive) ya ves dos tiburones martillo y dos mantas, puedes intuir que se trata de un destino muy especial. Al cabo de tres dias de viaje, las expectativas iniciales ya se han cubierto plenamente y aun queda lo mejor ∑ Roca Partida, otros tres dias. El viaje justifica plenamente cada euro que cuesta, lastima que este tan lejos para nosotros. (besos para mi mujer y mi nino, que los echo mucho de menos)
Javier | Sevilla (Spain)
"Are you crazy?!". My friend asked. The shark was heart thumping big, only a meter away. Socorro Islands, San Benedicto, Mexico.
