Socorro Islands (Revillagigedo) - Nautilus
Socorro Islands (Revillagigedo)
Description
The World’s Friendliest Giant Mantas
You can see giant mantas in many places around the world. But nowhere else boasts a population of giant mantas that literally seek out interaction with divers and snorkellers. While mantas are the main reason to voyage out to Socorro, there are lots of other animals to see, including schooling hammerheads and silky sharks, plus 10 other species of sharks, bottlenose dolphins that consistently hang out with divers at certain dive sites, large schools of pelagic fish, and, in season, humpback whales.
Where is Socorro?
Socorro Island is a one day sail south of Cabo San Lucas, which is located at the southern end of Baja Mexico. We specialize in big animal diving at the cleaning stations of San Benedicto, Socorro, and Roca Partida.
Experience Manta Love
The behavior these giant mantas exhibit is almost inexplicable. These gentle giants with a wingspan up to 20 feet consistently approach divers for intimate eye-to-eye encounters. If you are able to be calm and still in the water, you are almost sure to experience what we call “manta love.”
Loads of sharks
You may also see up to 10 varieties of shark: schooling scalloped hammerheads, solitary giant hammerheads, Galápagos, whitetip reef, silver-tip, silky, tiger and oceanic whitetips. The list also includes whale sharks and dusky sharks and on occasion even a thresher shark.
There is more
Your journey with us will include four dives per day (subject to weather and unforeseeable circumstances)—each an opportunity to encounter resident pods of playful dolphins.
Reservation
Key Points
Guide language: Spanish, English
What's Included
- 8 or 10 nights accommodation
- Tanks, weights and weight belts.
- All meals (continental breakfast, breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert)
- Non-alcoholic beverages and snacks
- Daily room service
- Towels and onboard facilities such as the hot tub and lounge… and lots of fun!
- Over five full dive days you will be able to experience some of our favourite sites such as El Canyon, the Boiler, Red Rocks, Roca Partida, Cabo Pearse, Punta Tosca and Roca Oneal. We know that many of our guests want the option of as many dives as possible and we strive to offer an average of four dives a day other than the day that we do our mandatory check in at the local navy base when you will likely have the option of three dives. Note that weather conditions, Mother Ocean or crowding by some of our competitors may limit some diving.
Itinerary
Pre Trip
Flight to Cabo San Lucas (SJD, San Jose del Cabo)
Day 1
Your trip includes a complimentary Backscatter lesson this morning. Our photo pro’s will coach you on how to get that perfect manta image, help set up or service or repair your camera gear, assist with camera rentals and accompany you on our complimentary afternoon warmup dive for anyone headed out to Socorro. You are welcome to drop your bags off and check-in whenever it’s most convenient. We ask that you please be at the dive centre by 7 pm for 7:30 embarkation.
Day 2
Today is a traveling and relaxing day at sea. It is a one day run out to the islands. An orientation briefing will be held in the morning, followed by a fire and boat safety drill. A drill? On holiday? Don’t worry, it is for your safety but we will make it lots of fun. We are proud to have been the first, and some of the only, ISM safety certified passenger vessel dive boats in the world, the same safety certification as the largest cruise ships. We’ll keep you as busy as you like on this sea day with Manta 101 in the afternoon, then you will have a chance to prep your gear, read a book, relax on the sun deck or check out the movie selection on our onboard wifi. We will be watching for the “green flash” at sunset, and while cocktail hour is officially at 7 pm every evening, many of our guests enjoy some adult beverages well before that on sea days! We should arrive at San Benedicto Island that evening allowing you a calm night to relax and get a restful sleep before the next morning’s excitement of diving with the friendliest giant mantas in the world.
Days 3-7
Over five full dive days you will be able to experience some of our favourite sites such as El Canyon, the Boiler, Red Rocks, Roca Partida, Cabo Pearse, Punta Tosca and Roca Oneal. We know that many of our guests want the option of as many dives as possible and we strive to offer an average of 4 dives a day, other than the day that we do our mandatory check-in at the local navy base when you will likely have the option of 3 dives plus our world-famous silky shark night snorkel. When the weather is really good and the seas are calm, certain dive sites like Roca Partida might become crowded with 3 or 4 dive boats in which case park regulations restrict us to offering 3 dives maximum that day. We cater to divers of all experience levels with what we call “dive butler”. We will quickly zip self-reliant and highly experienced divers straight to the dive site when it opens. Encouraging our newer divers who would like to be with a divemaster from start to finish to take their time gearing up and splash 20 - 30 minutes later. Most divers are somewhere in the middle of this and we will shuttle them along with dive guides to the sites with our skiffs running back and forth like taxi cabs! Note that several dives may be quite challenging and not suitable for divers of lower experience levels. The number of dives on offer is subject to weather, the whims of Mother Ocean, and crowding by other diveboats. We will have other stuff going on to keep you as busy as you like with kayaks and paddle boards, shoreline tours, humpback whale watching (January to April), manta ID in the late afternoon and after-dinner presentations. Of course, it’s always your option to find a nice quiet place to relax with a book, have a nice snooze, or maybe have a splash in our sparkling clear hot tubs.
Day 8
We will likely get underway very early this morning for the voyage back to Cabo San Lucas. This is the perfect day to check out photos and videos with the new friends you made onboard, pack your dive gear up and take time to relax before reality sets back in. The islands, the mantas, the sharks and the dolphins are almost “other worldly” and we hope the magic stays with you for a long time.
Day 9
Always a sad time for us. It’s time to say goodbye and disembark the boat in Cabo at 8:30 am for either SJD airport or our dive center in Cabo San Lucas. It doesn’t have to be goodbye for long, we hope to see you again very soon.
Where
What's Not Included
Recommendations
Requirements
- Certified Divers.
- We recommend at least 30 dives of experience to enjoy more this trip.
- Guests are required to have medical and evacuation insurance from a recognized provider before participating in any of our activities. The policies are very affordable. We also highly recommend the optional purchase of trip interruption insurance, which covers everything from cancelled flights, weather delays, and lost baggage, to reimbursement if another guest has a medical issue that affects your trip. If you decline coverage, please note that we do not issue credits or refunds for anything that is beyond our immediate control.
Excellent service. Very kind and very good.
Dan Grinberg
December 2024
Diving instructions and the location itself in Cozumel were amazing. We've spent an hour discussing our dive on shore and once we gotten underwater and passed safety checks, there was a pure enjoyment of dive for next ~hour or so. Daniel Lomonaco, if you're reading this, just know that you're so much better than an average instructor.
Ilya Shigabeev
November 2024
Very attentive and excellent instructors. I was able to leave my dog in their care while we went on the boat.
Josefina Erosa
November 2024
