Socorro Liveaboard - Nautilus Under Sea
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.
The Boat
The Nautilus UnderSea is a legendary liveaboard with a rich history, originally launched in 1968 as a submarine support vessel before gaining fame as the Undersea Hunter exploring Cocos Island and the South Pacific. After a major refit in 2017—including an extended hull, modern superstructure, bulbous bow, and stabilization system—the UnderSea was transformed into a comfortable and reliable vessel for expeditions to Socorro and beyond. Despite its compact size, it offers a spacious layout, warm atmosphere, and a dive-focused experience.
Accommodating up to 19 guests in 9 ensuite cabins, the UnderSea features a range of room categories, including a wheelchair-accessible stateroom, an affordable triple, and a premium suite on the sun deck with hot tub access. Divers enjoy a huge dive deck, camera stations, and a water-level platform, along with amenities like satellite internet, a fully stocked bar, nitrox, and rebreather support. It’s an intimate, adventure-ready liveaboard with the soul of a diving pioneer.
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 wit
Day 8
Crossing back to Cabo San Lucas
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 minut
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.
Boat Images
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.
Cancellation Policy
To confirm your reservation, the following payment schedule applies:
• 25% deposit: due within 7 days of booking.
• Second 25% payment: due 4 months prior to the departure date.
• Final 50% balance: due 60 days before departure.
For bookings made within 60 days of departure, full payment is required at the time of booking.
⸻
Bookings are non-refundable and non-transferable within 12 months of the departure date, except in the case where the boat departs at 100% occupancy at non-discounted rates.
In that case, you may choose to:
• Transfer the full amount paid to a future booking, or
• Request a refund, minus an administration fee of $175 USD per berth.
Very responsive on what’sapp and gave clear information on the tour and how to get there. The place is very pretty! The tour guide and the boat captain were friendly. We had 4 stops in our snorkel tour as planned. Visibility was not great , but it was still amazing. I hope to go back for scuba diving one day. I also liked that they keep things real: (1) do not try to sell things that may not happen (due to nature), (2) they do not put additional fees - what they tell you is what you pay (very different than other tours I have seen around Los Cabos) One point to highlight is that the boat is small, so if the ocean is rough it may not be the best for people that get sea sickness.
Anna Galvão
May 2025
Incredible how the mobulas look and the entire team is very professional and super friendly.
Karime Lahud
May 2025
Excellent service and experience. I've had several experiences with them, and everything has been great.
Pepe Garme
May 2025