We awoke to a rising sun and Humpbacks breaching and tail slapping

Greetings from the legendary Roca Partida. Today was another example of
why Roca is one of the best dive sites around.

This morning we awoke to a rising sun and Humpbacks breaching. They were causing quite a ruckus jumping and tail slapping. We even watched two humpback swim within spitting distance of the boat. But by the time we got our gear, they were diving. Still a lot of fun to see...

We were met by some strong current from the south on our first dive. This created a little bit of a challenge, but nothing we weren't up for. The current created lots of fish to gather on the south point so that's where we wanted to be. We counted 10 or so Galapagos sharks, a few silver tips, and two hammerheads. During our safety stop we even witnessed a rare appearance of a mobila curiously swimming by.

We knew to expect the current on the second dive so we strategically placed ourselves well upcurrent. Fortunately, we drifted into a great spot and saw a large group of 30 hammerheads straight away. They circled in front of us and below us. There even seemed to be more that we couldn't see. We spent the dive going in and out of the ever present creolefish. We spotted many Galapagos sharks, especially at around 100 ft. They were keeping deep today. We also watched in awe as a humungous school of Yellowfin Tuna happened by. If you haven't seen this before it's breathtaking. Tuna by the hundreds thunder by, some the size of a small car. They move together and look into your eyes as if wondering why you were there. We drifted to the east side of the rock checking on the many white tip reef sharks nestled together on their ledges. We even bumped into a sea turtle, which is very rare for us here in Roca.

Upon surfacing from the second dive, we saw a whale breaching vrey close. So we picked everyone up and drove the pangas very quietly in the vicinity. The whales surface many times close to the pangas and we even tried to jump in with them, but they were determined to keep to themselves today.
 

Our third and final dive was great. We dropped into the same spot on the south well away from the rock. Literally seconds of getting in, we saw a school of 15-20 hammerheads. Their ghostly appearance allowed them to come into view and out without a trace. We enjoyed a nice baitball of skipjack tuna, as well as another huge school of Yellowfin Tuna. A lot was happening on the outside of the bait. Of course we saw some Galapagos and silvertips, but none approached too close. Nonetheless, a great day at Roca Partida.

We're off to Isla San Benedicto looking forward to some manta action at
the Boiler tomorrow.

Until next time.

Dave Valencia