10 different mantas gave us a manta parade

Hola amigos,

Here we are reporting our last dive day of this trip.

We started diving in Cabo Fear, only 2 dives and were “mantastic”. Going down we found a chilly termocline of 68 F, a strong current from the North and the visibility wasn’t really good, probably about 40’, but a school of 10 hammerheads approached to one of the dive groups and later on only one here another there and that’s it, but one Black Manta swam by and stopped as soon as she felt us we were there, so we started drifting with her and more mantas became showing up, all of a sudden we have seen a total of 10 different mantas at least that gave us a whole manta parade, even that the visibility wasn’t really good these mantas made us our dive. Another group
kept drifting and a saw a Tiger Shark a little shy but close enough to see it was a tiger.

In the second dive we stayed over the drop off in Cabo Fear, we heard dolphins, we looked around and there they were, 3 dolphins came by chasing Bigeye Jacks but unfortunately didn’t want to play like other times and left.

One Chevron Manta came by later and stayed the entire dive with us like always friendly mantas do, it was swimming back and forth over everyone’s heads, when our air was getting low we started coming up and drifting with the current and at the safety stop 2 more cruised by, a black and a chevron one, only the black stop briefly and we could take few good pictures because the sunrays were shining it up.

We went back to El Boiler to do the last 2 dives of the day and end our trip there and realized we had made the best decision, because basically both dives were mantastically outstanding, we saw about 12 different mantas in both dives, while one group was been entertained with 2 or 3 mantas here another group was over with other 3 mantas and the divers that were doing buddy teams have their own mantas, too!

What a marvelous day to end our trip….

We’re heading back to Cabo San Lucas, so we’ll be back in Revillagigedo in
few days, so stayed tuned.

Hasta la proxima

Erick Higuera

It’s amazing how mother nature can change from one day to another!

Hola Amigos!

Guess what!? The weather conditions have changed allowing us to dive El Boiler and it was magnificent!!

Just arriving to El Boiler at 7 in the morning and the dolphins were already playing at the surface, so we had the dive briefing and immediately jumped to the water to be part of the dolphin game! Having 71 F of water temperature and a visibility of more than 100’ that we could even see the bottom from the surface and it’s at 150’! Isn’t that great?

Anyway, as soon as we broke the liquid border we headed to the west side of El Boiler where normally the Bigeye Jacks hung out and we know already that this dolphins love to chase them every morning, they weren’t there but we could heard them, so we decided to hung out with the jacks for a while and suddenly from the dark blue we started seeing a group of 6 dolphins that were heading toward us here they come! We proceeded to have an amazing time with this small pod, and 3 of them showed us a behavior play like if were kissing, wait till you see Adil’s trip report on YouTube!
 
Not even enough with what we just had on the previous dive and the second dive was full of Manta action, 5 different Mantas have shown up to offer a close encounter with every single diver, besides the glamorous dance that they always do. By the third dive 2 more joined to the show and Daniel and his group decided to adventure in the blue and have success, saw several Hammerheads and thousands of Bigeye Jacks.

More than half of the divers decided not to do the fourth dive and instead that went out on the panga looking for Humpback Whales that have been breaching during our surface interval, though they didn’t have the chance to see them underwater, these whales were kind of shy. Some of the divers did the dive saw only one Manta that was waiting for some tickling bubbles.

It’s so amazing how mother nature can change from one day to another, just yesterday have been so windy that we couldn’t move from the south side of the island and this morning that blowing winds that have been hitting us
just vanished!

Tonight we’ll go to Roca Partida, stay tuned.

Erick Higuera

It was a windy day here on the island

Hola from Isla San Benedicto,

It was a windy day here on the island so we tried to make the best of things. Our first dive of the day showed some curent from the South west, a surface temp. of 70 degrees (F), and 30 ft. visibility. We spotted a single hammerhead crossing the reef, but no school on this dive. We instead made our way around the divesite enjoying all the eels, lobsters, octopus and scorpionfish El Canon has to offer.

Throughout the rest of the day the strong winds sustained, but we continued to press on and find the sharks and mantas this area offers. We had many manta sightings and a few good looks at some large hammerheads. All in all it was a challenging day. We're looking forward to improved conditions tomorrow. Keep your fingers crossed. Until next time.

Dave Valencia

A manta came to say hello and stayed with us during both dives and our surface interval

Hi from San Benedicto Island,

Today was the last day of our trip.

We came last night form Roca Partida, and we started the day in El Cañon, were at first time in the morning a very friendly Manta came to say hello and stayed with us during both dives and our surface interval, near the boat, letting us snorkel with her. She was so friendly that it was so close to all our divers all the time, playing with them like a pet. During the dives we spotted some Silver Tip sharks, Ssome hammerheads, lot of Octopus and again our friend the manta following us the all time. After lunch we moved to The Bolier, and a couple of more Mantas came to our groups and stayed with them all the time. Even if visibilty wasn't the ideal (around 40 ft) the mantas came so close that all our photographer made their day.

At the end of the frist dive in The Boiler, we could enjoy an special moment when we got in the middle of an endless school of Pacific Creole Fish, that made everyone relax jus thovering in the middle, and fell that special connection that only the maginificence of nature can make with its creatures. The water temperature was around 73 degrees and visibility, as we said before was around 40 to 60 ft, it was no strong currents in the site and the sea was very calm today. Perfect conditions to say "see you soon" Socorro Islands.

Ricardo Tamaño

Another great diving day at Roca Partida

Hola from Roca Partida,

It was a sunny day full of great diving here at Roca Partida. Our first dive this morning had a strong current from the NE, great vis. at 100'+, and a chilly water surface temp. at 70 degrees (F). We started the dive in the cuevas with all of the white tip reef sharks. The sharks seemed to be huddling close together keeping warm. One ledge had 20 or more all piled on top of one another. My personal favorite is seeing all the newborns sleeping on a ledge but all you see at first are their ;little tail fins sticking out. It's about as cute as sharks get. Ok...we moved out into the blue to see a nice school of skip jack tuna and some yellowfin tuna. We even spotted quite a few galapagos and one or two silky sharks(it's our first sighting of silkies on roca in a few months). Dani's group was visited by a few dolphons just as they started their safety stop. Long enough for people to get a few shots. Welcome to Roca!

Our second dive started with a massive amount of big eye jacks and cotton mouth jacks filling the area around the north point. We were around 80 ft and looking up and there were so many, it seemed to darken the light from the sky. All slowly moving with the surge and current, it was mesmerizing.. At depth we watched on as Galapagos sharks and silky sharks lazily moved by. They seemed uninterested in us divers today, keeping mostly to themselves. It was still breath taking to be in the blue and be surrounded by such life. Of course we had a huge school of yellowfin tuna breeze by us effortlessly.

Our last dive of the day here at Roca started much like the last. We were engulfed by the large amounts of fish: triggers, creolefish, jacks of all kinds. On the outside of the fish were schools of tuna coming by again and again. Some were giants of more than 100 lbs. They were inquisitive and amazing. We also watched on as the numerous galapagos sharks and silkies swam in and out of the bait ball. It was another great diving day at Roca Partida!

Off to San Benedicto manana. Until next time...

Dave Valencia

An easy and spectacular day of diving.

Hi every one out there!
    We have great news for all of you about today's dives at San Benedicto
Island, Dive site EL BOILER.
    Our first dive started at 8:10AM off the back of Solmar V, very comfortable if you ask me! 3 groups as usual and one at the time guided by Dave Dive Instructor and marine biologist, Ricardo also Dive Instructor and myself Daniel, so underwater no need to swim around the whole rock since a school of bigeye trevally were there in just 50 ft of water, just a few minutes later we heard dolphins clicks and chirps that let us know they were heading towards us!Wait wait!! Just are we turn around 10 dolphins in front of us spreading out, we had them for minutes doing all kind of stuff chasing those bigeyes trevally, divers went crazy taking pictures of dolphins! Our whole dive took place with no need to swim,  the water Temp was 71f, vis about 60' but a very heavy surge, fun to ride too!!!
    On our second dive no dolphins but instead we had at the same time  5 big mantas for most of the dive, as background a very lousy humpback whale and just like the first dive no need to swim! Everything was right there! Also I need to add an 8 ft Galapagos shark came by a few times too!!
    The third dive was fun riding with the surge, no current at all but mostly fish, vis and water temp did not change at all! 
    For the fourth dive we have mantas AGAIN!! 50 minutes!! and don't want to go away! Black ones and Chevron, it was amazing that didn't remember to check water temp! No time! mantas first always!
    Ask me about today and I'll tell you it was a manta and dolphin day!!

Dive Instr. Daniel Zapata

We started our day in the best possible way

Hi Everyone!  

It was our second full-day of diving and we started in the best possible way, with several Dolphins jumping and playing near the boat during the breakfast time,to welcome us! We performed 3 dives today with Mantas approaching our groups, a impressive Tiger Shark, several Galapagos Sharks and more Mantas feeding right near the boat at a swiming distance.

During the day the wind started to pick up so we decided to make our 3rd dive in a calm bay near the divesite and explore the area, finding uncountable octopus, lobsters, and some white tip sharks. At the same time whales were breaching right on the divesites and we could spot them from the boat.

The water temperature was aroud 73 degrees at 100 ft. and we had more or less 60 fr visibility during the dives.- the current during the 2 first dives was strong with a challengiong swell at the divesite.

Now we are heading back to San Benedicto Island to meet with more Mantas,sharks and dolphins.

Until next time....

Ricardo Tamano

Four playful mantas circled around our divers again and again!

Hi Everyone

It was our first full-day of diving and we found ourselves very satisfied here at San Benedicto. Our day was spent on El Canon. Our first dive had amazing visibility at 60'-70', slight current, and 71 degree (F) surface temp. The dive started with bottlenose dolphins swimming towards the back of the boat as divers jumped in. The dolphins chirped and clicked as one really fired up dolphin swam circles around us. This one followed us all the way to the corner as we looked for hammerheads. Two or three hammerheads showed up and then we had two mantas with the dolphins present themselves to the divers. It was a fabulous display! We even spotted a four dolphins overhead and observed them chasing jacks. We finished our dive with a few more hammerheads before heading back to the Solmar V.

Our second dived showed a little more current so we decided to go from the panga and drop in. Right away we had a hammerhead make a nice pass near the receiver. No others showed up, however, so we drifted back to the corner. There was pair of juvenile silvertip sharks cruised by. As we made our way back to the boat we ran into the other groups who were enjoying some manta action. Four mantas circled around all the groups again and again making for some very good video and pictures. The mantas were even forming a conga line following the leader dropping and rising all together. What an amazing dive!

On our third and fourth dives we enjoyed the green morays, scorpion fish and lots of octopus. Were looking forward to some more manta action tomorrow as we head to one of our favorite cleaning stations.

Until next time....

Dave Valencia

Four playful mantas circled around our divers again and again!

Hi All-

It was our first full-day of diving and we found ourselves very satisfied here at San Benedicto. Our day was spent on El Canon. Our first dive had amazing visibility at 60'-70', slight current, and 71 degree (F) surface temp. The dive started with bottlenose dolphins swimming towards the back of the boat as divers jumped in. The dolphins chirped and clicked as one really fired up dolphin swam circles around us. This one followed us all the way to the corner as we looked for hammerheads. Two or three hammerheads showed up and then we had two mantas with the dolphins present themselves to the divers. It was a fabulous display! We even spotted a four dolphins overhead and observed them chasing jacks. We finished our dive with a few more hammerheads before heading back to the Solmar V.

Our second dived showed a little more current so we decided to go from the panga and drop in. Right away we had a hammerhead make a nice pass near the receiver. No others showed up, however, so we drifted back to the corner. There was pair of juvenile silvertip sharks cruised by. As we made our way back to the boat we ran into the other groups who were enjoying some manta action. Four mantas circled around all the groups again and again making for some very good video and pictures. The mantas were even forming a conga line following the leader dropping and rising all together. What an amazing dive!

On our third and fourth dives we enjoyed the green morays, scorpion fish and lots of octopus. Were looking forward to some more manta action tomorrow as we head to one of our favorite cleaning stations.

Until next time....

Dave Valencia

We are excited to start trip number 16!

Hola everyone!!!
    The checkout dive on our 16th trip of this season went just as planned and our divers are looking forward to the full days of diving ahead! We did our check out dive at EL FONDEADERO, at San Benedicto Island. On every trip we divide our divers into three small groups, each group to be led by different a dive master. This trip we have David, Ricardo, and myself Dani guiding!
  I went down first  to set our descent line to make it more fun to every one, the vis. was a great 50 to 60 ft which i enjoyed for a minute, the water temp a not bad 71f with no thermocline and as an added bonus there was also no current ar all!!!
    All 3 groups spread out covering dive area finding lots of different things! We saw green moray eels swimming free, lobsters out too, tiger snake eels, a manta swam by to welcome us back! The scorpion fish are good blending in so watch out!! In shallower water area around 40ft there was a lot of nice hard coral of varying tones of brown and greens, leather bass changing tone of skin color from a light brown to dark.  One way we keep ourselves entertained during the safety stop is if you try to count creolfish around you and before you know it your 3 minute safety stop is up!  We had a good 50 minute checkout dive and ready for tomorrow at EL CAÑON!
    Read from us tomorrow, we will have for sure great news!
    Dive Inst. Daniel Zapata

A lighthearted way to end our trip.

Hola Amigos!

Sometimes El Boiler seems to be sleeping, like nothing is going on there, but when it is “awake” it can show us its magic and be extremely tremendous, and that’s what happened today.

We decided to do only 2 dives in the morning and leave The Revillagigedo Archipelago early because that’s how our group on this trip wanted it, to
do 2 really good dives only and come back home with the most splendid
memories.

Early in the morning while we had the dive briefing, Bottlenose Dolphins were already surfing on the waves that form on top of El Boiler so we jumped in right away but unfortunately the dolphins didn’t seem like playing with us this time and had gone away already by the time we got in the water but 8 different Giant Mantas welcomed and embraced us the entire bottom time, this Mantas went crazy when felt our bubbles, everybody had its own private dance with these majestic Mantas that never left us, while one Manta swam over our heads another one was already coming behind it to be part of the bubbles feeling game, and what else one might ask when besides all this manta interaction we also had the Humpback Whale Symphony in the background, what else might you ask for?

We had a nonstop Manta action in both dives that left us a satisfaction of joyfulness, some people even cried when we left the water.

I can say that it was a lighthearted way to end our trip.

Stay tuned up for more news

Hasta la próxima

Erick Higuera

Greetings from Sunny San Benedicto

Greetings from Sunny San Benedicto,

This morning's sunrise was like something out of a dream. The rays of sun whispered from the clouds of a good day to come. It was those rays of light that left us breathless before the start of the day.

We spent our day here at El Canon. It's a site well-known for hammerheads.. However, today proved that this site has other great animals to enjoy. Our first dive had great visibility (80ft+), slight current, all at a brisk 72 degrees (F). No sooner did we get in the water and two mantas showed up. One chevron and one black. They hovered around us and as we kicked to the corner, not only did they follow us, they called their friends. Five mantas danced around us for the entire dive. All in this huge cloud of baitfish. As the mantas moved in, the baitfish moved away, everything in constant movement and equal action and reaction. It was nice. Everyone had an opportunity to enjoy the playful side of San Benedicto mantas. We spotted several hammerheads in the blue but they were keeping their distance. We were all preoccupied with the mantas anyway. The mantas even followed us to our safety stop as we drifted from the site. We even had a visit from two silky sharks as they circled us and we ended our dive.

Dive two had a few surprises. As we waited on the corner for the hammerheads a manta stopped by but was not interacting so much. So we abandoned it for a look into the blue and a chance to see some more hammerheads. As we moved about the creolefish looking, we spotted a hammerhead here and there and we did see a school of 10 or so below us a depth. We started making our way back to the reef and as we were checking out a tightly packed school of jacks a 10ft. A Tiger shark appeared out of nowhere. As soon as we saw him he stuck his tail between his fins and high-tailed it out of there. Unfortunately for us he was a bit skittish.

On dive three and four we enjoyed multiple mantas and the many other animals El Canon provides us: green morays, octopus, scorpion fish. This visbility provided nice light for those photographers in the group and it was a relaxing way to the end the day.

Tomorrow is our last day of diving and well be heading to El Boiler for some more manta action.

Until next time....

Dave Valencia

5 males competed against each other by performing breaches, lobtails, flipper slap several times in a row

Hi all from the amazing Roca Partida!
  

The weather has been treating us very well here, although the morning
was cloudy the ocean was so flat, water temp in the low 70's, with a vis. 70'+.

I would like to say we are having so much fun here with this group of 20 Mexicanos guided by Dave, Eric and myself Daniel. The first dive of the day was by 8:30, as usual the east side wall was always full of life!  We descended and right away we had the white tips sharks along the rock and we found a big school of creolefish, much larger than we normally see!  We spent most of the dive on just one side of Roca (no need to do a long swim), while listening to the humpback whales singing the entire dive! Towards the end of our dive we saw some silver tips and about a few galapagos sharks.

If I need to add something else it will be that didn't need to wait to much time into the second dive before we had 6 dolphins playing in the area and they came back 2 more times after that to let us swimm along with them.  Afterwards we decided to drift north in the current, and as we passed the northern point, we just happened to drift into the right spot at the right time, for about 10 minutes we watched a never ending parade of yellow fin tunas coming from north to south end and 3 hours later we are still listening the whales, before safely ending our dive with the standard 3 minutes safety stop! 

During the surface time Pancho and Geronimo took us all in the zodiacs to chase the whales we've been listening too and we were in for an amazing display of power!!! 5 males competed against each other by performing breaches, lobtails, flipper slap several times in a row, they very aggressive toward one another while competing for females!

The third dive had even more action with walls more of fish and two species of sharks each occupying their respective northern and southern points of roca.  On the north point we found about some hammerheads at the south point we ran into galapagos sharks!
    Well is time to say HASTA LA VISTA!!
    Dive Inst. Daniel Zapata

Today we had amazing dives with dolphins, mantas, and hammerheads!!

Qué tal amigos!

Today we had amazing dives with dolphins, mantas, and hammerheads!!

We did 2 dives in Punta Tosca, but the visibility didn’t treat us well. We could see couple hammerhead sharks shadows here, another couple there, and 1 diver saw a Humpback Whale that cruised by the top of the ridge.

Due to the poor conditions at Punta Tosca we decided to come back to Cabo Pearce to end the day and check out what we found! We had not even dropped the anchor and we had a pod of 12 dolphins waiting for us already at the surface. We got in the water and found good visibility and the dolphins that played with all of us for the entire dive! They were coming back and forth, up and down, which made us crazy because we didn’t know where to look! Also 2 Black Mantas were dancing and enjoying our bubbles and while they’re doing the dolphins came back again and swam trough this Manta dance, it was splendid!.

For the last dive we decided to drift with the current and got lucky because a huge school of about 100 Hammerhead Sharks surprised us at 60’, we saw briefly but good enough to take pictures and video, later on we saw hundreds of Yellow Fin Tunas and few Amber Jacks, that was a way to end our last dive of the day.

Tonight we’ll head for Roca Partida, we have good weather to go..

Stay tuned!

Hasta la próxima

Erick Higuera