Dec 20, 2017

Today we are on our last day of diving at San Benedicto with big swells that made us use the pangas for the first two dives, mild current coming from the north, visibility of 20 meters / 60 ft, water temperature of 23 C / 74 F.

We did two dives at Boiler with great dolphin action specially two young ones that kept rushing to the surface and swimming next to our divers, a big group of 15 dolphins was patrolling the pinnacle but only a few came close to us. We spotted many mantas, about 7 different along the day with a special black one that was a bubble junkie following the divers and getting as much as she wanted, it looked pregnant to us. For the second dive we spotted even 10 to 15 hammerheads at the bottom, thanks to the good visibility all the group got to see them.

In Cañon we did two more dives with the silkys under the boat as a tradition, 4 silvertips right on the edge of Cañon, 2 more black tips and into the blue we could see more big hammerheads, a round day of diving we can call with all the expectations cover for this trip and willing to see more on the next experience.

Rodrigo Marroquin, dive instructor.

Dec 19, 2016

Hi there,
We were today in Socorro island, the dive site Cabo Pierce. The plan for the day was to do three dives, and later on go to the navy base to do the check in. The water temperature was 74F and the visibility for the first dive was around 30 feet, with a strong current heading southeast. We had to hold on to the reef to stay close to the action. We saw a huge tuna and three mantas, two chevron and one black, but maybe because of the strong current they didn't stay. For the second dive the current slowed down and the visibility improved a lot, like 60 feet. We were able to swim around with a group of dolphins that showed up. In the group were two mothers with their calf's, they were playing with the buoy at the cleaning station for the mantas. Latter on the dive, the three mantas came back and this time we could swim with them and take pictures. The last dive after lunch, the current changed and was strong again but with good visibility. We saw three hammerheads, two mantas, Galapagos and silkies sharks drifting over the reef. The people were very happy for all the action that we saw on the second and third dives. Tomorrow San Benedicto for the last day of diving on this trip.

Pablo DM

Dec 18, 2016

18 december 2016 ,Roca Partida 

Dive report / roca partida 

Hi All !
   
Our second day at Roca Partida was amazing !!.we went down at the northern corner of the rock e immediately we saw a chevron manta at the 90 ft / 27 m.The manta was circling around this area when the silvertips sharks comes very close to us !!.the manta chevron was moving from the northwest to south ,then we moved with it .The current wasn,t strong and the conditions were very nice .The visibility was 80 ft / 24 m and the temperature was 78 º f / 27 º c .Once at the southern corner was fabulous 4 mantas chevron swimming up and down from the 50 ft / 15 m to the surface ,and a black manta join them .The 3 groups of divers were sourrended by mantas and everyone was happy ,taking pictures ,blowing bubbles at the manta,s belly !!.The Mantas were all day close to the site .And not only Mantas , we saw big schools of amberjacks ,lots of bigeyejacks ,bonitas ,big yellowfin tunas ,skipjacks ,silky sharks ,hammerheads and lots of whitetipsharks and wahoo,s too !!now heading straight to Socorro island! see you soon !!
                                                                                                          
Ignacio h. leyro                                                                                                         
scuba instructor

Dec 17, 2016

Today we dove at Roca Partida, having a great day with an early dive with two mantas, many white tips laying on the ledges and the rock full of all kind of fishes. The tunas showed up along the day rushing and hunting around the site while in the deep we could spot hammerheads and silver tips. The highlight of the day was definitely a big whale shark that came from under 120 feet to give a quick glimpse, but we could estimated about 30 feet long, a pregnant female.

The conditions were good with calm seas, mild current and good visibility about 60 feet / 20 meters.

Lets see what Roca has to show to us.

Rodrigo Marroquin, dive instructor.

Dec 16, 2016

The first full day of diving on this trip. We were in San Benedicto, the dive site El Boiler where we did four dives. The water temperature was 77F and the visibility around 50 feet. The current was heading North in the morning, for the afternoon dives changed direction to South. The first dive we did, we had a group of dolphins swimming with us for a long time and also three mantas, one black and two chevron. For the second dive three chevron mantas and one black; but the best part of the dive was when a tiger shark showed up. For the third dive we went out into the blue to look for big animals. We saw a hammerhead a Galapagos shark and when we were returning to El Boiler, a huge school of skip jack passed, it was so big that we couldn't see the beginning and the end at the same time. Finally the fourth dive of the day, and the mantas came back to us; two chevron and one black were there. At the end of the day the people were very happy diving in El Boiler.

Pablo DM

Dec 15, 2016

San Benedicto ,15th December 2016


   Hi All !!

   Today we dove at Cabo Pearce where we found very interesting rocks formations with few hard corals ,lots of tropical fish as pacific trigger fish ,morish idols , barberfish and moray eels .The water temperature was 77 º f / 26 º C and the visibility was 50 ft /15 m .At the very last of the dive a curious silky shark comes close to the descent line during the safety stop .It was circling around us closer and closer each time and the divers love to it see it !!

See you soon !!
                                                                                                         Ignacio H. Leyro

Dec 10, 2016

The last day of SCUBA diving for this trip. We are back to San Benedicto and the dive site is El Boiler for four dives. The water temperature was 77 and the visibility 40 feet. For the first dive we had dolphins following us and two mantas deep in the blue. On the second dive the mantas were more friendly and three of them were swimming with the divers most of the time. After lunch we did dives three with two mantas in shallow water and a third one close to the bottom. The last dive was the one with more manta activity, during the 60 minutes of the dive we saw five mantas, two black and three chevron. Also a black tip shark was swimming in between a big school of jack fish. Also we saw white tip sharks, green moray eel, lobsters and colorful fish  during the dives.

Pablo DM

Dec 9, 2016

Roca Partida ,december 9th 2016

   We have no words to describe all the good stuff we found today diving at Roca Partida !! .Absolutely gorgeous ! .At the northern corner we found 2 Mantas Chevron circling from the rock to the blue , swimming up and down , when 2 big silvertip sharks were chasing them and finally dissapear . A huge school of bonitas comes from the east and was sourrended by 7 sylky sharks .when we check the ledges at the eastern face of the rock ,lots of whitetip sharks were there .The current was strong from south to north then we drift to the north for the second dive and the mantas showed up again and the school of bonitas was closer to the island this time , and a big school of amberjacks was close to the rock .we saw big eye jacks ,tropical fish like puffers and morish idols ,The water temperature was 78 º f / 26 º C , and the visibility was 80 ft /  24 m .Diving at the southern corner , the current was lesser thats why we chek the ledges with whithetips for the last time and we drift from south to north this time .At south we found schools of amberjacks ,trevalley jacks and from the depth a beautiful galapagos sharks showed up !! and a silvertip was deeper .we drift along the western face of the rock which is plenty of hard coral and sea urchins and at the nortwest a manta chevron was there .to finish the dive wewent to blue and lots of wahoos were in the blue .beautiful day !! see you soon !!
                                                                                                                  ignacio hernan leyro
                                                                                                                   scuba instructor

Dec 8, 2016

Today we are at San Benedicto, back at "el Boiler" having great action with mantas and dolphins.

The conditions are good, with 20 meters / 60 feet of visibility, warm water 25 C / 78 F, no current and a little bit of swell at the surface.

On the first dive we saw a big group of 20 dolphins swimming next to the divers at 90 feet / 30 meters reaching the surface and diving again to get clean by the endemic clarion fishes. For the next to dives the dolphins didn´t appear but we got to see 7 different mantas, with one specific individual, the friendliest black manta we have seen. It came towards the divers back and forth trying to get a the bubbles in their bellies and giving a great spectacle to our guests. Along the day we could spot a big school of amber jacks swimming close to the pinnacle and on the top we encounter more than 10 white tips swimming along with the trumpet fishes, blue jacks and the yellow tail trigger fishes.

Great day and waiting for more tomorrow at Roca Partida.

Rodrigo Marroquin, dive instructor.

Dec 7, 2016

Today we dove in Socorro Island, the water temperature was 79 and the visibility around 40 feet, the current was quite strong for the first and third dive. We did three dives today because we had to to the check in at the Navy base. For the first dive we had one black manta, a silver tip shark and a group of dolphins. For the second dive we had one manta and some big tunas crossing the reef. The third dive was the best of the day, the current was much stronger than the first dive. We we hanging from a rock where we saw a small tiger shark, after that one of the groups so another one, but this was bigger and the shark was chasing a school of bonitas. One chevron manta showed up and stayed with us for a long time, also tunas were close enough to take pictures of them, passing between divers.

Pablo DM

Dec 6, 2016

San Benedicto                                                                                

    Hello everybody !
   Diving at el cañon today gave us a wonderfull experience !!.Lots of whitetips sharks ,silvertips sharks and big baitball of bonitas at south ,with two silky sharks circling around !.the water temperature was 26 ºc / 80 ºf and the visibility was 80 ft / 24 m , and in the afternoon was 40 ft / 12 m .We saw a couple of hammerheads , and when the current was a little stronger we found a big school of hammerheads , more than 40 hammerheads from the 90 ft / 27 m to the 60 ft /18 m .When the hammerheads school was at the limit of the visibility ,a black manta showed up and was possible to see it very clear !.heading to socorro for more fun !! see you soon!!
                                                                                                               ignacio h. leyro
                                                                                                               scuba  instructor

Nov 20, 2016

  Hi All !!

  Diving in Roca Partida was a lot of fun !! we found a big school of skipjacks mixed with bonitos at the 80 ft / 24 m., which form a baitball .The water temperature was 80 ºF / 26 ºc and the visibility around 80 ft / 24 .Was a good day to watch Wahoos ,amberjacks ,bigeye jacks .Was possible to see a Galapago shark which was going deeper .A couple of silvertips shark were in the area and we found occasionally few hammerheads at the limit of the visibility ,and during the second dive a big school of them showed up at the 100 ft / 30 m.,more than 40 hammerheads for sure !!.In the blue water we had a baitball of pacific bonito at the 60 ft /18 m and anothers hammerheads around this school ,and ending the dive lots of wahoo swimming around us an a couple of silky sharks were circling around us .Great day of diving today !! see you soon !
                                                                                                           Ignacio Hernan Leyro
                                                                                                             scuba instructor

Nov 28, 2016

Today. Monday we dove in Punta Tosca, Socorro. We did two dives there in the morning and after that, the check in at the Navy Base. The water temperature was 81 F and thew visibility 40 feet. Om the first dive we had mantas, white tip sharks and five silver tips. One of the group drifting with the current saw a Tiger shark pretty close to take pictures of him. For the second dive the current was stronger and the visibility lower, we had a couple of mantas. For the afternoon dive we came back to Cabo Pearce where we had an incredible dive with five friendly dolphins that stayed with us for more than ten minutes. Mantas and a couple of silkies were swimming around us.

Pablo
DM Solmar V

Nov 27, 2016

Diving at Cabo Pearce in Socorro Island today was absolutely amazing !!. During the first dive we watch a Black Manta and 3 differents Mantas Chevron .The current was strong and the visbility
  was around 80 ft / 24 M., and the temperature was very nice 82 º / 28 ºc .The rest of the day we had more and more action each time .Bottlenose Dolphins during the 2nd and 3 rd dive , 8 to 12
  Dolphins playing around and more Mantas Chevron ,and a Tiger shark was patrolling the deeper area at the 90 Ft / 27 M.At last of the day the Dolphins showed up in the shallow area and in the
  blue a curios Silky shark was circling around us at the 40 ft /12 m to 30 ft /9 m . , when a Manta Chevron pass in front of us to disappear in the blue .The Silky Shark was circling around us
  at the safety stop when another Silky comes and we finished the dive with the 2 Silkys circling around our boat .Socorro had shown one more time that is a Top Nocht destination !!.See you soon !
                                                                                                                                         Ignacio Hernan Leyro
                                                                                                                                           Scuba Instructor

Nov 25, 2016

The first full day of diving, the water temperature was 79F and the visibility 40 feet. We dove in El Canyon for the first three dives, where we saw a couple of mantas and the school of hammerheads, one silver tip and few white tip reef sharks. For the afternoon dive we moved to Cabo Pearce  where the visibility was 45 feet and the water temperature 78F. Two mantas, white tips and turtle at the beginning, but because the current was stronger here we drifted, and Nacho's group were the lucky ones because they saw a tiger shark into the blue.

Pablo DM

Nov 24, 2016

 Hi All !! Today was a gret diving at El Fondeadero dive site !! Conditions were perefct to do a check out dive .No current at least at the begining of the dive and mild to moderate current finishing the dive .water temperature 78 ªC /25.5 ºC and the visbility 50 Ft / 15 m .We folow the descent line and we saw the big rocks formations wihch form the reef with lots of tropical fish
like morish idols , puffers ,parrotfishes , Clarion Angelfish .We saw a couple of whitetips sharks moving around and a Moray eal and a big school of blue trevalley jacks and a big school of surgeon fish .Easy dive ,and relax ,perfect for the divers taking underwater pictures ! See you soon !!
                                                                                                              Ignacio Hernan Leyro

                                                                                                              Dive Instructor -Solmar V

Nov 18, 2016

Hi All !!
Today was a fantastic day at the Sea of Cortez !!. In the morning we ,ve been snorkeling with Whalesharks at El Mogote .We found 5 differents Whalesharks .Three of them very big at least 7 m / 22 ft in lenght , and anothers around 5 m/ 15 ft in lenght .Every diver was very happy to swim with the biggest fish in the World !! .The afternoon dive was like every shipwreck very interesting and fun !!.We dove the Fang ming with lots of black coral and lots of tropical fish as yellow snappers ,Angel Fish , big groupers , and we seen an small turtle .We could penetrate in some areas wich are safe and was very interesting to watch the light passing trough the roof and windows and all the structure of the wreck .The wind was blowing hard then we move to the dive site Ballena ,shallow dive to 50 ft/ 15 m., with good conditions .Water temperature 82 Ft / 25 ºC and the visbility was 30 ft / 9 m and was perfect to do a drift dive ,with lots of tropical fish and a big male and fat sealion was coming to check us . See you soon !!
                                               Ignacio H. Leyro
                                                Scuba Instructor

Nov 12, 2016

Chileno Bay,

                   
Hi All !!

Excellent day of diving at the sea of Cortes .Chileno Bay is a long reef and today we found lots of tropical fish . Parrot fish , morish idols , sea king Angel fish ,barberfish. Guineafowl puffers ,groupers , at the corner of the reef at the 35 ft we saw a beutiful school of bigeye jacks and schools of panamic porkfish and surgeonfish.Even a turtle was in the area .The water temperature was 81 ºF / 27.7 Cº and the visibility was about 40 ft /12 m.Now ready to move to Socorro !! See you soon !!
                                                Ignacio H. Leyro
                                                 Scuba Instructor

Nov 06, 2016

Today we arrived to Socorro island, the day was sunny 84F/28C. We did four dives in Cabo Pearce, where the water temperature was also 84F/28C and the visibility around 40 feet.
We had a good day of scuba diving, mantas, friendly dolphins in dive three and four, a couple of hammerhead sharks and even a sea lion on the third dive. For the second and third divs we had a strong current coming from north and the pangas picked us up in the blue, for the last one the current changed and started heading north but not a strong one, so we were able to come back to the Solmar V.

Pablo DM

Dec 10, 2016

Today we are at Roca Partida for the second day and the conditions were a little rough at the surface with big swells but once we were underwater the visibility was great with about 60 feet, warm water around 83 F and no current. For the first two dives we decided to check on the hammerheads, we found 4 of them at 90 feet swimming close to a couple of silvertips and some Galapagos sharks. The rock was full of jacks mating, the black ones and the whites making couples and swimming all over the place. Some tunas made their appearance at the distance and 3 mantas were hovering close to the rock.

We are heading to Socorro island tonight.

Rodrigo Marroquin, dive instructor.

Nov 03, 2016

Today is our second day on the islands, the first full day of diving. The first two dives were in El Cañon, the dive conditions were good. 84F temperature and 60 feet visibility.
Mantas, white tip sharks, lobsters and fish like the big eye jack and Clarion were the kind of animals we saw.
Our second dive site was El Boiler, for the last two dives of the day. The water temperature was 82F with a little bit of current heading SW. Here we spend our time with five mantas and in the deep a group of nine to ten white tip sharks. For the fourth dive we enjoyed the company of one playful manta a lot of fish, more fish than the previous dive.
Now we are heading to Roca Partida for another day of adventure and fun.

Pablo DM

Nov 2, 2016

Today we are back on the archipelago of Revillagigedo getting ready for another exciting season which could not started better than today.

The weather conditions were prime, with no swells, slight current coming from the south, 86 F of temperature with 60 feet of visibility that made the check out dive one of the best we have had in Fondeadero located in San Benedicto Island. Once underwater we encounter 3 sting rays and suddenly a big shadow showed what the people were expecting, the first manta, a black one giving the welcome to the opening of the season and delighting the divers. Along the dive we swam with 3 more chevron mantas that showed their friendly behavior as always and we cannot forget the baby silvertips, the silkys and the white tips laying on the sand.

Hope the season stays like this! Its hard to top up this check out dive so we are hoping the best..

Rodrigo Marroquin, dive instructor.

Photo: Erick Higuera

Today we are on our way back to Cabo San Lucas after spending an outstanding day of diving in San Benedicto Island, sharing time and space with mantas that seemed to know that was the end of the season and wanted to blend in with the divers as much as they could, such an experience to remember!

The day started early morning with cloudy skies and dolphins surfacing here and there at Cañon, we thought it was gonna be a dolphin day but our surprise was big as the day passed by. The conditions were good with mild swell, no current at all but a little murky for the dives at Cañon so we tried to get the best of the site. Water temperature of 75 F / 23 C, very low visibility of 30 ft / 10 mts.

The first dive at Cañon was remarkable thanks to the friendliest manta ever, a black one kept us entertained for 50 minutes coming and going along the rock swimming between the divers and hovering feeling the bubbles next to its body, so the divers got the time to master the bubble technique so later they could apply it on Boiler. The dive went good at the end too with the silkies swimming under the boat getting teased by the jacks and the creole fishes.

The second dive was a regular dive with some hammerheads showing themselves close to the cleaning station but far away to have a good look at them. A black tip came by as well as the silkies swimming under the boat, so we decided to move to Boiler, wise decision!!

Once we got to the Boiler, the action was already going on, so we just ducked down and started to become part of the manta party, 7 of them swimming, twirling and hovering all over the place. Black mantas, chevron mantas, all mixed and quite chaotic from their side but such a fun dive and manta interaction just incredible. We needed more air to stay longer at the end, they kept coming towards us in a clear sign of sympathy. Hard to describe what was going on, but I have to say that this day maybe one of the best of the season, specially the last dive when the mantas where getting in line to get bubbles, they were so playful that at one point one of them even got so close to one of our divers that she decided to flash a hug, such an incredible view from our perspective it looks like the manta came and decided to embrace the diver even though he didn´t even realize what was going on!! In total more than 6 mantas all together, just magical.

This is the end of the trip, end of the season, but time to remember and keep a smile on our face. Mission accomplished.

Until next season Socorro...

Rodrigo Marroquin, dive instructor, SOLMAR V.  

Last dive of the season

Photo: Brandon Cole

Today we are at Roca Partida on the last part of our last trip of the season, full of surprises and with a lot of enthusiasm to get in the water.

The conditions were good, with some swells coming from the north, the wind blowing from time to time but underwater the conditions were just perfect, 80 ft / 25 mts of visibility, water temperature of 78 F / 25 C, some surge on the corners of the rock and the current facing the south all day made the perfect scenario to encounter the good stuff of this magical place.

Starting early, with sunlight trying to make its way through we unload the zodiacs and prepared all the equipment to start the day. Once the divers got in the pangas we headed towards the rock full of wonders and ready to have an spectacular day diving.

The first dive was the best of this trip so far, we started on the southeast point going down to 90 ft trying to see the hammers. After 15 minutes we spotted some silvertips, Galapagos and further away we could see the first white dots in the blue... hammerheads!! A big school of 40 to 50 individuals started swimming right in front of us about 90 to 100 ft down. We got back to the rock and we got together with the other 2 groups to do our safety stop when all of the sudden a big shadow attracted our attention, a WHALESHARK was coming right at us out of the blue, a juvenile individual of 18 ft of length but it just passed us by and kept its way crossing the west side of Roca, great surprise for all!!

For the second we focused more on what to see what´s in the rock and we could spot many white tips all over the site, going and coming from side to side, great to see all the yellowtail trigger fishes along the place, the jacks making their particular formations and the creole fishes that never stop eating. Here the best stuff is the big stuff but if you look into the small details you will be thrilled with all that is going on, tiny hawkfishes claiming their places next to the coral, shy eels hiding on the cracks, trumpet fishes hovering next to puffer fishes and we cannot overlook the beauty of the butterfly fishes on the shallows. Here we saw many juvenile tunas surfing the swells and the big guys deep in the blue chasing everything that in between, at the same time that we saw the silkys patrolling the area and being brushed by the jacks and creole fishes.

For the last dive of the season we wanted to see more hammers and we were in luck.  We spotted two different schools of them, about 80 individuals in total mixed with silver tips and Galapagos sharks that remained most of the time at 150 ft, we could only see their big size and the contrast against the sand at the bottom, such a great experience was this dive specially when we had to say good bye to "roquita" but we will be back next season!!

So many memories and we have such great knowledge of the environment; we wish the rock a good rest and always have something new to show to us.

Until next time, Roca Partida, we will miss you!!

Rodrigo Marroquin, Dive Instructor, SOLMAR V.   

Never disappointed, one of the remarkable things of Roca Partida is known for it’s great visibility.

We are starting with stormy weather, however our reward was to play with about 15 dolphins at the beginning of our first dive. 

Throughout the day the beautiful blue visibility, lets us see more than 30m/100ft from surface all the way down to the bottom. Great wall dive with lots of hard coral, lobsters, green moray eels, lots of small fish making several cleaning stations for Pacific creole fish, trumpet fish and more, of course we can’t go without seeing one white tip reef shark because they are all over, including pregnant females almost ready to burst! Some other areas with only baby whitetip sharks literally speaking so cute that you want to take one home! HA HA

Galapagos sharks kept coming back towards us and not afraid at all so it gave the divers great photo opps.

Current was on during the entire dive and all day with it water temperature got warmer up 26.6℃/80℉ according to dive computers. In the south, it was nice to find a bit of shelter enough to stay there long enough to see the parade of yellow fin tunas who stayed out of the current.  Lots of Black Jack fish did the same thing by retracting against the wall. Some silver tip sharks showed up, some hammerheads also in very deep water.

On the surface we had bit of rain! Wind was blowing a little more than 27km/h, 15kn/h, nice to have some sunny moments as well. At night we enjoyed watching more than 15 silky sharks going crazy hunting flying fish, great show seeing those dorsal fins breaking the surface, splashing water competing to get the fish!

Dive Inst, Daniel Zapata, Solmar V.

Today was an excellent day of diving at the Boiler!!

For our first dive we went down the northern wall of the reef exploring the pinnacle which is in front of the Boiler. The top of the pinnacle is at the 70 ft /21m and was filled with plenty of tropical fish like moorish idols and clarion angel fish plus we found lots of lobsters. From the pinnacle we came back to the Boiler to check the cleaning stations at 50 ft /15 m. And at 30 ft / 9 m, we expected to find mantas but instead a solitary bottlenose dolphin was there and came up from the depth to interact with the divers. We moved to the western corner of the reef when a manta chevron showed up at the 50 ft /15m. The manta was swimming around when a group of 9 bottlenose dolphins appeared in front of us. One of them was very curios and another 3 were going down and swimming up to the surface. What a wonderful way to begin our diving day.

On the second dive we encountered a manta chevron at the 20 ft/6m and then it disappeared in the blue. We found a big school of amberjacks at  50 ft / 15 m, wahoos, lots of pacific creole fish, and within the reef moray eels, and whitetip sharks. At the northern side we saw the manta again, but this time it was very playful and curious with the divers, circling close to the reef, going up and down, and enjoying the divers bubbles on its belly. Every diver had the chance to interact with this gentle creature of the pacific.

During the 3rd dive, the water was a little bit colder 77 fº/24 cº and was possible to watch the thermocline.  With a little bit more current we had lot of action on the western corner, schools of amberjacks, cotton mouth jacks, bigeye jacks, trevalley jacks, pacific creole fish. A big hammerhead shark was patrolling in the blue and curious enough to circle a couple of times in front of the anxious divers taking photos and videos.The last dive of the day was very relaxed and a great chance to explore the reef in detail. We found a stingray resting at the reef and we could appreciate the beauty of the reef, which drops off and forms a wall with stripes with hard coral in some areas. If you pay attention to the small stuff like lobster, moray eels, tropical fish, whitetip shark resting in the reef at the ledges, you’ll find that is a great opportunity to do good photos. When we were close to the bottom of the Solmar V, at the belly of the ship was a huge school of amberjacks right below the ship and a curious silky shark was around, and passing in front of us many times and close to the finish of the safety stop. Wonderful day of diving at the Boiler today.

Ignacio H. Leyro, Dive Instructor, Solmar V

We are on the last trip of the 2015-2016 season and we are enjoying our last moments on these beautiful islands full of magic and positive vibrations.

We started our diving day in Cañon with great conditions at the surface -flat sea, no wind. Once we got in the water, the visibility was a bit murky 30 feet / 10 mts for the first dive however as the dives progressed the visibility got better 50 ft / 15 mts. The water was chilly at 75 F / 23 C with some hot spots at the surface. Because of the mild current, we enjoyed perfect and safe dives during the day.

For the first dive we swam along the north edge of the platform of Cañon trying to see the hammers but none of them showed up this time, only until the last dive could we spot one of them close to the cleaning station but it took off as soon as we got there. We spotted some white tips during the day, some juvenile silvertips but unfortunately we didn´t get to see any mantas and only a few sharks. Most of the time we spent the dives under the boat with 6 silkys all mixed in with the jacks and creole fish.

On the second dive, we could see some dolphins passing by with three babies. The adult dolphins weren’t interested in us this time because they were protecting their young. So we focused on the little stuff like the rock mover wrasses, the zebra snake eel, the clarion fish eating in the sand and the always beautiful trumpet fish hovering and teasing other fish like the puffers!

Rodrigo Marroquin, dive instructor, SOLMAR V.

Check out dive with 50 Red Tailed Trigger Fish

It is 12:30 pm and another 75km/40 NM miles to go, San Benedicto Island in sight, we are being escorted by bottlenose and white sided dolphins.

 

Our crossing has been fantastic! Flat surface, barely wind blowing, no swells and of course a sunny day!

Las Cuevas dive site was the end of our long journey, from the surface we are able to see the big boulders at 18m/60ft of water. Immediately jack fish started to congregate under the boat, we are standing on the swim step ready to do our giant stride entry when a silky shark swims by at 2m/6ft below surface, finally we jumped into, nice surface water temp 25℃/77℉, using the aid of a descent line we got to 15m/ 50ft, rapidly water temp changed decreasing a few degrees 23℃/73℉, we did some swim along the boulders area to stretch legs, Giant Electric Rays, Lobster, Diamond Head sting rays, a few white tip sharks were there for us, it was time to come back up shallower where the water felt a lot warmer right away! The caves were packed with Burrito Grunts, lobsters walking along the bottom rocks, other areas were nice to see with lots of very healthy hard coral. A friendly green turtle swims by and a sting ray chased it away!

 

50 Red Tail Trigger Fish just swimming in circles in such a small area! So it was a nice relaxed check out dive getting ready for tomorrow’s dive.

We are spending the night in the south area of the Island called El Cañon, it is 20:30 we already have 6 to 8 silky sharks around the Solmar V, not visible yet but dolphins are near by we can hear the slapping of the surface with their tails.

Dive Inst, Daniel Zapata, Solmar V.

Hi everybody!!

Today we are on our way back to San Benedicto island but we had a stop on Socorro island to see whats going on at Cabo Pearce this time, almost getting at the end of the trip but the surprises keep coming every day.

We had a sunny day with great dive conditions, no current, good visibility (60 ft / 20 mts), the wind blowing from the north, the water temperature of 79 F / 25 C.

For the first dive we got ready early morning to try to see dolphins but this time they weren´t there, so we focus on the shallow part of the reef trying to see all the little details because the mantas didn´t show up until the last moment so we saw a lot of different fishes, the sea bass, puffer fish, parrot fish, morrish idols, creole fish, the endemic clarion angel fish and the beautiful barber fish gathering on the little corners of the rock. We could spot little critters like the pipe fish, blennies, small crabs, flounders, octopuses and zebra eels. At the end of the dive we saw the first manta but she took off quite fast and didn´t show interest in us this time (only this time).

The second dive got better with the white tips gathering in the current, some baby silver tips and Galapagos sharks, but the best this time were the hammerheads, so we drifted for a while trying to see them in the blue and we got to a point where the jacks precede the hammerheads mixed with the bonitas, so we went down to 90 ft / 30 mts and fortunately we could see 6 of them quite close. We got to see more mantas at this dive and they showed up specially for the third and the fourth, but we are still waiting for more dolphins for tomorrow at Boiler.

Almost getting at the end of the trip, just wishing that our divers are having the best diving of their lives.

Rodrigo Marroquin, dive instructor.

Photo: Brandon Cole

Writing from San Benedicto Island on our way to Roca Partida overnight, but we have to say that it has been such an amazing day full of mantas and sharks at El Cañon, hope the expectations stay high and we can offer the best diving at Roca.

The day started with cloudy weather, big and long clouds cover the sky and everything seemed to be a bit gray but things are different underwater so we didn´t loose any time to unload the pangas, set the anchor and prepare the groups to get in the water. The conditions this time were good, with long swells coming from the south east, no current for the first 3 dives and a little bit of it coming from the south for the last dive, the visibility was ok for the first 2 dives (50 ft / 15 mts) and really murky on the third but thanks to the strong current on the last we got good visibility because it cleaned the water, the temperature about 26 C / 78 F with thermoclines all over the place.

For the first dive we got down to 30 mts / 90 ft right on the edge of Cañon, trying to see some hammerheads but our surprise was big when a black manta made its appearance right away, so we got distracted for a while with this beautiful manta, blowing bubbles, taking photos and sharing a great moment with this amazing being. As the dive continued we found more mantas, white tip sharks, moray eels and many jacks swimming around the site. The divers had a great time trying to get themselves under the mantas and some of them really got the technique, so the mantas just loved it and kept coming towards us.

For the second dive, we found some hammerheads and the big school was moving away from us but we got to have a clear view of them, some shadows showed that the place was full of sharks when the silkys appeared next to some big black tips that show themselves most of the time. But the best of the day was the mantas indeed, when more than 8 kept swimming between us getting closer each time to the divers and even coming to the safety stop with us looking straight into the eyes and even sharing some special feeling with some of the divers.

For the last dives we got to see more sharks, silkys, white tips and even a baby tiger shark came close to the divers, we cannot overlook the mantas that kept coming during the whole dive.

Lets see what Roca will bring to us tomorrow, hope we have another epic day at this unique site.

Rodrigo Marroquin, dive instructor, SOLMAR V.   

Photo: Erick Higuera

Today we dove at Roca Partida it was a bit overcast but underwater was amazing. The water temperature was 73f/24c and the visibility ranged from 60ft/18m to 100ft/30m. 

On the first dive as soon as we dropped in the water there were 4 dolphins around. They stayed with us for a bit but soon left into the blue. We started to head to the south point because it seemed that the action was there this time and suddenly the dolphins came back but this time there were 15 of them with one specific one being extremely friendly and getting very close to the divers. After the dolphins left we kept going to the south point which was a bit hard because there was some current but when we got there we were in an area protected from the current and we got to see a huge school of bonitas with a couple of silvertips under it and some silkies around it we enjoyed this view for the last 20 minutes of the dive.

On the second dive as soon as we got in the water we realized that the school of bonitas was still there and we had dropped right on top of it and we got to follow them for almost 20 minutes again. After that they went away and we got back to the rock and there were 4 mantas in shallow waters being very friendly, when we were about to finish the dive we realized that a group of 10 big galapagos sharks were right there on the rock almost on the surface so we extended the dive a bit so we could check them out.

The last dive of the day started a bit quiet, the current had gone away and there were not that many fish on the rock any more but we spotted a manta so we followed it as it went away from the rock into the blue water and the manta took us right where a big school of hammerheads was, probably close to 100 of them and the best thing was that this time the hammerheads were swimming quite slow and lots of them actually came up shallow to check us out.

Thiago Mendonca

Dive Instructor

Solmar V

Beautiful moorish idol fish

With our happy divers on board, our expedition begins in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Islas Revillagigedo is our first destination. Traveling south, we notice the gradual change of the water color from greenish to a really nice blue. Sunset is really something here! It is 13:00hrs May 30th, 2016 the first Island is visible to us, we have been escorted by dolphins and masked boobies flying constantly around the Solmar V fishing for flying fish.

Las Cuevas dive site offered shelter against some swells from the Northwest for our check out dive. As we descend we got a gorgeous overview of the entire area due to the fantastic visibility.  Moorish idol fish, sting rays, lobsters, burrito grunt fish, all near the sandy bottom at 22m/65ft. The quietness of the underwater world here lets us actually hear the cracking coral, current was absent! So we did a successful exploration of the sandy bottom, with water temp a nice 25℃/78℉, boulders on our right side and sting rays so friendly that let us approach for close ups.

Finally we got out there and a green turtle came across our way once again, the swimming was nice and slow just to enjoy being underwater. Lots of small fish around the hard coral and two octopus too well blended in, a fun place with lots of white tip sharks to start our trip!

Dive Inst, Daniel Zapata, Solmar V.