March 24 Trip Part 1: San Benedicto

March 25, 2013

This is the beginning of a long trip with a group of Germans,Swiss, and English aboard. We arrived to San Benedicto today in beautiful conditions. Humpback Whales welcomed us with tail slaps and lots of “spouts” everywhere. Our check out dive was at Las Cuevas. We descended and found decent visibility, some 15m, and water temp. at 23 C (74 F). My group was first to have a go into the caves and as we entered a few white tip reef sharks circled. We continued through the cave and double-backed. Near the entrance of the cave we found a large green sea turtle sleeping. I can’t believe we didn’t notice him on our first pass through the cave! He didn’t move so we tried not to bother him too much and continued to the next cave. Another white tip reef shark circled. We passed through and made our way to the shallows. I wanted to see if we could find some more turtles. Sure enough we found two turtles riding the surge but they wanted nothing to do with us and continued on about their business. We found other interesting things like many giant pacific electric rays and scorpionfish. It was a nice start to the trip. We ended the day with Chef Tony’s famous barbeque on the bow.

Until Next Time,

Dave Valencia

Dive Report, March 26th, 2013.

EL Cañon, San Benedicto Island.

The dives at EL CAÑON could not be better! A vis. of 80'+ and water temp in the mid 70's, a mild current from east brought to us what we were hoping to see this morning: schooling hammer heads!!! They came up right to our faces and over our heads, so close that we could almost touch them! I am talking about about big big fat hammerheads with 7 to 9' long!! At the corner in the dive site a black giant pacific manta was there gliding in slow motion swimming to the delight all of us while getting cleaned by clarion angelfish!! As the day progressed on 2 other different dives we had the luck of finding a tiger sharks on each dive! You want to know where? At the corner!!! So pleasant to see then swimming with no hurry!! Coming straight at you! Were able to see every stripe on them!! So we had a day of manta, hammer heads, silver tips, tiger sharks, white tips and to top it off the company of playful dolphins!!

Dive Inst Daniel Zapata

Dive Report March 27, 2013

We started our dive day at El Cañón with a water temperature in the mid 70's F (22C) and a visibility of 80 ft/25 m.  On the first dive we saw a school of about 50 hammerhead sharks that cruised by the cleaning station, they did a couple passes by and before disappearing into the blue. In the second dive the hammerheads were still around and we had the great opportunity to find a 10 feet tiger shark made its parade in front of all the divers, everyone could see this “mystique” striped shark.

In the third and the fourth dive we didn’t see that many hammerheads, 1 or 2 here and there, but several juvenile silver tip sharks were getting cleaning over the famous corner/cleaning station.

During the surface intervals we enjoyed lots of humpback whale activity, splashes, breaches and tail slapping.

Erick Higuera

March 9th Trip Dive Log

Report 12-Mar-2013

We are at Socorro, and as always Cabo Pearce didn`t let us down! We had a lot of hammerhead action, some big tunas and Galapagos sharks. The best part was there were also three playful mantas at the cleaning station that loved their bubble making friends! If we didn`t run low on air probably we would still be there. Another thing in common on all dives was the soundtrack of singing whales teasing us like never before, unfortunately we didn`t see them underwater but during the surface interval we got a magnificent nature`s show of breaching humbacks everywhere, some really close to Solmar V.

Claudio Bonato Divemaster.

Dive Report, March 13th

Today we started with one dive at Punta Tosca, with water temp was around 73º, and visibility was a bit below average. We didn't see too much action during the dive, but we found some white tips and baby galapagos sharks, but no mantas, or dolphins in this dive. We decided to move back to Cabo Pearce where we had 2 good dives with strong current, Dani's group found a big school of hammerheads and a tiger shark around them! Water temp was the same and visibility was low, We are heading to Roca Partida tonight!

Ricardo Tamaño

Report 14 mar 2013

The first day at Roca Partida couldn't have been better! First dive we got schooling silky sharks mixed with silvertips, Galapagos and hammerheads sharks!! The second dive was very similar, except that we got a very unusual visitor, a Mola Mola! Yes, a Mola Mola that may be the first one ever seen at this dive site. And if all that wasn't good enough last dive of the day three giant mantas showed up to play with all of us! What else can I say? The weather is just perfect we are probably we are going to stay 3 more days here having more dives from the best site on the planet! 

Claudio Bonato Divemaster

Dive Report March 15th, 2013

ROCA PARTIDA A MUST!

An incredible vis. of over 100’ no wind at all, the lack of current made us stay in just one area, which made for very relaxing dives. water temp was ranging from 77̊f to 73̊f, it is like being in a 3D world were all fish are suspended in mid water barely moving, swimming trough it to find on the other side a school of 30 to 40 Galapagos, 15 silver tips, a huge school of hammer heads at 90̍ ft of water! Also it was very interesting to witness of yellow fin tunas and black jacks hunting, during our surface intervals we had the opporunity to see whale breachings repeatedly, other dives we were so lucky to see again in very shallow water a tremendous school of silky sharks, while listening to the whales not stop singing.

Dive Inst

Daniel Zapata

Dive Report, March 16th

In our 3rd day at Roca Partida we had 3 incredible dives, with warm and clear waters (75º/100+ ft vis), and uncountable sharks and tuna action. Big school of hammerheads, compact groups of Galapagos and silvertips, hunting along side of yellow fin tunas, made the day for all of us. Mild currents made the dive more enjoyable, and here we are for a 4th day at this incredible little place in the world. Until the next trip!

Ricardo Tamaño

Dive Report 17 mar 2013

It`s difficult to write how happy we were for an amazing fourth day at Roca Partida. It was great as always!  A lot of sharks of all kind and massive  schools of fish! The highlight of the day was a massive school of bonito being chase by big yellow fin tuna and a second after to be part of the school because they changed their direction to escape from their predators and that left me and some divers completely surrounded for a few minutes, to the point we couldn't see one another. That was an incredible experience that we will never forget.

Claudio Bonato Divemaster.

Dive report march 18th, 2013

On our last diving day of this trip we made 2 dives at El Boiler and 2 dives at El Cañon, in San Benedicto Island. The morning dives at El Boiler were with nice clear and warm waters, we were visited by a group of Dolphins with hammerheads moving around. At el Cañon we could see big school of hammerheads, and again the whale and her baby playing around, giving us a beatiful dive with her singing! Water remained clear and warm for the all day, and now we are heading back to Cabo San Lucas, after this special trip, looking forward to come back to this small paradise Until the next trip!

Ricardo Tamaño

Dive Instructor

Roca Partida, another incredible day with mama and her calf!

Hi all!
Roca Partida, a mix of emotions today!
Our day started great snorkeling with mama humpback and female calf, the pair that has been hanging around Roca the last few trips. We witnessed a beautiful behavior from a male humpback gently bumping on female’s chin in an act of courting while the calf just hovers next to them! 
While enjoying a water temp of 75°f(24°C), a vis of over 100’ our dive started place on the south point of Roca. A little bit of current made this dive even more interesting, because with current came galapagos, silver tip, white tip and some hammer heads just swimming back and forth behind a school of jacks! The current slowly drifted us to the northern point of the rock where we spotted a black manta! 

We had the chance to SCUBA DIVE with mama, calf and her escort but just for a brief period of time on our second dive! It's impossible to explain the feelings you experience these gentle giants up close, we have no words to accurately describe this relationship between  mama protects calf without saying a word, no vocalizations between them, just hovering watching over her calf.

A third dive today was amazing! From south to north point back and forward on the east side had big numbers of Galapagos and hammer heads! A mean schooling!! We could feel a male humpback was close by because of his very loud and unique vocalization.  They hit your chest  you can actually feel the vibration, it was a symphony of sounds that we were pleased to hear! 

On our safety stop we were happy to be accompanied by mama and female calf, but with no escort this time! The frame of tenderness created by mama and calf turned into tears from a few of our guests to have such a unique opportunity and to have this breath taking experience. 

Dive Instructor

Daniel Zapata.

An amazing 3rd day here at Roca Partida, an experience nothing can beat!

Hi all!
We continue to have amazing dive experiences here at Roca Partida that are simply unforgettable! We had the good fortune of being able to listen to the humpback whale song on every dive! Above the water they were breaching, playing, doing all sort of things we think trying to impress females, but back to underwater we had all day long this nice and mild current from south that brought to us many joyful things. On the south point we found a big number of hammerheads although they were a bit deep, but the water was so clear while our eyes were watching hammer heads our ears were listening unique whales songs!! 

Other dives took place just in one area enjoying the company of a world of fish at depth with Galapagos sharks and silver tips. 

On another dive we literally dropped in just above a beautiful chevron manta, that we drifted with all the way to the northern point of the rock. 

During our surface intervals our phenomenal panga drivers Pancho and Geronimo took us whale watching put us at the perfect spot to snorkel with mama humpback and her calf for extended periods of time. For those that came aboard dreaming to see a humpback in the water, we made the dream a reality with three incredible days at Roca with mama and her calf! Just watching her at 55' still, barely moving pectoral fins, with her calf resting underneath her chin! At a safe distance we were able to clearly make eye contact with her! We know they have a good vision and excellent hearing! After surfacing they came back to where we were! Always the same depth around 50'! A diver guest admitted she was incredibly moved by this tender picture of mama and calf, an experience nothing can beat!

Dive Inst
Daniel Zapata

A Whale of second day at Roca Partida!

What a great day!

We woke up at 7:00 am, had breakfast, suited up and jumped in the water with this friendly momma humpback and calf that have been hanging out at Roca Partida for the last 3 weeks.  The morning sun rays made the light exposure perfect for taking pictures and video, and after a brief encounter with the whales, we moved to Roca to do our first dive of the day. We were lucky because we quickly found about 100 hammerheads that glided the base of the pinnacle. 

On the second dive when we headed to the south point of the rock, we saw the whales that hung out around there waiting for us. We got ready as fast as we could and got in the water to a surprise! There were no longer 2 whales, this time there were 3! A male was performing the escort with the momma and the baby 2 months old whale. Besides this brief encounter with
the whales, we saw again the school of hammerheads, but this time they were closer to the rock.
At 4 pm we were already getting in the water and the escort, momma and calf awaited at 50’/15 m, they were motionless, literally hovering at this depth, which made it pretty accessible to get close ups to this whales. It was honestly tremendous, almost unbelievable! All the passengers decided to do one more day here, at Roca Partida!

Stay tuned for more Roca news!

See you later.
Erick

What a day at Roca Partida!

What a day at Roca Partida!! If the last trip I said that coundn`t be better, let me tell you I was wrong. Nature surprised us one more time with Mama humpback whale and baby that were more confident than last week. The baby didn`t want to stop playing with us at the surface while mama looked on from 40ft/12m and would come up now and then for a breath and head back down again so we could keep enjoying the company of her calf. If we didn`t need to get back aboard Solmar V to fill up our tanks or eat we would have spent all day in the water with these magnificent creatures. The rest same as usual, schooling hammerhead, one manta, some silvertips and
galapagos shark, lots of white tips sharks and tons of fish!

Claudio Divemaster: I love mi vida loca!!

The word of the day is magical!

Hi all! 

Cabo Pearce at Isla Socorro seems to be the place to dive again! So we have our on board Marine Biologist Eric, Claudio Dive Inst and myself Daniel guiding 3 groups and having A WHALE OF FUN diving! 
As we descended on the rope for the first dive we noticed a vis of 80’ and a water temp of 75°F, nice to say there was no current which made the dive easy to many! So the cleaning station was very busy once again, we were eye witness of 2 mantas a black one and a chevron being serviced by 15 to 20 clarion angelfish! The mantas swim so slow and stop right in front of you and right above you because they enjoy the bubbles on their belly, and not even in deep water! We spebt 50 minutes diving with these gentle critters at only 30'! Eventually we had to end our dive because we were getting low on air! This was a great way to start the day and we could hear in the backgroun whale’s song, our underwater soundtrack for throughout humpback season! It was MAGICAL!!!
On our second dive we explored along the reef a bit more, all the way to the end and back, spying a hammer head here and there, white tip sharks, the mantas again, maybe it sounds familiar! But I am blowing out your mind now saying we had the encounter with 3 humpbacks whales at the depth of 50’ one came back 3 minutes later to stop swimming for a second right in front of us!!! IT’S MAGICAL NOW ISN’T IT!!!!
A third dive went easy swimming on the reef, I have to say thanks nitrox for letting stay longer!  As we go lobsters, scorpion fish, moray eels, octopus, lots of reef fish! But then is time to turn around and head back for a nice safety stop,  a nice advice to you is always look below, up,
left and right because we got lucky again! 3 humpbacks again but now they were flying over our heads chasing each other! That is a Whale of power! We feel bad for the fish behind its flukes! So we got out the water with a breathtaking mix of marine life, but we're not done yet! We spotted false killer whales! Let’s go! We got to see them snorkeling although didn’t want hang out for too long! But it was FUN!!!

Roca Partida Mañana siiiiiiiii!!!
Dive Inst Daniel Zapata