Trip Reports

Once we arrived to San Benedicto island after a calm crossing we made the check dive in El
Fondeadero. With fairly strong current we had a short dive with plenty of schooling Jacks,
sleeping White tip Reef Sharks, and a Chevron Manta passing in the distance. The rest of the day
was spent diving El Canõn with warm water and clear visibility. The cleaning station was full of
life, many Silver tip Sharks passing by and a shy black tip in the distance. As we were the only
boat at the dive site we were fortunate to have calm Hammerheads approaching the cleaning
station also.
 
The following day we were diving El Boiler. With some shy hammerheads and mantas making
quick passes the highlight of the day was definitely the Tiger Shark sighting. A good sized female
made a couple of close passes by the Southside of the rock.
 
On the third day, we woke up at Socorro Island
in the protected bay of Punta Tosca. With calm surface conditions and strong current below we
could glide effortlessly through the dive site allowing us to reach the furthest points of the site.
Friendly Black Mantas and Hammerhead sightings made the day a success, then at the end of
the day, we saw another Tiger Shark circling beneath us over the white sand. For the final two
days, we stayed in Cabo Pearce with the dive site just for us. Dolphins, Chevron and Black
Mantas, Hammerheads, and a tornado of Bonitos gave us a great ending to a fantastic trip. Just
to make things better we had two humpbacks way in the distance breaching and playing on the
surface for us.
Another unforgettable trip.
 
 
Weather Conditions
Wind : 2
Clouds : 1
Current : 2

Visibility : 3
Crossing : 3
Average Water Temp : 23c / 75f

Hi all !!
One more time Socorro show us why is a Great dive destination ! El cañón was an amazing spot to dive with sharks. At the cleaning stations, we saw galapagos sharks, silvertips sharks and the hammerheads were all around !! A black manta was swimming all along with the site. The next day we check the Boiler and was to low , then we head back for more action at El cañón and it was an excellent choice, we found more sharks and we have bottlenose dolphins swimming all around while the mantas were all around the cleaning stations.

El cañón show itself like one of the highlights of the Socorro islands !! We move to Cabo Pearce and it was amazing to play with 4 mantas Chevron the entire dive. They were passing by and they were turning around the cleaning stations. We saw a couple of hammerheads within the reef and schooling hammerheads in the blue. A tiger shark showed up and the mantas were around at every dive. Roca Partida was fantastic, as usual, we found Galapagos sharks, silvertips sharks, a big school of tunas and lots of pelagics like wahoos. The bottlenose dolphins were at north and few hammerheads were at the south.

The second day at Roca was absolutely amazing and we can say that the golden moment of the trip was the terrific encounter with a massive whaleshark of no less than 10 m/ 35 ft and massive bodies. It was at the southern tip of the island, it was turning to the east and everyone turn crazy about having this beautiful and gentle giant that close! It turns the trip in a lifetime experience! And it wasn’t all. This whaleshark stayed for the second dive and it was at the western wall , and it swam all the way north and it stayed against the current, when it decided to come back to pass under the groups of divers, then was possible to watch the massive head it has and all the white spots all around its body. A magical encounter with the biggest fish in the ocean! We head back to San Benedicto to dive one more at el cañón and we have a magical encounter with a Chevron manta at El Pariente rock and an encounter with schooling hammerheads in the blue.

For the last day we try at the Boiler one more time, and we enjoyed the beauty of the reef, all the clarion angel fish ,morish idols , whitetips sharks, and as always the greatness of the Pacific Giant Mantas , swimming around the cleaning stations while a curious silky shark was in the blue!

Weather conditions : 4
Wind : 2
Current : 3
Average temperature : 76 f / 23
Visibility : 80 ft / 24 m
Crossing : 21 hs
See you soon !!
Ignacio Hernan Leyro
Scuba instructor
Solmar v

Dive Report, Revillagigedo Islands
Solmar V, March 20 to 28, 2021
March 20 and 21,
Hi All!
A  pleasant crossing to get to the islands was really worth it, vis ahead of us 30NM/55 Km, wind Speed 10kt/ 18,5km/h March 22 and 23 San Benedicto Isl, Dive site El Cañon, never disappointing! two days of diving with Hammer Head sharks, Galapagos, White tip, silver tip, Black tip, Black and Chevron Mantas, such a unique place to see it all together, 8 dives total in a water temp of 73°F/22.7°C, Vis 30 to 50ft/9 t0 15m, a shifting current from East and West made it interesting, Dolphins showed up in the morning chasing big eye jacks, Sting Rays, lobsters, octopus, Green Moray Eels, as surface time the volcano was protecting us against the wind blowing from West side 12kt/24km/h, air temp 79°F/26,6°C 

March 24, Socorro Island, Cabo Pearce dive site, The morning started very windy 16kt/29.6km/h, but the island itself offered very nice shelter making the ocean this area flat like glass, of course right outside swells were quite big but underwater despite the current being 3 out of 5 was very good with vis up 80ft/24m, wáter temp 74°F/23.3°C, enjoying just being underwater  we saw minutes go by, then Chevron and Black mantas showed up making us rotate in same axis, no chasing, but a Little swim alongside to make eye contact and get really nice video was wort it again, then-current stopped making every other dive easy with dolphins, about 15 minutes swim with 15 of them, always nice to see dolphins so close to us, like if they are smiling, we had the time to enjoy the reef as well, White tip reef sharks here and
there, flounders, lobsters, trumpet fish, yellow barber fish, etc.     

March 25, Roca Partida, 8.5hrs to get there, the wind blowing 10 kt/18,5kh/h, morning partly cloudy, as the day went  on it got nice and sunny, as we drop down making a negative entry into depth of Roca White tip reef sharks are there to welcome us, wáter temp felt a little chilly 73°F/22,7°C, Vis good 80ft/24m, North end of the rock was nice with lots of cottonmouth Jacks, Big eye Jacks making unique formation, 40ft/12 m Deep silver tip sharks slowed down speed a bit to stop by cleaning station, Galapagos sharks, Silky sharks, West side of the Rock lots of hard coral, very good size lobsters finding protection in the coral, Green marays, lots of fish, so many White tip reef sharks! Every ledge was packed with lots of them! All together made a great day of diving at Roca Partida.    

March 26, Back to San Benedicto Isl, the 8kt/14,8km/h wind speed made our return very slow and enjoyable!
Started the day visiting El Boiler, always nice to see again the underwater rock structure, just a bit manta sighting, and about 6 hammer heads sharks in wáter temp of 73°F/22,.7°C, Current from South made us go back to El Cañon to end the trip, the cleaning station at 80ft/24m Deep was packed with lots of silver tip sharks, Galapagos, White tip, black
tip and around the área schooling Hammer Heads.

A great trip not to forget because not only what live beneath the Surface but the scenery of the
REVILLAGIGEDO ISLANDS!

 
Dives logged in 18
Cabo San Lucas To San Benedicto Isl 26Hrs
San Benedicto to Socorro Isl 5.5 Hrs
Socorro Isl to Roca Partida 8,5 Hrs
Roca Partida to San Benedicto 11 Hrs
San Benedicto to Cabo San Lucas Port 28.5 Hrs
Wat Temp 73°F/22,7°C TO 74°F/ 23,3°C
Water Current: 3 being 5 the strongest at Socorro Isl
Vis 80ft/ 24 m
 
Dive Inst
Daniel Zapata
Solmar V
March 27, 2021

REVILLAGIGEDO’S SHARKY DAYS
Solmar V continues the adventure at Revillagigedo having great moments in general but
more specific this time has to be the great shark activity having remarkable diving
especially at Cañon where despite the visibility the great encounters couldn´t be better
so here is a scoop of what we have seen along the trip.

The first stop was “El Boiler” where we had poor visibility of 15 m / 45 ft but this wasn´t
enough to stop the dolphins sprinting and rushing at the surface on a weird behavior
chasing each other at the surface and then dropping close to the divers giving a great
show. Few hammerheads and Galapagos were swimming close to the rock and the
mantas hovering at the north point gliding with the current and having their usual bubble
shower. Over 5 different mantas along the day gave a great spectacle coming and
going to the blue.

At Cabo Pearce in Socorro Island we had a few dolphins passing by, but this time they
didn´t interact as they usually do at this site. The highlight here happened when close to
the ridge on the south we spotted a school of hammerheads with over 20 different
sharks swimming into the slight current.
We could see very interactive mantas close to the shallow area been cleaned by the
endemic clarion angelfish rushing after them giving this amazing contrast against the
black mantas especially.

At Roca Partida we had crystal clear water, choppy surface but tons of fishes including
big schools of cottonmouth jacks making their typical structures at the west side mixed
with black jacks and lots of triggers. The best moment happened when a juvenile whale
shark was spotted at the south point of Roca, hovering at shallow water for over 2 dives
giving the best shots for the photographers that happily enjoyed her company. 2 Mantas
where gliding at the north for the last 2 dives going to the blue with this faded view that
keeps us wanting more.

The last stop was “El Cañon” in San Benedicto Island where we had great dives with
tons of sharks at the cleaning station. Hard to tell how many were they but the action
didn´t stop for the 4 dives we had there. Few blacktips chasing a big school of skip
jacks, Galapagos sharks, silvertips of all sizes, whitetips, and schools of hammerheads
at the sandy bottom and swimming into the blue were the perfect scenario to make this
the best day of diving along the week.

Thanks to this amazing spot for showing us again one of the best diving in the world.
Rodrigo Marroquin, dive instructor.
Solmar V.
Weather conditions 4

Wind – 4
Clouds – 2
Current – 2
Visibility – 20 m / 60 ft
Temperature Average – 71° F
Crossing – 24 hours