This was our fifth trip to Socorro (fourth with Nautilus Explorer). The boat is still comfortable, with upgrades to some of the cabins, and there were a few staff changes, but overall pretty much the same. It’s the diving that changes, and this trip proved to be one of the better trips, with mantas, dolphins, hammerheads, silky shark night snorkeling, silky, silvertip, and Galapagos shark day snorkeling, and some cool whale interactions. Something new this trip was an allowed night dive at Aquarium.

We spent two days at Roca Partida. There wasn’t as much action as usual because there was very little current or surface waves. It was the first time we were able to swim all the way around the rock without getting stopped by currents at the corners. We had some great hammerhead interactions there and saw silvertip and Galapagos sharks, as well as some big tuna, and heard many whales underwater. We saw plenty of whales, including babies, on the surface, but only got within snorkeling distance a few times; two trips before ours, a baby was snatched by orcas, and the whales had been stand-offish since then.

Another favorite site was The Canyon, where you never know what you’re going to see; we were lucky enough to spot hammerheads, silvertips, and several swimming eels.
The Boiler was still the best with up to six mantas at a time, swirling and interacting with everyone. Our last dive only one manta showed up and did he love bubbles! So much, in fact, that we all nicknamed him “Bubbles” and used up bunches of air from alternate regulators keeping him happy. No one noticed that the current was picking up to a roar until we started trying to get back to the boat, now with little air left; everyone made it back except one person who was picked up by the inflatable. Pods of dolphins came by; My husband felt something bump his fin, looked over to see if it was me, but then realized it was a dolphin trying to get his attention, saying “look at me, look at me”. We heard whales many dives, and during one in particular the whales sounded so close that we spent half the dive staring into the distance listening to what can only be described as a beautiful underwater concert with sounds similar to a cello, oboe, and bass. Magnificent!

Socorro is one of the places we’ve been to the most, but we’re not done yet! Maybe next time we’ll try Nautilus Explorer’s new boat, the Belle Amie.

January 29, 2015 will have a very special place in my dive log. This is my
8th trip to the Revillagigedos Islands aboard the Nautilus Explorer. Today,
we dived Roca Partida for our first dive this morning. As I back-rolled off
the skiff, I managed to pull the cover off my wide angle port and turn my
camera on to turn and encounter a mother humpback whale with a calf and an
escort male perhaps 30 feet below me. Within a few seconds, I was
privileged to witness the serenity of a a mother humpback nursing her calf.
After a couple of minutes the calf slowly made its way from its mama and
ascended to the surface for a breath of fresh air. It then glided back down
and nuzzled itself under mama’s head. Breathtaking!

After the whales moved on, we made our way around the south end of Roca
Partida to encounter some dolphins, 2 of which were engaged in some
quick-time, porpoise hanky-panky. Oh Yeah!

As we cruised around the rock, the dolphins approached again and seemed to
be suggesting that we look up to again see the mother humpback with calf
and escort. So here we stayed for over 10 minutes filling our SD cards with
unforgettable photos and video of our privilege of experiencing a humpback
whale encounter on SCUBA –mama, calf and escort. BEAUTIFUL! Here we
witnessed the beauty, tenderness and serenity of nature.

Upon ascending to the surface and boarding the skiff to the Nautilus
Explorer, we witnessed the reality and brutality of nature. 2 Orcas
attacked the humpback calf apparently tearing off a pectoral fin that
quickly became breakfast for the sharks that inhabit this incredible dive
site. The Orcas then separated the calf from the mother and muscled it
several hundred meters away to devour it. The mama humpback and escort then
engaged in the interesting behavior of rapidly swimming around and about
Roca Partida as if looking for the calf. Truly nature at its extremes.

I dived Roca Partida in late January, 2013 and may have encountered this
same mother humpback and calf back then. At that time, the calf was about
the same size as a dolphin and had brilliantly white pectoral fins. It was
quite young. On today’s encounter, the calf was much larger and without the
snow white fins.

It is indeed a bit arresting to realize that I may have witnessed this
whale calf’s first few days in the ocean and also its very last day of
life.

Regarding the other dive days of the trip, the diving at the Canyon at San
Benedicto Island was disappointing with very low visibility. We moved over
to the Boiler where the diving was better. We had one exceptional dive with
about 6 manta rays.

Also while diving Roca Partida, we had 2 start dolphin encounters with a
pair mating while on the go. Because the water temperatures were a degree
or two warmer than usual, the sharks were deep (about 130'-150') and the
visibility was reduced. Also, there was a strong current from the south on
the east of the rock. The large schools of jacks were also hanging out
deeper. We did have a nice dive with a couple of manta rays.

At Socorro Island, the diving at Cabo Pierce, which is usually very good,
was disappointing due to the low viz. Only a couple of hammerheads were
spotted. The diving at Punta Tosca was much better with improved viz and 3
very good dives with 2-3 manta rays. Several juvenile Galapagos sharks were
also cruising the sandy bottom.

On this trip, the Nautilus Explorer carried more divers (25) than I have
ever previously experienced. So at times the dining area, salon and dive
deck could get a bit congested. I had a single forward cabin and on 2
occasions experienced plumbing problems that the crew responded to
immediately. There were a few new members of the boat crew on this trip
worked hard and tried to please. The food, as usual, was plentiful and
tasty.

The head on the dive deck was out of order for the entire trip.

I will be heading back down to the Revillagigedos Archipelago again in
January 2016 on the Belle Ami, the new sister boat. I am looking forward to
it.

You have the choice of 5-6 different live-aboard ships for your 8-10 day scuba trip to Socorro. I have only taken one, but it was absolutely excellent. The Valentina (from Fun Azul group) has a wonderful crew and great food, and the diving was superb. Not sure that it could be done better than this company did it. Definitely consider them if you are thinking about booking one of these trips. Well worth putting on your scuba bucket list.