Looking for advice on trying a liveaboard
- Thread starter Jeff85248
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mantajohn
Contributor
+1 for the RDM.
Great boat, great people, amazing destination
Great boat, great people, amazing destination
BDSC
Contributor
It really is a great boat. Nothing fancy but highly functional.
As a matter of fact, I "may" have a spot or two open for the Sea of Cortez next August but not sure. I will know in a few weeks and I discount all of our trips as we all share in the commissions and free spaces equally.
I just went on a combo Socorro/Sea of Cortez trip on the Nautilus Explorer and it was awesome. I don't know if I'll ever dive a site as unique and beautiful as Roca Partida again (besides going back!) and every dive was amazing. My favorite was the boiler at San Benedicto with the mantas. The Explorer is a great boat and crew, I went to Guadalupe Island with them the year before. I don't know if I'd do Sea of Cortez off a liveaboard again but it was good to try once. The sea lions were a lot of fun and we did a night dive with the mobula rays
drrich2
Contributor
@BreeAbyss You got me curious; why wouldn't you do a Sea of Cortez trip via live-aboard again? Is it...
1.) You'd rather do it land-based for some reason?
2.) In your experience other options beat the Sea of Cortez as a dive destination?
3.) It was great but you've experienced what it had to offer & once was enough?
I recently noticed Sea of Cortez was a near U.S.A. Pacific Ocean live-aboard option, aside from the Socorros (& of course the white shark diving near Guadalupe), yet I don't hear about Sea of Cortez live-aboards nearly as much. Seems like Cabo San Lucus and Cabo Pulmo land-based get discussed from time to time, but not live-aboard trip reports (or maybe I just missed them...).
Richard.
WarrenZ
The Ultimate Bad Example
I dive Sea of Cortez land based from San Carlos there isn't much in the way of livaboard boats other than RDM. It is our local ocean diving. San Carlos is 4 hours from Nogales so very road tripable.
The Sea of Cortez is really only done by one boat (although they just added another lower cost boat to their fleet) and that is the Rocio Del Mar. They begin their trip from the Northern most point of the Sea of Cortez, Puerto Peñasco and cruz to the Midriff Islands. I don't know for sure but I think The Nautilus just goes around the corner a bit to La Paz. So really BreeAbyss' trip was a bit different then a true Sea of Cortez trip. I don't think you hear about it much because only one boat does it and only for a short period of time (July, August, Sept). I have been 3 times and I am going back next week (I spend most of my time underwater in Indonesia). I really enjoy it because it is so close and you get a great amount of sea life and amazing topography. Cool nudis and slugs, sea horses, great angels and butterfly fish. Really interesting blennies and Jawfish. Sea of Cortez 2014 & Sea of Cortez 2013
Wide angle subjects include whalesharks (snorkel), sea lions, turtles, not to mention the stuff we see on the surface like whales, dolphins and Humboldt Squid. Sea of Cortez
drrich2
Contributor
According to Liveaboard.com, the page on Mexico, a boat called the Valentina is doing Sea of Cortez exploration trips. Rocio Del Mar hits the Sea of Cortez Midriff Islands, and now that fleet has the Quino el Guardian boat doing the Sea of Cortez.
I'm not familiar with what their trips are like, but the Valentina and Quino el Guardian trips look moderate in price, and the RDM not too bad (compared to, oh, say, a Socorros trip).
While the Sea of Cortez seems to be more of a seasonal destination (compared to Belize, for example), if these boats are serving groups of divers week after week, I'd like to know how those trips & that destination stack up.
Richard.
I'm not familiar with what their trips are like, but the Valentina and Quino el Guardian trips look moderate in price, and the RDM not too bad (compared to, oh, say, a Socorros trip).
While the Sea of Cortez seems to be more of a seasonal destination (compared to Belize, for example), if these boats are serving groups of divers week after week, I'd like to know how those trips & that destination stack up.
Richard.
drrich2
Contributor
P.S.: Cali-diver, you posted while I was typing. You've got some nice shots, like those 2 of the (sail fin?) blenny. Wonder why the Sea of Cortez is so seasonal? California has shorter live-aboard like the Truth Aquatics boats, and the Peace dive boat, and they hit the Northern and Southern Channel Islands over a range of months, even when the water's cold(er).
BDSC
Contributor
In 2014 we had a group do the Socorro Islands on the RDM. To date that trip was my all time favorite. The boat was such a hit with everyone I decided to book the SOC trip with them for next year.
I sent out an email to all the folks who have dove with our group. In 48 hours I had 32 folks sign up. The boat only holds 20 so which of my friends do I tell you can't go? To solve the problem I just booked it for two weeks next year with one trip in August and one in September. Problem solved!!!
I sent out an email to all the folks who have dove with our group. In 48 hours I had 32 folks sign up. The boat only holds 20 so which of my friends do I tell you can't go? To solve the problem I just booked it for two weeks next year with one trip in August and one in September. Problem solved!!!
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