Trip Report Trip Report: Socorro-Nautilus Explorer Nov. 18-26

[living4experiences]

Itinerary
Arrive Cabo San Lucas (SJD) on Nov. 16, stay at Tesoro Resort, dive with See Creatures Nov. 17th & 18th, board the Nautilus Explorer in the evening on Nov. 18th, depart SJD on Nov. 26th.

General Info about Nautilus Explorer
This was the fourth trip for Nautilus in Socorro on the Explorer since resuming operations. I had not planned on doing any live-aboard travel the rest of 2020, but Nautilus was offering incentive pricing for their first month back in operations. I’m a single traveler, and I paid $2355 for a single room, including the 5% tax. $65 in port fees was due in cash at the end of the trip. This trip had 22 guests and approximately 12-13 crew. Everyone is given a complimentary Nautilus branded reusable water bottle. Alcohol is not included. Wine by the glass is $5, beer is $3.50, wine by the bottle is $30-$40. Cocktails are also available at reasonable prices, such as a mojito for $4.

Nitrox is $100 for the trip and runs at 30% to 31%. The analyzer tool is provided on board, but they do not require you to log your readings. This seems to be typical for Mexico. Satellite internet is $100 per device for the trip. Don’t bother…it doesn’t work. If you purchase dive & travel insurance from Dive Assure through the Nautilus link, you will receive a $100 on-board credit. If you purchase the Nautilus Lifeline while on board, you will receive a $100 on-board credit. The on-board credits can be used for anything purchased on board, except gratuities, or any pre-trip shopping or diving at See Creatures Dive Shop in SJD.
Nautilus provides everyone on the trip with complimentary use of their Lifeline device and an SMB.

Flights
Delta, Southwest, and Alaska are the only airlines that are currently blocking the middle seat. The flight to SJD was on Delta. I flew first class and the seat next to me was blocked. The return flight was in coach on Alaska on Nov. 26th (Thanksgiving Day). I got lucky and had the whole row to myself. Both airlines’ pilots made an announcement before take-off that mask wearing will be enforced. There were no issues in that regard. The airports in Portland, Oregon, and SJD were fairly light in passenger traffic, although I was surprised to see as many people as I did. Mask compliance in the airports was very good, but there’s always those people who still don’t understand or refuse to acknowledge that you need to cover your nose with the mask. While waiting to board, passengers forget to social distance and end up crowding up on you. My solution is to stand in line with my carry-on bag behind me with an outstretched arm on the handle to create some distance. This works in the coffee shop/restaurant lines in the airports too.

SJD Airport Customs Extortion for Camera Housing
I have an Olympus TG6, the housing, and a single strobe. I brought my old Go Pro as a “dummy” camera. I distributed the TG6, housing, and strobe throughout my 1 checked bag, 1 carry-on, and backpack. I had the Go Pro in the backpack. If I was asked, Do you have a camera? My reply would be yes, and I would show them the Go Pro for inspection and I wouldn’t be lying. Thankfully, I got the green light and it was a breeze and I swiftly picked up my bags and off I went to Tesoro.

Pre-Live-aboard Activities
On Nov. 17th, I did two morning dives with See Creatures, $40 per tank, including weights. Had some sea lions come out and play. Here's the link:
I arranged for a private night dive with a local guide, and had it not been for the incredible show of bioluminescent (bio) krill, it would have been relatively uneventful. The moon cycle was perfect for a very dark night dive and the bio didn’t disappoint. This was the best bio display I have ever seen, so much that it blocked my light with a tornado of krill surrounding it. I’ve attached a link to the video of the action and a still snapshot of what the krill look like. I don’t know how the pictures work on SB, but if you can zoom in on the snapshot, you can see the green glow of the bio in their bodies. At one point, me and the guide turned off our lights and the sea was alight with green glitter from the bio. It was magnificent!! The black dots you see in the tornado are the eyes of all the krill. Way cool!! I am trying to upload photos but SB is giving me a lot of trouble uploading photos, so I will try to load those in the next post.

Link to Krill:
This next video is me trying to film a lobster, getting swarmed by the krill and swatting my light. I then lost sight of the lobster, found the lobster and filmed as much as I could before the swarm started again. Too fun!

Link to Krill & Lobster:
Nov. 18th I did a private photo workshop with David from Backscatter ($250) and learned more about my TG6 and how to shoot the mantas. The “complimentary” dive that came with the trip was delayed till 4:00 p.m. when we were losing daylight and there were too many boats overhead, so we spent a lot of time ducking and diving deeper to get away from the boat propellers. That was a throw-away dive.

I'll have to resume this review in the next post. Whatever is going on with SB is not letting me upload photos. More to come.....

 

[living4experiences]

Here is the continuation of my review.

Pre-Board Screening
Between 4:00 and 6:00 p.m., Nautilus has a paramedic at See Creatures to give you a check-up, which includes blood pressure, pulse, temperature, and some health questions. This is in addition to all the other health forms you’ve already filled out before the trip. You then watch a short video about the trip. While in the dive shop, even though it’s an open-air shop, you will still need to wear a mask within the confines of the shop.

Demographics
The guests were a wide range of experience levels from 50-4000 dives, ages of mid-20s to 60’s, and mostly American but several other nationalities. It was a great group to dive with.

Boarding
We were put into two groups of 11 and were transported by van to the boat. Upon boarding, your temperature is taken again, and you need to stop at a hand-washing station. We were given a glass of champagne and escorted to the top deck for a very brief synopsis of what will happen in the coming week. It was not the briefing I was expecting, as simple things to know on a dive boat were not covered, such as, can you drink the water from the tap? (Yes) Can you put toilet paper in the toilets? (Yes) There was no general discussion about the ship at all. There was discussion that masks were required to be worn at all times except if you were eating or drinking or could not social distance. (More about this topic below.)

COVID-19 Protocols
The requirement to wear masks was not followed by the divers and the staff did not enforce it. I found this unsettling. Automatic hand sanitizer dispensers were available all over the boat, but few people used them. Your temperature is taken every day and logged.

The hot tub is only open after the last dive of the day and closed when we were on the move to the next location. It’s a 6 to 8 person hot tub, but capacity was limited to 4 people with a mask or 2 people with no mask. Although people didn’t spend more than a few minutes in the tub, nobody followed the rules after the second day, and by the end of the trip, there were 6 people unmasked at a time in the tub with no staff enforcement. It is outdoors, though, so it didn’t bother me as much as the noncompliance indoors.

For the meals, there is no buffet. The meals are plated, then covered in plastic wrap. The self-serve beverage station is closed to guests, so you can only be served by the hostesses at all times during the trip. (More about this topic below.) Seating is reduced to 13 people at a time, and the first 13 people through the door get served first. Everyone else has to wait until people finish eating and leave the dining room.

Each area has a sign posted with the max number of people allowed. The dive deck sign posted a max of 23 persons, but there were 22 divers plus crew on the deck at all times. The sign in the salon said the max was 10 guests, but that was always exceeded. One person was allowed to be in front of the computer, but when sharing and uploading photos, 6 people would crowd around the screen.

Once during the week, one of the hostesses came to my cabin to “fog” the room for sanitation. She took one step into the room, closed the door for 10 seconds, and came back out. It’s not possible to have sanitized the entire room in 10 seconds. In the evenings, I saw staff sanitizing and wiping down the surfaces of the dive deck.

Dining
You are not given any food choices to select what you want to eat and the plate arrives in front of you with whatever was cooked by the kitchen staff. We were encouraged to keep in mind that others were waiting to eat, which gave you a feeling of hurry-up-and-move-along attitude. There was no time for socializing or camaraderie. If you are not in the first group to eat, your plate is sitting on a countertop covered in plastic until you sit down. Since the beverage station was off limits, you couldn’t come in for an early-morning cup of coffee or evening cup of tea because the staff wasn’t there to serve you, which meant you could only get a beverage during meal times.

By the way, the water on board is, in fact, drinkable from the tap, but it is the most awful tasting water I have ever had in my travels. It was very chalky tasting. I got a bunch of tea bags and did a cold water brew in my water bottle to change the taste.

“Cocktail hour” was the time between Dive 4 and dinner in the salon to get a drink and grab a snack from the community bowl or platter where everyone could put their unwashed hands. Huh…we can’t get our own beverages but go ahead and put your hands into the community snack bowl? In my opinion, that’s a COVID failure. In addition, the 10 person max was, again, exceeded.

DINING ROOM

SALON
Dive Deck
On the dive deck, the set-up is not every other tank like a lot of companies are doing. This is the standard set-up, shoulder to shoulder. You are outdoors but in a covered deck area. I was not pleased to see this. In fairness, though, you can't reasonably wear a mask while donning and doffing dive gear and interacting with other guests and staff. The solution is to not to run the trip at full capacity in the first place.

Non-Diving Activities
The PDF brochure advertises kayaks, paddle boards and shoreline tours, manta ID in the afternoon, and after-dinner presentations. None of that was offered except one skiff ride around Socorro Island. I would have loved to have gotten a presentation of the local marine life, especially the mantas.

There is a night snorkel with the silky sharks on the day we had to do the Navy check in, so there were only 3 dives that day. The Mexican rules have changed such that you cannot use any dive lights and only a single flash on your camera. The only light you can see the silkys is from the lights off the boat, which weren't great. Without lights, I couldn’t get photos. Apparently, two years ago, you could use your dive lights and strobes. Though it was a close look at the silkys, it was disappointing not to see what else was swimming around me.

Apparently, I cannot put any more content in this post, so part three will continue...

 

[tridacna]

Great report...so far!

 

[living4experiences]

Part 3 of my review.

The Cabin
I was in the “single” stateroom, number A, which was an oversized closet with a double bed. I’d be surprised if it was 90 square feet. The room is on the lower deck at the front of the boat. It is not a quiet room because I heard the crashing waves pounding against the steel hull all night long even when we weren’t on the move. The A/C worked well in the room. Provided toiletries are a shower dispenser with Stream2Sea shampoo/conditioner/body wash in one and two 1-ounce bottles of Stream2Sea sunscreen. No lotion or hair dryer is provided. Toilet paper is provided but no Kleenex. There are three hooks in the cabin and an open cubby with a half-closet rod for hanging shirts. No drawers, just a couple of shallow shelves. No bedside table. The sink is by the bed. The entry to the bathroom has an opening of 22”. (See photo below.) Because of COVID, there is no housekeeping and they will change your towels every other day.

Getting There and Back
The 24-hour trip was in 1-2 foot swells traveling with the current, no adverse weather, wind or rain. The outside temperature all week was in the mid-80s. The return trip was in 3-4 foot swells traveling against the current, great weather for the trip back. We had a couple of people get seasick. I don’t get seasick, but I always travel with the necessary precautions, ginger candy, meclizine, sea bands, and scopolamine patches. The other passengers appreciated the ginger candy.

Daily Schedule
6:30 a.m. Continental Breakfast
6:45 a.m. Dive Briefing
7:00 a.m. Dive 1
8:30 a.m. Hot Breakfast
10:00 a.m. Dive 2
12:00 p.m. Lunch
1:00 p.m. Dive 3
4:00 p.m. Dive 4
7:30 Dinner

Day 1 at sea we had the safety briefing where you bring your lifejacket from your room and do the muster drill and learn how to use the emergency breathing system, which is a compact air system with a hood to provide about 5 minutes of oxygen in an emergency. The cabins are fireproof up to 10 minutes.

Diving
The 22 guests were divided into 3 groups: 7, 7, and 8 based on experience levels. Getting into the skiff from the platform, you hand your camera, fins, and mask to a crew member. You then climb in the boat by stepping in with one leg, put your belly on the boat, grab the ropes, then swing the other leg in, sit up, slide down the boat with your butt to get your seat. Staff then hands the gear to you. The drop zone is less than 2 minutes away. The skiff driver counts to 3 and we all back-rolled together and head straight for the bottom with a negative entry.

To get back on the skiff, you take off all your gear in the water and hand it up to the crew. First, your camera, then weight belt/pockets, then BC, then fins. Climb up the ladder and you’re done. The crew takes all your gear to the mother ship, including your BCD and tank and puts it back to your designated spot on the dive deck.

I only own a 3mm wetsuit, but since a 5mm was suggested by Nautilus, I rented it from See Creatures. The water temps were 83-84 degrees, so I ditched the wetsuit the first day and only dived in my Lycra skin with a bathing suit underneath.

Conditions
At San Benedicto, the topside surf was choppy and under the water, the current was ripping, so much that I thought we should have had reef hooks, but, apparently, they are not allowed there. At Socorro and Roca Partida, the topside surf was still choppy, but the current underwater was much more manageable. You could just hang in the water column and watch the animals go by. The weather was beautiful with sunny and hot days with just one morning of clouds that cleared up midday.

The Animals!
During this trip, I saw a lot a firsts for me. The stars of the trip, of course, were the giant mantas. I’ve been diving with the mantas in Kona, Hawaii, but the Socorro mantas are monstrous! They swam so close to me that I could see their eyes and I saw intelligence.

The list of sharks were Galapagos, silver tip, white tip, hammerhead, silky, tiger; also a false killer whale, 1 juvenile and 1 adult whale shark (2 separate days). We had not seen any dolphins the whole week and we were so excited to see 17 dolphins show up to play on the last dive of the last day. We had 2 dolphins that stood vertical in the water column and let the divers surround them for photos as if to pose for the pictures. It was awesome!

The last day is when we saw the adult whale shark, approximately 30-40 feet long. I had spotted something that looked like a dolphin about 6 or 7 feet long with yellow ridges on its back. Topside I asked what that was and, to my delight, it was a yellow fin tuna! Another first for me. There were schools of blackjacks and I spotted a peacock flounder on a rock wall and a crown of thorns.


False Killer Whale and Manta:

Peacock Flounder

Crown of Thorns

I was fortunate to dive with a great group of divers who all shared their photos, so I cannot take credit for all the photos and video.

Playful Dolphins:
Manta Closeup:
Adult Whale Shark:
The Dive Experience

The crew are trained by Nautilus and it's not their fault if they aren't properly trained with COVID protocols. I understand businesses need to get back in operation, but I don't feel running a live-aboard at full capacity is the right thing to do at this time. Because I was so uncomfortable with the measures not being taken as promised, when I wasn't eating or diving, I spent my spare time in my cabin, which diminishes the social experience with other divers. As far as COVID measures, upon reflection, I felt more safe flying in an airplane for a half a day than I did spending a week on this live-aboard.

Separate and apart from the live-aboard experience, the diving itself and the customer service of the crew were outstanding. The crew took care of me with first-class diving service. They all worked really hard and I always got a smile from them when I asked questions or needed assistance. Schlepping the gear off the skiff is such hard work and I can really appreciate what they do. They were so helpful with gear setup, guiding, and assistance with the skiff. They've got an A+ from me. I give them all the highest praise for their customer service experience. All of the divers got along well and it was a very nice group of people with a willingness to share photos and be friendly. This was a once-in-a-lifetime trip for me and these fantastic memories are forever etched in my mind.

 

[cpace]

@living4experience

Thanks for the Socorro trip report. I was scheduled for a January 2021 trip on the Explorer but postponed it until December 2021 aboard the Belle Amie. Nautilus made it hassle free to re-book the trip. After reading your trip report I'm glad that I rescheduled. Hopefully things will have returned to "normal" by December 2021 (knock on wood).

 

[OliveDiver]

Great report! Thanks for taking the time to do this.

 

[Trailboss123]

Very detailed- Thanks for taking the time!

 

[drrich2]

Very good report, and I appreciate the photos onboard to give a sense of what it's like to be there. I like boat and resort photos. I'm interested to know what the dining service is like outside the pandemic.

To get back on the skiff, you take off all your gear in the water and hand it up to the crew.

Did you need to wear gloves for any reason? I ask because in the Galapagos we needed to wear gloves so as to be able to grab onto rough rocks. Turns out that when wearing gloves, my BP/W waist strap buckle and the buckle on a weight belt feel a lot alike. As in when 'de-gearing' to hand up my stuff, I accidentally released my weight belt instead of my BPW belt, lost and paid for it.

 

[DivingChipmunk]

Awesome report. Thanks for all the details. It was great diving with you and yes, loved the ginger candy, a life saver when I was suffering from sea sickness.
Hopefully I will write up my report soon. Works gets in the way during the week and glad weekend is here.

 

[living4experiences]

Very good report, and I appreciate the photos onboard to give a sense of what it's like to be there. I like boat and resort photos. I'm interested to know what the dining service is like outside the pandemic.

Did you need to wear gloves for any reason? I ask because in the Galapagos we needed to wear gloves so as to be able to grab onto rough rocks. Turns out that when wearing gloves, my BP/W waist strap buckle and the buckle on a weight belt feel a lot alike. As in when 'de-gearing' to hand up my stuff, I accidentally released my weight belt instead of my BPW belt, lost and paid for it.

Just to add a bit about the dining service and food, all the staff wore masks and/or face shields but no rubber gloves during meal service. The food was average, nothing special.
Nobody on the boat mentioned it, but you definitely need to wear gloves. On the first day, the current was ripping so much, I had to grab onto the rocks and really hang on, which gave me a few gashes in my hands. After that, I wore my gloves on every dive.