Recommendations for Socorro Island liveaboards

[scbaNE2179]

I'm actually scheduled to go on the Bella Amie in 2018 and I totally agree with Thiabult's comments regarding gaining the necessary experience prior to entertaining anything Socorro. If you want experience with currents, I would suggest going down to Cozumel and dive their Northern side as their currents will rip you through like a damn rocket. And Nitrox is an absolute must if you are planning multiple deeper than average dives per day.

 

[chillyinCanada]

Perhaps start with liveaboards in Caribbean or even Red Sea. The Explorer Turks and Caicos will give you some very nice diving (and a shark or two). You could take your advanced and perhaps even your nitrox while aboard.

Cozumel is a good recommendation for diving in a current plus it's very sweet diving too!

A Belize liveaboard is another really great trip and you can get a very deep experience if you do the Blue Hole Dive.

With you being in Europe though, it seems that the Red Sea should be the place for you!

 

[Matt Black]

I have been on the Belle Ami and the RDM. Both boats are good. The RDM is more basic but with less divers so that wins for me every time.
Whilst I appreciate that you want to go and enjoy the best sites on offer, I think that your enjoyment will be limited by your lack of experience. A Socorro trip can be challenging so, in order for you to get the best out of it, I would strongly recommend that you get some more dives logged before you go.
Get some blue water dives under your belt and make sure you are confident launching an SMB before heading off.

 

[peeweediver]

For our group at Socorro, the issue was being new to significant surge. Feeling like you're going up and down with a 50 foot swing, but really pretty much in the same place in the water column did freak some of our group out. Also, never try to swim around Roca Partida right near the rock. My wife learned the hard way that the current is ripping around that corner. Luckily, mask was knocked off her face down to her neck and reg stayed in her mouth. Never tried that again. Ditto on the SMB. We came up a few times way away from everyone but comfortable with both SMB's sticking straight up until pick-up.
We did have 2 new AOL divers with less than 50 dives. One was almost a statistic but for the great work of the DM at 80 feet in strong current. Our LDS spent some time after this trip refining our experience requirements for certain trips. Even with that we had an incident or two at CoCos Island a few months ago. Moral of our experience: As bad as some want to go somewhere, help them be patient until they can really, truly enjoy it.

Rob

 

[ptn72]

Another vote for Belle Amie. I took trip in 2015 and I was glad I picked the biggest liveaboard to Socorro. It took 30 hours to get back to Cabo San Lucas. I didn't get seasick with the patch but it wasn't a easy crossing. Even with more divers, it never felt crowded because of its size. The operation was top notch and the crew was awesome.

As many already mention, launching SMB skill is a must.

 

[BDSC]

Another vote for the Rocio Del Mar. Great boat, food, and crew. We had a full boat and we dove in shifts of three groups so it was about 7 people to one DM on each panga. We did the Socorro itinerary. We had two folks on the trip who had been before on the Solmar and overall liked the RDM better.

Would I dive with them again? Well I booked the entire boat for the Sea of Cortez this August, booked the entire boat again for the Sea of Cortez this September, and have the boat again in 2019 to go back to the Socorros. We like the Socorro trip in November because the water is warm and you have your best chance at whalesharks. Many of us didn't even wear wetsuits last trip in November.

 

[divetheoceans]

Please don't dive in such challenging and remote places as the Socorro Islands without having the required experience.

There are many exciting dive sites near you: As you are from Europe, the Red Sea would be ideal for you. With some more dives (50 or more) you could even do the Brothers-Daedalus tour with high chance for hammerheads and other sharks.

Dive guides on a Socorro liveaboard are not meant to accompany an inexperienced diver, they are there for all the guests. And as a newly certified diver you could even ruin other guests' holiday. With (a lot of) more diving experience, the Socorro Islands will be much more interesting and enjoyable for you. There's no way the Similand Islands can be compared to the conditions out there in the Pacific Ocean. Please consider all the important recommendations you got here. Know your limits.

 

[Tippytoes12]

As the other posters have all said , this sounds like a step too far. In Egypt and the Maldives LOB guides don't babysit less experienced divers like they do in the Similans. They are on duty 24 hours a day after all. So you will have a Buddy, probably a lot more experienced who will have better air consumption and more skilled in currents. Having paid thousands of dollars for the trip they won't be happy with 40 minute dives.

Do Red Sea liveaboards first , even there you may not be allowed on all of the routes. You will enjoy Socorro more and it will be safer when you have more experience.

Sorry if this is harsh !

 

[PADI Travel]

Hi moorish8idol,

It sounds like you’ve already received lots of great advice. I just wanted to pass along one article that you may find useful. Check out The Best Liveaboards in Socorro for some more info and videos about the area’s top liveaboards.

In the meantime, happy diving!

 

[Shasta_man]

<< I just wanted to pass along one article that you may find useful. Check out The Best Liveaboards in Socorro for some more info>> I hate these "pretending to be helpful info but linking to some travel agents site" informercial posts. I think they are deceptive and particularly negative for helping inexperienced travelers and divers. You come to Scubaboard looking for helpful real info about people's experiences on places to go and boats. This is a link to their travel site which is a list of the boats they want to sell you each described via the boats travel brochure. Helpful objective information about the experience people have actually had = zero. The product info on any company's site for any product is, by definition, not an objective source of information. It will be unusual if that results in unbiased input based on YOUR needs. Travel agents sell travel services which is great and they are helpful when you need them, but I like their info to be clear. Because this business is selling travel, they are incentivized from the beginning to sell you SOMETHING. I have seen a few sites where agents provide more info than the company brochure but they are rare.