First and foremost - I can't say enough good things about the captain and crew of the Nautilus Explorer - The boat is so comfortable, I really hated leaving it for the hotel in Cabo - it was that nice. The food is easily 5 star quality (Thanks Enrique!!) The DMs were spectacular at being there for us the minute we needed anything and otherwise let us do our own thing without any restrictions. The crew were always there to give a hand or a boost into a skiff, carry a tank, turn on air, fix a fin and give the all clear to roll back in - they passed out water on the dive deck before and after every dive just to make sure people kept hydrated - so thoughtful! Captain Mike is a great guy and has his heart deeply set in conserving the environment and protecting the animals - moreso than any dive operation I've seen. I felt very comfortable giving to his nonprofit for the benefit of Socorros.
On to the diving: The mantas at Socorros actually want to interact with divers. Once they find us, they usually spend the entire dive circling and looking at the divers. We only had to wait for the second dive of the trip for them to come and hang out with us - I was the last one to surface on that dive and at the end, another manta came by - so two of them circled me for the last 200 pounds of air, clearly disappointed that I was leaving. For the rest of the trip, we saw them almost every dive. We had as many as 3 at once playing with the group. Some of them literally came to a stop vertically and hung there until you got up to them. No matter how many times we saw them, seeing them approach was always a breathtaking experience - you never get over how amazing they are.
On NY Eve, we snorkeled with silky sharks that were circling the lights under the boat. I was on the fence the whole time as to whether I'd get in with them, and they were not small, either and there were about 10 of them and they were feeding on flying fish, too, so it was pretty intimidating watching them hunt, but they ignored us completely - I petted one's tail as it went by and it didn't even flinch.
A couple days later we were on a site that had just had some great dolphin encounters. We saw a really big hammerhead - the crew said it could have been a great HH, but weren't sure. Anyway, the HH was making a quick exit out of the bay we were in and a minute later, a dolphin came blowing by after it. Then 9 dolphins came and did a little parade for us about 15 feet away - rolling around and playing.
On the last day, we dove in, found a manta, she left for a minute and came back with 2 friends and stayed for the duration. They followed us to the boat. We dove in after a couple hours and there was one waiting for us under the boat - same thing - spent an hour with her and on the third dive, again, waiting under the boat. This one literally draped herself across the last 3 people left down there. Once we made the decision to get out - I was snorkling by that time because I ran out of air, she turned and left, like she knew we were done for good. Some people on the top deck saw a sea lion swimming in the distance around this time.
On the way home, we saw a giant pod of dolphins mixed with a giant pod of pilot whales. Apparently that was unbelievably rare - the crew was shocked. One of the pilots was albino. In the middle of the whole spectacle was a lone seal swimming with them all. So I joked that we needed to see a big whale now, since we saw small ones (we did see humpbacks breaching but from a really long way off). About an hour later, a sperm whale surfaced about 100 yards from the ship. Its like we were in the bermuda triangle - I think we would have seen a mermaid if we were out for another day.
I cannot recommend this trip or this boat any more strongly!!
They also do shark dives at Guadalupe, dives to British Columbia, Sea of Cortez and the Channel Islands. I will definitely be back!
On to the diving: The mantas at Socorros actually want to interact with divers. Once they find us, they usually spend the entire dive circling and looking at the divers. We only had to wait for the second dive of the trip for them to come and hang out with us - I was the last one to surface on that dive and at the end, another manta came by - so two of them circled me for the last 200 pounds of air, clearly disappointed that I was leaving. For the rest of the trip, we saw them almost every dive. We had as many as 3 at once playing with the group. Some of them literally came to a stop vertically and hung there until you got up to them. No matter how many times we saw them, seeing them approach was always a breathtaking experience - you never get over how amazing they are.
On NY Eve, we snorkeled with silky sharks that were circling the lights under the boat. I was on the fence the whole time as to whether I'd get in with them, and they were not small, either and there were about 10 of them and they were feeding on flying fish, too, so it was pretty intimidating watching them hunt, but they ignored us completely - I petted one's tail as it went by and it didn't even flinch.
A couple days later we were on a site that had just had some great dolphin encounters. We saw a really big hammerhead - the crew said it could have been a great HH, but weren't sure. Anyway, the HH was making a quick exit out of the bay we were in and a minute later, a dolphin came blowing by after it. Then 9 dolphins came and did a little parade for us about 15 feet away - rolling around and playing.
On the last day, we dove in, found a manta, she left for a minute and came back with 2 friends and stayed for the duration. They followed us to the boat. We dove in after a couple hours and there was one waiting for us under the boat - same thing - spent an hour with her and on the third dive, again, waiting under the boat. This one literally draped herself across the last 3 people left down there. Once we made the decision to get out - I was snorkling by that time because I ran out of air, she turned and left, like she knew we were done for good. Some people on the top deck saw a sea lion swimming in the distance around this time.
On the way home, we saw a giant pod of dolphins mixed with a giant pod of pilot whales. Apparently that was unbelievably rare - the crew was shocked. One of the pilots was albino. In the middle of the whole spectacle was a lone seal swimming with them all. So I joked that we needed to see a big whale now, since we saw small ones (we did see humpbacks breaching but from a really long way off). About an hour later, a sperm whale surfaced about 100 yards from the ship. Its like we were in the bermuda triangle - I think we would have seen a mermaid if we were out for another day.
I cannot recommend this trip or this boat any more strongly!!
They also do shark dives at Guadalupe, dives to British Columbia, Sea of Cortez and the Channel Islands. I will definitely be back!
I am doing the Vancouver to Alaska this summer, and the Guadalupe trip this fall. I can hardly wait.
