Another Trip of a Lifetime!
Posted: Thu Jun 04, 2015 9:22 pm
My buddy and I just returned from a 10 day trip on the Nautilus Explorer. We were diving the Socorro Islands with an unexpected detour into the Sea of Cortez. The trip was amazing!
We boarded the Nautilus Explorer in Cabo San Lucas. We then had a 24 hour crossing to our first stop. We had a calm ocean for our crossing, but the wind was up at our first stop. We started on the island of San Benedicto. We did a checkout dive at a place called the Canyon and then moved over to the Boiler.
The Boiler is a a structure that starts about 15 feet below the surface and drops down on all sides to about 120 feet. At this site we had some really amazing Manta interaction. These Manta's are huge, 12 to 15 feet across. Each dive we were greeted by 5 to 7 of these Manta's. The Manta's are really curious, they swim right up to you and look right into your eyes. I enjoyed the dives at the boiler as much as any on this trip. We spent 2 days diving and then left for Roca Partida.
Roca Partida is an amazing site. It is an exposed rock that drops down to 300 feet with nothing within 75 miles. This trip we were not blessed with the massive schools of sharks, but there were still many sharks. The only big school of sharks that I saw was a big school of Hammerheads that were deeper than me at about 140 feet. I had 2 computers screaming at me as the school streaked by just out of my range. We saw many Silkies, a few Galapagos, some Silver Tips, and had a bunch of White Tip shark interactions.
After 3 days of spectacular diving we started hearing about a storm about 700 miles to the south. We moved north and returned to the Boiler. The Manta's seemed to be waiting for our return, the bonus this time was each morning we also had a pod of Dolphins awaiting our arrival. After 2 more days of diving the Boiler we were told that the first named storm of the season, Andreas, was moving our direction. We were forced to move north to the Sea of Cortez.
Moving into the Sea of Cortez we immediately noticed the heat. It was really hot, with no breeze. The skipper worked very hard to keep us happy. We dove La Reyna, Los Ilotes, and a sunken Ferry. The dives were fun and we were entertained by Sealions at Los Islotes. Because of the storm we had to unload in La Paz and travel by van to the airport near Cabo. The Sea of Cortez was the perfect way to end the trip!
The Nautilus Explorer is a great boat. The food is fantastic and the crew is really top notch. The major upgrade for dive safety this trip was the Nautilus Lifeline. Every diver now dives with a Nautilus Lifeline. These are small units with a walkie talkie that allow you to talk to the boat in the case of an emergency. If that fails there is way to start sending your GPS coordinates on the international distress frequency. I really can't say enough great things about the boat operation or this trip. I really hope to go back again!
We boarded the Nautilus Explorer in Cabo San Lucas. We then had a 24 hour crossing to our first stop. We had a calm ocean for our crossing, but the wind was up at our first stop. We started on the island of San Benedicto. We did a checkout dive at a place called the Canyon and then moved over to the Boiler.
