Trip Report, Rocío del Mar. Revillagigedo. May 12 to 20, 2013

Rocio del Mar ready to leave port at San Jose del Cabo

We are very happy to be on land again and share with all our blog visitors our great experiences during the last trip to Revillagigedo archipelago.


We had an outstanding trip to San Benedicto, Socorro and Roca Partida.

This time we had Lavonne and Trux on board for their second time visiting Revillagigedo with a fantastic group of divers.



We divided the group in three teams and the fun started from that single moment using funny names for teams A,B,C.

Lavonne and Trux visiting us for second time

Team Albondigas: Pam and Tony, Barb and Chris, Susan and Neil, Chuck and Kelly.

Team Bananas: Ruben , Larry, Dan and Janet,  Chuck and Janet.

And finally but not last, team Caliente: Lavonne and Trux, Craig, Susan, Lisseta and Dave.

Divers heading to Cabo Pearce, Socorro

Our crossing was great. Excellent weather conditions and a great time aboard Rocio del Mar getting ready with dive gear, dry suits, stills and video cameras. As always Poncho, our chef, surprised us with delicious meals.

Our fist stop was in San Benedicto. We dove fondeadero, punta norte and las cuevas. Due to great weather conditions we planned to go directly to Roca Partida, but one of our passengers got stomach sick and we decided for safety and precaution to go straight to Socorro in case we needed medical attention at the Mexican Navy base.

We stayed two days at Socorro island looking for mantas. It seems they are not visiting the usual diving sites and we had to look for them around the island. Finally found more than 10 giant mantas in the area next to the "Aquarium" dive site and had a great time snorkeling with them. 

Socorro sunset

We dove in Punta Tosca, Cabo Pearce, Rock O'Neal and the Aquarium completing great 7 dives in the island with silver tips, white tips, dolphins and some hammer heads.

Socorro gifted us with a magnificent sunset during the mexican dinner on the top deck. The group dressed up for the sarong night and had a lot of fun.

The next two days we were at Roca Partida. Neil said after the first diving day: "this site is incredible. Probably no other site in the world is like Roca Partida, a tiny rock in the middle of no where, full of sharks and incredible sea life."  And we all agreed.

Big silky sharks around the boat at night in Socorro

We had very good dives with constant encounters of big galapagos sharks, hammer head schools, silky sharks, white tip sharks and ... mantas. At least three different mantas in different dives were very friendly with divers.  The second day at Roca Partida huge tunas were around the place stressing the little fishes.

Dave and Lisetta and the blue ....

Kelly and Chuck at Roca Partida

Neal and giant manta

Big galapagos sharks

We started to have strong wind in the afternoon and prepared to go back to San Benedicto for our final diving day.
Weather didn't allow us to move from the Canyon dive site, but we had four great dives there: dolphins, close hammer head encounters, schools of jacks, giant lobsters and more.

Sadly because the trip was ending we said good bye to Revillagigedo and started our slow way back to San José del Cabo with strong wind from the NW.

Divers waiting for hammer heads.

We all have life time memories after this trip. Some of us made new friends and some others made stronger friendship bonds.

We thank you all for sharing this trip and 23 great dives with us in Revillagigedo. We are already looking forward to seeing you all again soon in the Sea of Cortez.

Finally we have an important announcement to make. Larry found his lost twin brother in Revillagigedo!! Gerardo our captain!!

Twins?

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Passengers Comments

The crew was great! The boat was laid out just right for divers.

Food was excellent.  I would recommend this trip to other divers. 

I suggest a bar in the shower stall to hold on to when the boat rocks. 

Ruben Duran

The boat, the crew and the food was fantastic. I have never seen a crew as helpfull and friendly as the crew on this boat. I had a great time both in and out of the water. Thank you all.

Larry J Trenda.

To all the crew of rocio del mar,

Thank you for a wonderful week. We appreciate all your hard work, level of care

and attention to our safety.

Thank you for making us feel welcome and taking such good care of us during

our stay.

We take with us a week of fond memories, fantastic diving experiences and the

hope that someday we can return to Rocio del Mar and do it all again!!

All the very best,

Lisetta and David Potter.

Crew was excellent they made us feel like part of the family. Dive destinations

were spectacular.  Please continue to focus attention on improving the comfort of the staterooms.

Food was excellent.