Wednesday, August 24, 2011

August 13 - 20, 2011



Welcome aboard the Rocio del Mar!  This week we had Sid's group, which included: Charlie, Lew, and Rich from Phoenix, and Rommell and Osmar from Brazil. Additionally, Bill and Ruth came back for a second trip from Tucson.  Also joining us were Rob, Naomi, Jim and Mary from Illinois, Dave from Missouri, and last but not least Kelly and Nancy from Denver. 

The old saying "I laughed till I cried" was how I describe Kelly and Nancy. Funny, funny ladies.  This week was a blast!

When we left Puerto Peñasco we had the most beautiful full moon.  It was spectacular.  We woke in Refugio Bay at Angel Island the next morning.  The visibility was a vast improvement from the week before and the check out dive was great.  We saw turtles, guitarfish, and a giant jaw fish.  It seems like jaw fish are everywhere this season. 

Because of the full moon, we had strong currents, which made for great drift diving.  The current also brought in cooler water.  Temperatures ranged from a warm 86 to a chilly 72.  There were lots of thermoclines.  Osmar wore nothing but swimming shorts and Dave was wearing a dry suit.  It's so funny watching the video because there is no way of guessing water temperature by looking at these two.  The rest of us are somewhere in between.

On the surface we saw pods of dolphins whose numbers had to be in the hundreds.  On our way from San Pedro Martir to Animas, we ran into a large pod of pilot whales.  The pilot whales looked like they were feeding and were all scattered about.  Lolo was circling them at a distance with the big boat.  All of the sudden, a larger pilot whale slapped his tail against the water hard twice.  After that, the rest of the whales gathered and started to ride the wake of the boat.  I had no idea what that was about, but it was very interesting to see.  If anyone is familiar with pilot whale behavior, please share.

We also had the opportunity to get in the water with the sperm whales.  The only person who was able to get video was Rommell. 


 Sea lion pups are getting bigger and we are getting much more participation from the moms.  The bulls still keep a watchful eye just in case we get to rowdy.

We found several huge sea horses.  At "El Lavadero", we found two together.  They were about 10" big.  One of the sea horses swam across from one sea fan to another.  That was really neat to witness.

On Thursday we caught the tail end of a storm and tucked in a calm cove where we had a very exciting exploration dive.  We were going to vote on a name for the dive site.  At the end, everyone had different ideas and I don't think we agreed
on anything.  If you guys remember the ideas we came up with, please post.

It was an incredible week with great memories and great new friends. 

We miss you and hope to see you back soon.

The crew of Rocio Del Mar
Lolo, Dora, Rey, Ivan, Bob, Aurelio, Pedro, Tito, Jorge and Everardo


Wednesday, August 17, 2011

August 6 - 13, 2011


It is Hard to believe that we are half way thru our season. And we have met so many wonderful people.  This week we welcomed our friends from Gateway Dolphin Tours, Abyss Scuba and Travel, Dive Discovery and  Linda de la Ysla. We all had a great time and enjoyed each other’s company, we specially enjoyed singing “What a beautiful morning , what a beautiful day”;) !! 

Although visibility was not the best we were able to see lots of sea horses, manta rays, cortez angel fish and many more.  We saw sperm whales, unfortunately they did not stick around long enough for us to snorkel with them, we will  do it on our next trip!.  One of the best times on our trip was the hours we spent diving with the playful sea lions.  I do have to say that although getting out of Puerto Peñasco the sea was a bit rough, at the end of the trip on our way back the ride was a lot smoother.

Thanks again to all of our friends this week, we hope to see you soon!!!!

The Crew of Rocio del Mar.

Lolo, Dora, Rey, Bob, Ivan, Pedro, Aurelio, Julio, Tito and Everardo

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

July 30 - Aug 6 2011

It was very hard to see them go!  We had such a fun week.  Our guest were Frogman Dive Center from Venezuela, Kathy from Colorado, Marli from Canada
and Marty from San Diego.
We started Saturday evening with calm seas and cold beer. Everybody had a lot to say and they all said it at the same time.  Humor was the theme of
our week.  It was a lot of fun to say the least.
Highlights were,  sperm whales, risso dolphins, bottlenose dolphins, common dolphins by the hundreds and whale sharks.  That was just above water.
Below the water was equally busy.
The water was warmer this week.  Some places as warm as 86 degrees.  Except El Lavadero at Animas we reached 73 degrees.  burrrr.  Water had
lots of nutrients in some places which made it appear as if we were diving in a snow storm.  It was really cool.   I'm sure that's why we had so many mammal
encounters.  Several of our guests were meeting whale sharks for the very first time.  We were able to swim with at least four.
We are looking forward to seeing them all again soon at the Socorro Islands.
For the moment,  farewell and best wishes.
the crew of Rocio Del Mar,

Lolo, Dora,  Rey, Bob, Ivan, Pedro, Aurelio,  Julio, Tito and Everardo