Trip Report, Rocío del Mar. Revillagigedo. April 30 to May 9, 2013

It's May and there are still some friendly whales in Revillagigedo archipelago!!! 

We just returned from a 9 day trip to Socorro, San Benedicto and Roca Partida with a fantastic group of photographers: Michael H, Drew, Kat, Lukas, Olga, Vadim, Pietro, Joseph, Stacey, Jeff, Kim, Randy, Kimberly, Carmel, Jonathan, Daniel, Michael S, George, Felipe and Todd, from all over the world, USA, Canada, Israel, UK, Russia and Check Republic. All of us sharing the same passion -  Scuba Diving! We explored new remote sites and enjoyed Mother Nature's magnificence.


Weather was gentle during the entire trip and our passengers had a great time.

Few times have we seen the Rocio del Mar camera table so crowded. Enthusiastic photographers with all kind of cameras  lenses, domes and housings were anxious to cover the distance between San José del Cabo and our first stop: San Benedicto island.

Passengers enjoying the crossing to Revillagigedo

We weren't very lucky in the first couple of dives to catch good stills; hammerheads were shy and even though we were able to see them they were swimming far from the cameras lenses and lights.

Our second stop was in Roca Partida and the shark party started! We were able to see cameras lights flashing constantly and the big Galapagos sharks (Carcharhinus galapagensis) seemed to be happy posing in front of the cameras. 

Some divers had close encounters with big schools of Silkies (Carcharhinus falciformis) and Hammerheads (Sphyma Lewini). 

A great surprise came in the first dive of our second day in Roca Partida: a big black manta showed up and was happy around our divers.

Captain Gerardo watching carefully the diving operation

Randy found a very rare specimen that our dive master Pedro left in a little cave in Roca Partida and he took it out as a diving trophy!

Dive chicken!!

It's always great to dive in Roca Partida

Roca Partida offered us a once in a life time experience, one that we don't want to repeat, as mother nature showed her power. Have you ever experienced an underwater vortex?  We found one horizontal vortex at about 75 feet that tested our underwater skills.

Our captain Gerardo, headed  to Socorro island and we had one more great surprise.  Whales were breaching in front of us. We dove in different sites looking for more mantas, that seemed to be hidden, however more big animals were there waiting for us.  Four humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) passing by at various times and a medium sized tiger shark! (Galeocerdo cuvier)  The first one our Dive Master Guarani has ever seen and more hammerhead schools!! 

Divers taking pictures of whales and mantas

Nopales (Cactus salad) at Socorro mexican dinner

 During this trip we celebrated Vadim's and Michael's birthdays! We really appreciate that you guys came to celebrate and dive with us.

Big dinner for a BIG birthday guy

Michael's birthday cake

Todd fabricating an underwater device to catch
 silky shark images at night from the boat.    
Can't wait to see how those turned out!

We had one last diving day in San Benedicto in the Boiler and navigated safely to shore in San José del Cabo.

Michael ready to throw the panga cord

The Rocio Del Mar challenge is still open!  The first one able to put the panga cord in the boat ring will receive a prize! Michael was very close but he probably missed it because was the only one with Nikon on the trip!  

We had a great time during the trip, great food, lot's of fun, fantastic pictures and videos, but the best of all great life memories! Thank you all!