Socorro Island Diving
Socorro is not a place for novice diver. The currents are strong, and even on calm days, there is a lot of surge (which is actually fun to ride in after awhile). None of that was unexpected -- after all, we were diving in the middle of the Pacific without any extensive reefs, or large islands to provide sheltered water.
The marine varies by season (we did not see whale sharks, for example, because they do not show up typically in January -- again no surprise), but is focused on large pelagic creatures. Socorro is all about wide-angle photography. We dove at 3 sites, (Canyon, Boiler, Roca Partida), all of which were very similar in the types of creatures you see. There is a surprising amount of interesting smaller creatures lurking in the rocks (I followed around a very sweet octopus for awhile) at the dive sites, but sadly they just tend to get ignored by divers in awe of the big stuff -- dolphins, sharks (hammerhead, silky, reef), and playful manta rays that seem to love swimming through the bubbles of divers. The experience of playing with the giant Pacific Manta rays, over and over again really made the trip worthwhile.
The dolphins were surprisingly shy (I know other divers have different experiences), but they did show up on 2 early morning dives at Canyon. Later on, we headed out in the panga boats, chasing humpback whales (there were 4 hanging out near the boat). We got close to one whale, but he dove immediately upon our approach. However, we did get to snorkel with a playful pod of dolphins, (and some curious sharks that made us a bit nervous), and got some nice video
footage.
If you want better idea about the trip, you can check out my video here:
