SOCORRO MANTA & SHARK MADNESS LIVEABOARD Trip Report February 2024
Words and photos by Mark Strickland
Officially known as the Revillagigedo Archipelago, these four remote, widely separated volcanic islands are often collectively referred to as Socorro, and are considered among the best places in the world to dive with big marine life. We’d be diving all but the most distant one, the seldom visited Clarion Island, and naturally our group of 17 couldn’t wait to get out there. Our floating home for this adventure was the venerable liveaboard Rocio del Mar, based out of Cabo San Lucas, at the southern tip of Mexico’s Baja Peninsula. Once the late afternoon boarding and safety briefing was complete, we got underway after enjoying a truly spectacular sunset. The closest of the islands is San Benedicto, which made it the logical first stop of the trip. After a relatively smooth 26 hour crossing, we dropped anchor and were soon greeted by hundreds of rudderfish that milled about under the boat’s lights, a few of which were a beautiful golden color, a striking variation from their usual dull gray. Also patrolling next to the boat were scores of bigeye jacks and half a dozen sleek silky sharks. By the next morning they had mostly dispersed, but several bottlenose dolphins took their place, cavorting right next to the boat, which we all took to be a good omen for the dives to come.
Our dive site for the entire first day, known as El Canyon, offered easy conditions that were well suited for a checkout dive, but it was also among the most productive in terms of photo ops. All 4 dives involved following a rocky ridge from the shallows down to 90 ft. or so, where barberfish and Clarion angelfish offered cleaning services to resident silvertip, Galapagos and scalloped hammerhead sharks, among others. Mantas were also seen on several dives, gliding gracefully by in mid-water. Other attractions included sizeable lobsters out for a stroll, coronet and trumpetfish, Mexican hogfish and leather bass, and tightly-pack schools of burrito grunts, red-tail triggerfish and Pacific creolefish. Off in the distance, some of us even saw a large yellowfin tuna, but it turned out to be just a sneak preview of the encounters we would enjoy later in the trip.
As with previous trips aboard Rocio, the food was abundant and mostly excellent. Each day began with a pre-breakfast that offered a choice of various breads, croissants, bagels, English muffins, yogurt, and a selection of fresh fruit. Hot breakfast was served after the first dive – eggs cooked to order, various breakfast meats, and a rotating menu of pancakes, waffles, omelettes and other goodies. Vegetarian and vegan options were available for every meal. Lunches were also a treat, starting with a different soup every day, and offerings that included tacos, pizza, fish, burgers, stir-fried chicken, etc. For dinner, the menu included a different salad every night, followed by entrees like lasagna, roasted chicken, ribs, pork tenderloin, prawns and tuna fillets. They didn’t skimp on the desserts either, with offerings like brownies w/ vanilla ice cream, cheesecake, key lime pie, flan and chocolate cake… I don’t think any of us lost weight on this trip!
The galley and dining area is below decks towards the bow, something that some guests had trouble getting used to, but most were able to make the adjustment quite well, at least when seas were relatively calm. Fortunately, the Rocio employs a pair of robust stabilizers that do a good job of dampening any rolling motion, so the boat remains fairly stable even in big swells.
After an overnight crossing, we awoke to clear skies, relatively calm seas and the alluring sight of the isolated rock pinnacle known as Roca Partida. Jutting up from surrounded depths of very deep water to roughly 140 feet above the surface, this remote site is a natural magnet for marine life, and is justifiably famous for its resident populations of whitetip reef, silvertip and Galapagos sharks, huge lobsters, and frequent appearances of pelagics like yellowfin tuna, wahoo, silky sharks and mantas, as well as seasonal visits by humpback whales. Early in the day, we had an auspicious report from the crew that “whales are around”, something that was confirmed many subsequent times as multiple humpbacks surfaced nearby throughout the day! Only three dives per day are permitted by park regulations, apparently as a safety concern, as we were now at the most distant point from help should there be any sort of dive emergency. The first dive became exciting the moment we started our descent, as a handful of bottlenose dolphins swam right up to greet us, lazily matching our snail’s-pace swimming efforts. They were clearly interested in us, circling back, weaving among the divers, sometimes going vertical in the water column, other times swimming belly-up, gazing at us as they cruised a few feet below. Eventually they dropped below our maximum allowable depth, joining several dozen of their kin at depth before finally disappearing into the blue. Each of our three dives brought something different, including a rare daytime feeding frenzy of whitetip reef sharks on our second dive, just at the up-current end of the site. Towards the end of the dive, we could hear the distinctive singing of a humpback whale, which seemed to become louder as we swam away from the rock. Knowing that odds of success were not great of encountering the singer out in the blue, we nonetheless spent the last ten minutes of the dive searching, but it never came into view. Still, it was a lovely experience to finish our dive with such a unique serenade. On the last dive, many of the resident whitetip reef sharks were snuggling together in several small “cubbyholes” on the vertical rock face, making for some nice photo ops. As we moved around to the opposite side of the rock, we came across several large lobsters out in the open, including one whose carapace appeared nearly the diameter of a scuba tank! Finally, towards the end of the dive, an all-black giant manta appeared out of the blue, slowly cruising past, giving everyone in our group at least one nice, close encounter. And, while there wasn’t an opportunity to get in the water with them, we did enjoy another sighting of humpbacks on the surface during our panga (dinghy) ride back to the big boat.
Socorro is at the top of our list of Best Shark Diving in the World! Click here to learn more.
On many trips, conditions prohibit spending the night at Roca Partida, but thanks to relatively calm seas, it was announced that we would indeed be staying for a second day, bringing instant approval from all. The next morning we again woke to clear skies and moderate wind, but the swell had increased considerably. The boat’s stabilizing system prevented any discomfort onboard, but the swell did create rather challenging underwater conditions. Any time we were close to the rock, we were subject to powerful surge that, depending on the terrain, either swept us 15-20 feet forwards and backwards, or where the rock was more vertical, a similar distance up and down from the substrate. Fortunately, divers in mid-water also rise and fall with the swells so there was no danger of inadvertently rocketing towards the surface, so as long as you aren’t trying to stay in a particular spot on the bottom or swimming over a shallow spot, it was not a problem. Unfortunately, the surge did stir up the visibility, so it wasn’t a great day for photos, but we still had some amazing encounters, including a brief appearance of bottlenose dolphins, dozens of reef whitetips and a large silvertip circling at the upcurrent end of the site, along with several massive yellowfin tuna. And, on the day’s last dive, another manta showed up and entertained everyone for a few minutes before winging off into the distance.
Having steamed for most of the night after leaving Roca Partida, the following day found us at Revillagigedo’s largest island, Socorro. Our first dive here was at Cabo Tosca, where we explored a rocky ridge that juts out into very deep water. Poor visibility and significant surge made for challenging conditions, especially when we crossed over the narrow ridges, but there was a good variety of marine life, including both color phases of guineafowl puffers, rainbow runners, lobsters and several small nudibranchs. Overall, though, it was rather disappointing, so everyone was happy when it was announced that we’d be moving to the celebrated site called Cabo Pierce for subsequent dives this day. First, though, we had to check in with officialdom at the Navy station, something that is required for all visiting boats. That process was quickly accomplished, however, and soon we were gearing up for the first of two dives at Cabo Pierce. Back-rolling into the water at the base of a steep cliff, we were almost immediately visited by a manta, then several bottlenose dolphins. None came quite withing photo range, but it was an exciting start to the dive. Drifting in the moderate current, we passed the submerged bronze plaque that commemorates the archipelago’s status as a world heritage site. Then several mantas started circling a shallow point on the ridge, so most of our group parked themselves right there. In what seemed like no time, dwindling bottom time and gas dictated our ascent, but even the mid-water was exciting, as more dolphins appeared and entertained us as we ascended. Topping it off, first a silky and then a large tiger shark briefly checked us out at the surface as we passed our gear up to the panga driver! Due to the time required for checking in, we could only squeeze in one afternoon dive, but it was a good one, once again at Cabo Pierce. Soon after entering we were eyed by a passing Galapagos shark, after which we worked our way down to a cleaning station at roughly 70 feet. Little was happening there, but as we slowly worked our way back up the ridge, a pair of very relaxed mantas appeared, effortlessly winging past us against a brisk current, only to circle around again and again, giving everyone a nice, relaxed look at them as well as some good photo ops. By this time most of us were getting low on time and air, so we reluctantly ascended into the blue.
After spending a quiet night in lee of Cabo Pierce, we were all eager to have another look at it underwater. The current was moving briskly on the first dive, requiring more effort to move around the site, but bringing the benefits of more marine life, including schooling hammerheads out in the blue. Closer to the reef we encountered several mantas, but the action really heated up on the second dive, when nearly everyone had multiple encounters with a pod of friendly dolphins, as well as more mantas and a few Galapagos sharks. Visibility dropped for the third and final dive of the day, but most of our group still enjoyed some quality time with several mantas.
For our last diving day, we motored back to San Benedicto Island, spending the first two dives where we started the trip at The Canyon. Visibility wasn’t great, but the cleaning station at 85 feet was humming with activity, with a constant parade of silvertip and Galapagos sharks circling us as if on a carousel, pausing in mid-water to be serviced by obliging Clarion angelfish and barberfish. Away from the reef, a faint outline of schooling hammerheads could be seen in the in the hazy distance, but a few lucky divers had closer passes near the cleaning station. Our second dive here brought similar results, with better light making for more enticing photo ops, which also included several passes by a curious manta in mid-water. We had planned to spend most or all of the day diving the iconic submerged pinnacale known as The Boiler on the opposite side of the island, but a sizeable swell put that plan on hold until dive three, when we ventured around the corner to give it a try. Heavy surge did make for somewhat challenging conditions, but we did have several nice manta encounters to show for the effort. For our last dive of the trip, we moved back to calmer waters at The Canyon, where we encountered a handful of whitetip reef, silvertip and Galapagos sharks, as well as schooling burrito grunts and red-tail triggerfish. Visibility was markedly reduced compared to the morning dives, but we still saw lots of cool marine life, including a squadron of extra-large black jacks that accompanied us during our safety stop.
Being a photo workshop, every day included one of Mark’s presentations on various aspects of underwater photography, complimented by image reviews on several evenings. As with most such workshops, there was a wide range of experience levels and photo gear represented, but between the formal instruction and tips that were shared from guest to guest, the consensus was that everyone managed to improve their imaging knowledge and skills. By the time the final slide show and photo contest came around, it was readily apparent that each participant had captured some memorable images or video, and it was a real treat to see everyone’s best work on display.
Steaming home throughout the last day is usually uneventful, and so it was on this trip - until Mark happened to be on deck in late afternoon just as a pod of 6-8 orcas crossed our bow at close range! Unfortunately they were already quite distant by the time most of the guests got the word, but seeing these amazing animals, even from a distance, was a great reminder of the potential for encountering almost anything in these waters, and served as further inspiration to return on a future trip to this exciting destination.
Can't get enough? Read about our 2023 trip to Socorro here.
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