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Visitors 56
Modified 17-Nov-19
Created 21-Feb-16
168 photos

We traveled to Islas Socorro and San Benedicto on the Nautilus Explorer this winter. The journey began on January 25, 2016 with a 225 mile crossing to Isla San Benedicto. The first diving day included El Canyon, Las Cuevas, and a sunset dive on El Boiler. The water conditions were perfect and remarkably clear as we were greeted by our first giant manta and numerous sharks including silvertips and whitetips. We traveled to Roca Partida for the next two days. The giant mantas were inquisitive and tame, enticing many of us to swim underneath. They appeared to enjoy our bubbles from below and often stopped to pick up divers. This behavior can be seen in a few photos in the gallery where DM Dave can be seen blowing bubbles underneath a hovering ray.

This trip was mostly about the big stuff. There were scalloped hammerheads in the depths beyond 140 feet as well as a pod of dolphins. Humpback whales were a pleasant distraction to the dive briefings and they were vocal during there dives as well. There were many kinds of sharks including whitetips, silvertips, silkies, and a few scalloped hammerheads. The mantas stole the show and performed great close up encounters.

Categories & Keywords
Category:Travel and Places
Subcategory:North America
Subcategory Detail:Mexico
Keywords:Isla San Benedicto, Isla Socorro, Manta Rays, Mark Etter, Nautilus Explorer, Scuba Diving, Socorro, Underwater Photography, cabo pearce, manta, roca partida, sharks