5 Reasons to Dive Socorro from a Nautilus Liveaboard

1) Manta Rays

The Revillagigedo Archipelago was declared a National Park in 2017 and a UNESCO World Heritage Site a year earlier.  The law was passed that no fishing was to be done for 12 miles around them as they contain one of the world’s largest aggregations of sharks and manta rays.  In fact 25% of the manta population here are black (or melanistic) mantas.

2) Sharks

Cool, northern, nutrient-rich Californian currents converge with the Southern Costa Rican current at Socorro.  Satellite stations strategically placed on the dive sites here have told us that many shark species – including silky, silvertip and hammerhead sharks - migrate between Cocos, Galapagos, Malpelo and Socorro.  They swim in straight lines between these areas of biodiversity, clearly determined to travel to and from food-rich seamounts.  This path has become known as the Shark Highway.

3) Topside wildlife

You won’t just see cool underwater life.  There is a lot to see from the boat as well:

Blue footed boobies
Red-billed tropicbirds
Frigatebirds
Humpback whales
False killer whales
Silky sharks at the stern of the boat
Green turtles

4) The food!

On board the Nautilus, there is Continental breakfast followed by a dive and then a second HOT breakfast!  You will also enjoy lunch, freshly baked cakes, snacks (like cheese boards, nachos and sushi) and a 3 course dinner.

5) The marine life knowledge you will leave with. 

On the schedule is a shark info evening, a manta info evening and manta ID sessions. Did you know that Galapagos sharks are wide with a rounded nose, much of their body mass at the front of their body; Silvertips have white edging on ALL of their fins; the silky shark’s dorsal fin is situated behind their pectoral fin?

On my trip we used our photographs of the undersides of mantas and cross-referenced them in books by the Pacific Manta Research Group. A male chevron manta called 'Marty' had been seen on our second day of diving.  He was identified for the fourth time at San Benedicto Island.  How many thousands of miles had he travelled since his first sighting here in 2004?

Contact the dive team today, and let us plan you your ideal Socorro liveaboard holiday aboard the Nautilus fleet.