Dancing with Mantas in Socorro

Approximately 225 nautical miles off the Mexican coast of Cabo San Lucas is the first of the Socorro Islands – San Benedicto.  Thousands of years of rain runoff and lava damage have formed the perfectly wrinkled outer walls of the volcano which snake down to the waters edge. 

On our first day of diving from the Nautilus Belle Amie we explored the southern side of the island at a site called The Canyon.  Local expert Ivan led us into the abyss to the deep cleaning station at 24 metres.

A plethora of silvery bodies began shining in the light of the morning sun, approaching and darting away from the cleaning station.  In just ten minutes we were graced with silky, Galapagos and silvertip sharks, all enjoying the barber fish salon!  A handy briefing later on in the day meant we were to be armed with further knowledge of how to identify these beautiful, sleek creatures.

Another favourite dive of mine was the Boiler on the west side of the island.  On the count of three we rolled backwards from the skiff into the water, making a negative entry close to the bubbling water where the site gets its name.

Two scalloped hammerhead sharks ducked in close to the reef to check us out before slowly snaking their way back into the blue. We then had a 40 minute rollercoaster ride of dancing with manta rays!

An adult chevron (black and white) manta passed by eyeballing us, followed by another and another and another!  They danced together and with us, feeding and enjoying being cleaned in the current. Out of nowhere an even bigger black (or melanistic) manta flew into the broth and started barrel-rolling and flying on her side, which gave her a better view of us tiny humans.

My dive buddy was going crazy, mimicking her movements belly to belly.  Seeing one of these was his dream for this trip.  Shallowing up, my group were beaming.  There were also a few tears from the spiritual interaction that we had just encountered.

Our 80 mile journey to Roca Partida began. Gazing out the next morning we saw a 'guano'-covered rock of two parts protruding from the water.  This is all that is left of the centre of a volcano plug. This dive site was to be a sheer wall dive with no bottom unlike the other sites we had seen.  I was thrilled to see how the topography of this tiny rock would increase in size underwater like a volcanic version of an iceberg!

We descended on the more sheltered east side and within seconds heard dolphins.  A pod of bottle nose appeared and frantically danced around us, then suddenly hung vertically in the water column and sunk slowly beneath us.  The dive guides don’t know why the dolphins do this, but think it’s a sign of submission. 

My fellow divers soon learnt their lesson trying to photograph this phenomenon as the beeps of unhappy diving computers snapped them out of their descent!  The pod even forced interactions on some of the divers by nudging close to them, as if wanting to play. Other dives during the day gifted us with a big Galapagos shark, silvertips, yellowfin tuna, blacktip oceanics and up to 40 white tip reef sharks piled up on ledges.

Two more days of diving at Socorro Island and back to San Benedicto didn’t disappoint. Back on land at the Nautilus dive centre base, we said our goodbyes to new multinational friends. The Socorro video played on the big screen and we all smiled in recognition that this was no longer just a movie for us. We had been there, done that and yes – we all bought the T-Shirt!   

Fancy your very own diving adventure in Socorro? Speak to our expert Dive team today.