You can see giant mantas in many places around the world. But nowhere else boasts a population of giant mantas that literally seek out interaction with divers and snorkelers.
While mantas are the main reason to voyage out to Socorro, there are lots of other animals to see, including schooling hammerheads and silky sharks, plus 8 other species of sharks, bottlenose dolphins that consistently hang out with divers at certain dive sites, and large schools of pelagic fish.
We will be aboard the Belle Amie which is the newest and largest of the Nautilus liveaboards. She feels like a five-star floating boutique hotel, boasting spacious salon and dining areas, as well as a second open-air bar on the sun deck, an expansive dive deck and, of course, a hot tub.
Sample Itinerary:
Day 1: Meet at See Creatures Ocean Experiences in the sunny vacation hotspot, Cabo San Lucas. See Creatures is next to the main lobby and bar of the Tesoro Hotel on the picturesque Cabo marina walkway. Your adventure to Socorro starts here! We encourage you to think of the dive center as your “home away from home”. Our staff will assist you with any rental gear you need, pre-trip day boat diving and the loan of a Nautilus LifeLine, Dive Alert and SMB. Contact Travel Masters in advance to enjoy a complimentary warmup dive off Land’s End. Your ship will be boarding at 8 pm just a short scenic stroll away, where appetizers and champagne will await you.
Day 2: Today is a traveling and relaxing day at sea. It is a one day run out to the islands. An orientation briefing will be held in the morning, followed by a fire and boat safety drill. A drill? On holiday? Don’t worry, it is for your safety but we will make it lots of fun. We are proud to have been the first, and some of the only, ISM safety certified passenger vessel dive boats in the world, the same safety certification as the largest cruise ships. We’ll keep you as busy as you like on this sea day with Manta 101 in the afternoon, then you will have a chance to prep your gear, read a book, relax on the sun deck or check out the movie selection on our onboard wifi. We will be watching for the “green flash” at sunset, and while cocktail hour is officially at 7 pm every evening, many of our guests enjoy some adult beverages well before that on sea days! We should arrive at San Benedicto Island that evening allowing you a calm night to relax and get a restful sleep before the next morning’s excitement of diving with the friendliest giant mantas in the world.
Day 3-7: Over five full dive days you will be able to experience some of our favourite sites such as El Canyon, the Boiler, Red Rocks, Roca Partida, Cabo Pearse, Punta Tosca and Roca Oneal. We know that many of our guests want the option of as many dives as possible and we strive to offer an average of 4 dives a day, other than the day that we do our mandatory check-in at the local navy base when you will likely have the option of 3 dives plus our world-famous silky shark night snorkel. Our roots are in the cold, current-swept waters of BC and Alaska and we have always catered to experienced self-reliant divers looking for complete freedom on their dives. These divers are usually first in the water. We love buddying up with new divers looking for the reassurance of being with a dive master from the time they start gearing up until they are back on the big boat. Most divers are somewhere mid-spectrum between these 2 groups and we make sure they are very well looked after as well! Note that several dives may be quite challenging and not suitable for divers of lower experience levels. The number of dives on offer is subject to weather, the whims of Mother Ocean, and crowding by other diveboats. We will have other stuff going on to keep you as busy as you like with kayaks and paddle boards, shoreline tours, manta ID in the late afternoon and after-dinner presentations. Of course, it’s always your option to find a nice quiet place to relax with a book, have a nice snooze, or maybe have a splash in our sparkling clear hot tubs.
Day 8: We will likely get underway very early this morning for the voyage back to Cabo San Lucas. This is the perfect day to check out photos and videos with the new friends you made onboard, pack your dive gear up and take time to relax before reality sets back in. The islands, the mantas, the sharks and the dolphins are almost “other worldly” and we hope the magic stays with you for a long time.
Day 9: Always a sad time for us. It’s time to say goodbye and disembark the boat in Cabo at 8:30 am for either SJD airport or our dive center in Cabo San Lucas. It doesn’t have to be goodbye for long, we hope to see you again very soon.
