December 30, 2005: Revillagigedo Archipelago

A D2D New Years 2006: Revillagigedos dive

"Canyon (San Benedicto)" - "Boiler (San Benedicto)"

Diving from the Nautilus Explorer:

• Directions from Tampa: We dove from the Nautilus Explorer - see http://www.nautilusexplorer.com/
• Conditions on the day of my visit: Sunny.
  
  
• Personal Notes: We had a morning dive on The Canyon, and then moved to the appropriately named Boiler – a pinnacle that comes up to about 15’ down just off of San Benedicto. My first dive on the Boiler I didn’t take the camera – I figured I’d have more of a chance to see something spectacular, and fate didn’t disappoint. We had a large (some estimates had the wingspan at 20’) female black manta ray that was in a mood to play. I got to touch her several times as she passed above me (she seemed to favor me somewhat). Figuring that fate would allow me to film one now that I had seen one, I took the camera on the second Boiler dive. We had a chevron manta come by, but it wasn’t in the mood to play. If you got too close to the pinnacle, you’d notice some really strong surge up and down.

Canyon (San Benedicto)
1.0 MB We found a "cleaning station" inhabited by several Whitetip Reef Sharks.
Boiler (San Benedicto)
1.1 MB For most of us, the Boiler was the first time we'd see a manta - and later, interact with one ...

Canyon (San Benedicto)
This is a shot of a Whitetip reef shark from a distance. Later in the trip I would get much closer to some of these.
Boiler (San Benedicto)
A ghostly Chevron Manta passing far below me.
Pretty much one of my best shots of the trip - too bad he wasn't looking at me.
Possibly useful as an ID shot - the patterns on the manta's underside are apparently unique for each manta.
I think it would have been a better shot with the sun in front of the manta rather than behind.
Another possible ID shot. It looks like he's in mid turn.
Might have been a great shot if it weren't for all the bubbles. They're probably mine ...