December 31, 2005: Revillagigedo Archipelago

A D2D New Years 2006: Revillagigedos dive

"Navy Base (Socorro)" - "Cabo Pearce (Socorro)" - "Blue Water (Socorro)" - "Cabo Pearce (Socorro)"

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: Our first dive of the day was off of the Mexican Navy base at Socorro. There was nothing horribly spectacular about the site. Once we were allowed to move on, we moved to an area called Cabo Pearce. We did a blue water dive after lunch, and then another dive on Cabo Pearce.
  
  Blue water diving from the Nautilus Explorer entails them putting a float ball in the water with about 80 feet of rope with weights at the bottom. You're instructed to stay within sight of the rope, and then just drift with it.
  
  For about the first five minutes, you don't see much - then stuff starts to pass by. We saw a shark or two, lots of fish, and I think even a manta just in passing. It was interesting, but not for the novice (unless they have a death grip on the line).

Navy Base (Socorro)
2.1 MB This vibrant Clarion Angel appeared to be being cleaned ... but there are species of fish that look like cleaners that actually bit bits of flesh out of larger fish that expect to be cleaned. Considering the Clarion's reaction, I suspect at least one of the cleaners here was a biter.
Cabo Pearce (Socorro)
687 kB Compared to the Manta Rays we saw, this Stingray looked pretty beat up. But he was still mobile ...
1.9 MB Not sure what kind of puffer this is, but I'm fairly certain it's one of the puffer family. The bluish white dots were very bright.
Blue Water (Socorro)
1.1 MB Not sure what kind of Jelly this is. It probably isn't poisonous but it looks quite fragile. I consider myself lucky that my camera was able to focus on it.

Navy Base (Socorro)
Clarion Angel - very brightly colored - my shot doesn't do it justice.
It's Gill from Finding Nemo! Actually it's just your average (and unscarred) Moorish Idol.
Can't think of a trip that I've been on that I haven't seen one of these Balloon Fish.
Or, for that matter, the typically cameoflaged Scorpion Fish. This one was the biggest I had ever seen though ... probably over a foot long!
This is a Crown of Thorns.
Cabo Pearce (Socorro)
This guy did manage to get up and leave, but he did look at little "chewed on".
I think this is a puffer of some sort but I don't know what kind.
Blue Water (Socorro)
I'm not sure what kind of Jelly this is, but it's rare for me to get one of them this clearly.
So I took two pictures.