Dive Review of Nautilus Explorer in
Mexico (Western)/Socorro

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Nautilus Explorer, Jan, 2011, by Jeanne Downey, PA, US ( Top Contributor 54 reports with 17 Helpful votes). Report 5924.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity
Dive Operation		Shore Diving	N/A
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	We’ve been to Socorro before, but this time we decided to try our luck during humpback whale season, and we were not disappointed! Cabo San Lucas, our meeting point, is easy to get to via several airlines. Most of our 14 divers arrived two days early, although that didn’t help my husband, whose dive gear and camera parts bag got mis-tagged and went on its merry way to Costa Rica. Although Continental tried its best, the suitcase arrived at the Los Cabos airport after the Nautilus Explorer had left the dock. He was able to borrow gear from the boat but was unable to take photos. Always double-check luggage tags! It’s about 45 minutes from the airport to the hotel; we used the taxi service recommended by Nautilus; it was nice having someone waiting for us, and it was a reasonable $15US. They also helped get our luggage from the hotel to the boat and from the boat back to the airport. We stayed at Tesoro Los Cabos, now part of the Wyndham chain. The hotel is in a great marina-front location, and their included buffet breakfast was excellent. Watch out for the telephone charges, though—what I thought was a $5.00 connection fee to a Mexican toll-free number for Continental ended up costing $85.00US! Be careful walking alone, especially at night; one of our group was approached by a local police officer and was shaken down for whatever was in his wallet (luckily not much). We boarded the boat at 9:00am, were fed a buffet breakfast and then it was a comfortable 24 hour ride out to our first island, San Benedicto. Most of us took precautions against seasickness; a few did not and we didn’t see them much during the ride. Hostesses Sylvia and Claire made sure we were well fed. We had time to do 3 dives the first day, four dives the other days. We started off at The Canyon at San Benedicto for our check-out. The crew helped us get weighted before we did a 45 minute dive. Normally they dive San Benedicto, Roca Partida, and Socorro. The Mexican & U.S. Navy were conducting shelling practice, so we were restricted to the first two islands. At the Boiler, the mantas were no-shows for the first two dives, but showed up for our last dive of the day. We moved on to Roca Partido that night, and spent two days there, circling the island one way or the other on our dives. There were whales all around us and the longer we were anchored in one spot, the closer they came, until we were able to go out in the skiffs and actually snorkel with them. There were also dozens of white-tip sharks resting on every available ledge, some resting their heads of one of the many resident green moray eels. We were back at San Benedicto for the last two days. The first dive no mantas, but once they realized we were back, we were able to play with them every dive. They circled and visited every diver multiple times, allowing everyone to get his fill of these soaring beauties. A pod of dolphins came by, and played with us for over half an hour. We also saw a few hammerheads, Galapagos sharks, silky sharks, and one tiger shark. The Nautilus Explorer is a comfortable boat. There are 3 cabins on the hot tub deck, and the rest are below the main deck. Our room had a double bed with shelves underneath, a sink with more shelves below, separate commode and shower areas, and a storage alcove for luggage. Other cabins had side-by-side single beds with storage below and separate shower and sink/commode areas. The toasty hot tub was popular after the 73 degree dives. Above the hot tub deck is the sundeck, good for sunning and whale and star watching. Each diver had an assigned spot on the dive deck. Tanks were refilled after each dive, and there was open-air storage under each tank area. Nitrox was available for a reasonable charge and either 80 cu ft aluminum or heavier high capacity steel tanks ($32 for the trip, donated to conservation efforts). The boat’s large aluminum skiff is stored in the middle of the dive deck, so a large portion of it is sloped; except for travel time with the skiff in place, there’s plenty of room. The two rubber inflatables are used most of the time. Also on the main deck are the roomy lounge, small bar, and dining area. All meals are served buffet style, starting with a 7am pre-breakfast of hot oatmeal, muffins or scones, cold cereal, coffee, juice, and toast. After the first dive, a made-to-order breakfast of eggs, pancakes, or French toast, along with everything left over from the pre-breakfast, plus a couple of additional dishes, such as sausage, is served at 9:30. After the second dive at 11am, lunch is served, which might include salad and a couple of different entrees, or two types of sandwiches, soup, and warm cookies. Between dives three and four at 2pm and 4:30pm scrumptious snacks are served. Cocktail hour starts around 6:00pm and dinner is served at 7:30pm. Dinners always included a salad, usually homemade bread, two or three entrée choices, vegetable, and dessert. And after every dive Sylvia or Claire were on hand with drinks, fruit, and snacks. Coffee, tea, and cocoa were always available, as well as any leftover snacks or breakfast muffins. Soda, beer, wine, and mixed drinks were extra. The food was very good to excellent, especially the soups. But the reason we came this time of year was the whales, and my expectations were more than exceeded. We saw many breeches, tail and fin slaps, listened to whales on several dives, sounds ranging from elephant bellows to cat meows to wistful tunes. One afternoon many of us skipped a dive, jumped in the inflatables and spent almost two hours snorkeling with the whales. One group of three, “Baby”, mother, and escort, were especially cooperative. I had the amazing gift of swimming beside them for almost five minutes; at one point they got ahead, then circled back to me! The sunburn was so worth it! The Nautilus Explorer is a great boat, the crew is excellent, and we never went hungry. This trip is already on our repeat list.
Websites	Nautilus Explorer
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	0-25 dives
Where else diving	[Unspecified]
Closest Airport		Getting There
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, dry	Seas	calm
Water Temp	73-74°F / 23-23°C	Wetsuit Thickness	7
Water Visibility	50-100 Ft/ 15-30 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	Watch depth for Nitrox. 60 minute time limit.
Liveaboard?	yes	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	Lots	Mantas	Squadrons
Dolphins	Schools	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	1 or 2	Whales	> 2
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter		Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's		Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	Decicated three-tier camera table. Separate charging station. Two large garbage cans for camera rinsing.

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Dive Review of Nautilus Explorer in Mexico (Western)/Socorro

Nautilus Explorer, Jan, 2011,

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Overall Rating

Reporter and Travel

Dive Conditions

Dive Policy

What I Saw

Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Dive Review of Nautilus Explorer in
Mexico (Western)/Socorro