Dive Review of Rocio del Mar in
Mexico (Western)/Socorro Islands

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Rocio del Mar: "Socorro Islands Rocio Del Mar", Apr, 2018, by Nili Hudson, CA, US ( 2 reports with 2 Helpful votes). Report 10181 has 2 Helpful votes.
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	This is my 2nd trip to the Socorro Islands. The 1st was aboard the Solmar V. Overall, this trip was lovely. Note: the Crew was great! There are a few things I wish I had known. Our room was #9! Not all rooms are created equally. The room although tiny, was fine and the bed comfortable. The problem is storage! This is a huge issue if you pack anything beyond 2 bathing suits, 2 pairs of shorts and 2 tops. There is ZERO storage in our cabin (2 small drawers and one is a step). Fortunately, I had the larger of the 2 single beds so my suitcase sat on top of the bed the entire trip, along with my carry on that had toiletries, laptop, ipad, logbook, etc. I also, could not put the suitcase (soft) under the bed and use it as a drawer because there wasn't enough height under the bed to accommodate the suitcase unless it was empty & collapsed. Certainly not with clothes in it. There were a few hooks thankfully on the wall which ended up working out really well. In the other cabins they had little wire baskets in the corners so you could put your items, our cabin did not have even one wire basket. It would be so easy to put a long shelf on the wall above the bed. There wasn't even a dry fixed cup in the bathroom to put a toothbrush & toothpaste so it sat on the wet shelf! (this is great feedback for the boat as it's so easy to make some simple improvements). It's quite amazing how simple a few minor changes would make. I'm sharing this so you plan accordingly. The Crew is wonderful. The diving is wonderful. The food is wonderful. No complaints for the most part. I did find it interesting that most of the time, while struggling to hang my "wet/heavy" wetsuit or get it down from very high bars (I'm 5'5"), none of the crew offered to help (feedback) except a very few times. But admittedly, I'm used to some amazing Indonesian liveaboards that operate a little differently and this crew again, was wonderful when it came to Diving & Mealtimes. I thought my dive guide Louis was fabulous! There weren't as a many Mantas on this trip for some reason but there were enough to make us happy. Tons of Hammerheads, Silkys, White Tip Reef and Galapagos Sharks. Tons! Yellowfin Tuna and Schools of Silver Fish that I can never remember the names of. There was a huge Bait Ball that some of the other divers got as well as a lot of smaller Bait Balls. I even got to see a Whale Shark! While I missed out on the Dolphins (so sad) & Turtles that others saw on this trip, I was one of the only ones to get the Whale Shark on film since everyone was already up on the Pangas and I was leisurely waiting to surface at about 10' when it approached and passed by! Heavenly! There were some strong currents on this trip but nothing we either couldn't briefly handle, or dive around. The crew was great about guiding us and avoiding the huge currents. A few surgy choppy days but minor overall. Weather was lovely April 2018. I wore a 7m with a skin underneath (75-77 degrees) but without a vest or hood and never got cold. I tried a 3mm with a Lavacore one day and was too cold. The dining room is down in the basement which is odd and not as inviting but it was fine and the food and dinner service was fabulous. There weren't any buffets. 2 breakfasts each day as well if you wanted and wine and beer included. There is a salon on the main level with a T.V. and couches. People worked on their laptops, presentations are made there. It's very pleasant and comfortable. There is a wonderful Deck up top with both covered and uncovered areas for sunning. And, we had 2 nights up top with the crew barbecuing and margaritas being served. Lots of areas to relax, covered, uncovered, indoors and outdoors which was nice as well. There is a 27 hour trip from Cabo in each direction which although rough at times, was fine. I'm also used to their being cruise directors (funny name IMO) but there isn't one on this boat. Louis, my dive guide, took that role when necessary. As for the diving operation, things run remarkably smoothly and again, they're an amazing crew and have everything down to a science. They know their sites and how to dive them. They know the conditions and how to work around them. It's a little unfortunate that not all of the stations are sit stations on the dive deck or have baskets but it's adequate. Not horrible, just a little challenging as to where to put your stuff. Getting in and out of the Pangas was super easy due to the assistance of the staff and again, they know what they're doing. Overall this was a great experience, great trip and great boat. UW Photography Comments: There is a Camera Table on the Dive Deck that just barely accommodated all of our cameras and GoPros. Part of the table backed up to Wet Suits which IS an issue and where I was initially put. The Batteries are charged above the Camera Table on the Dive Deck. Not ideal and not what I'm accustomed to. I'm too short to see what's up there. There is no other dry area for charging unless you charge in your cabin. Everyone changed batteries and media on the wet deck. I carried my camera up to the Salon because it's dangerous around wind, wetsuits, etc. and I'm too short to stand at the table and see into my equipment, camera, housing, etc. Not an ideal situation but I made it work.
Websites	Rocio del Mar
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	501-1000 dives
Where else diving	Raja Ampat, The Forgotten Islands, Komodo, Banda Island, Philippines (Anilao), Solomon Islands, Fiji, Lembeh Strait and Gangga Island Sulawesi, Roatan, Belize, Bonaire, Caymans, Curacao, Martinique, Turks and Caicos, Key West...and more
Closest Airport	Cabo San Lucas	Getting There	LAX to Cabo San Lucas
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, dry	Seas	choppy, surge, currents
Water Temp	73-77°F / 23-25°C	Wetsuit Thickness	7
Water Visibility	50-75 Ft/ 15-23 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	no
Enforced diving restrictions	Depth and Time
Liveaboard?	yes	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	Lots	Mantas	1 or 2
Dolphins	1 or 2	Whale Sharks	1 or 2
Turtles	1 or 2	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals	N/A	Tropical Fish	N/A
Small Critters	N/A	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	There is a Camera Table on the Dive Deck that just barely accommodated all of our cameras and GoPros. Part of the table backed up to Wet Suits which IS an issue and where I was initially put. The Batteries are charged above the Camera Table on the Dive Deck. Not ideal and not what I'm accustomed to. I'm too short to see what's up there. There is no other dry area for charging unless you charge in your cabin. Everyone changed batteries and media on the wet deck. I carried my camera up to the Salon because it's dangerous around wind, wetsuits, etc. and I'm too short to stand at the table and see into my equipment, camera, housing, etc. Not an ideal situation but I made it work.

Report currently has 2 Helpful votes

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By BRADLEY CONDO in CO, US at Apr 06, 2018 20:51 EST

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Dive Review of Rocio del Mar in Mexico (Western)/Socorro Islands

Rocio del Mar: "Socorro Islands Rocio Del Mar", Apr, 2018,

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):

Subscriber's Comments

Dive Review of Rocio del Mar in
Mexico (Western)/Socorro Islands