Dive Review of Solmar V in
Mexico (Western)/Islas Revillagigedo

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Solmar V: "Solmar V, June 2-10, 2017", Jun, 2017, by Sean Bruner, AZ, US ( Contributor 16 reports with 2 Helpful votes). Report 9629.
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 our fourth trip aboard the Solmar V. The reason we have not tried any of the other boats that go to the Islas Revillagigedo is because we believe that the Solmar takes safety seriously. Also, much of the crew is the same as when we came on our first trip 10 years ago, including the captain. The last time we went in June three years ago we saw whale sharks, but not this time. The main difference between this trip and the others was the water temperature. Whereas in the past we dove with 3 mm wetsuits and hood/vests, this time the temperature was was only 73 degrees. Luckily, one of the other divers had a 6 mm that he lent me and the dive guide had a Farmer John he lent Laura so we were comfortable. Be sure to check the website before going to assure taking the right equipment. The trip from Cabo San Lucas takes 20-22 hours. You leave about 4:00 p.m. and arrive the next day in the afternoon. We did a checkout dive at Las Cuevas on San Benedicto Island. We saw some large stingrays and a few white tips. The next day we did three dives at the Boiler. On the first dive there was good porpoise action and one came right up next to me. I thought it was going to let me rub its belly, which they sometimes do, but when I slowly extended by hand it moved away. We had great manta action on all three dives. We spent the next two days at Roca Partida, one of my favorite dive sites in the world. The manta action was fantastic with up to five mantas at a time and they came in close, cruising right up next to me. I was shooting black and white with my old film camera with Subal housing and got some fantastic shots. The white tips were mostly in the caves along the ledge, but it was impressive to see so many, maybe a dozen piled on top of one another. We saw a few Galapagos and Silky sharks, but not the hundreds of Silkies seen a couple of trips earlier. On the last of the six dives we saw a school of about 20 hammerheads cruising at 90 feet. I got the closest to them, but they were on the move and the encounter was quickly over. I skipped the dives on Socorro Island, all at Cabo Pearce due to the wind, because I was not feeling well. Nobody reported seeing anythig very interesting so I didn't feel badly about missing the dives. The next day, the last, it was back to San Benedicto. The strong wind kept us at El Cañon and so we never got back to the Boiler. The current was persistent and the water was cold. We saw silver tip, Galapagos and Silky sharks. Five or six Silkies cruised under the boat, making for an exciting safety stop. One group saw hammerheads. Due to the wind, the boat ride back to Cabo took 30 hours, much longer than usual, and it was a wild ride. We were all grateful when the boat pulled into the harbor about midnight and stopped rocking and rolling. Interestingly, half the divers were Chinese, some of whom had immigrated to Canada and the U.S., but most of whom were from Shanghai, China. They mostly kept to themselves, but they were friendly enough. They seemed to be enjoying themselves, constantly talking and laughing uproariously at who knows what. I engaged one woman from Shanghai in conversation and she cleared up some misconceptions that I had. As is often the case when one takes the time to investigate, it seems that life in China, at least in the cities, has much in common with life in the U.S. As the Chinese become more affluent I'm sure they will appear on more and more dive trips. Hopefully, as they become interested in diving they will bring pressure to stop the horrible shark finning. Laura's 4 1/2 minute video can be seen at [youtu.be link]
Websites	Solmar V
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	501-1000 dives
Where else diving	Indonesia, Galapagos, Papua New Guinea, Panama, Palau, Solomon Islands, Islas Revillagigedo, Hawaii, Cozumel, Roatan, BVI, Fiji
Closest Airport	Los Cabos	Getting There
Dive Conditions
Weather	windy, cloudy, dry	Seas	choppy, surge
Water Temp	73-74°F / 23-23°C	Wetsuit Thickness	6
Water Visibility	25-100 Ft/ 8-30 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	50-60 minute maximum. Keep within depth limits per nitrox mix, 28-32 percent oxygen.
Liveaboard?	yes	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	Lots	Mantas	Squadrons
Dolphins	Schools	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	None	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals	N/A	Tropical Fish
Small Critters	N/A	Large Fish
Large Pelagics
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter		Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's	N/A	Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	Dedicated rinse tanks for cameras and a large table on the dive deck dedicated to cameras. Plenty of areas to charge batteries. Help available from resident videographer, Erick Higuera.

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Dive Review of Solmar V in Mexico (Western)/Islas Revillagigedo

Solmar V: "Solmar V, June 2-10, 2017", Jun, 2017,

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 Solmar V in
Mexico (Western)/Islas Revillagigedo