Socorro & Guadalupe

Due to weather conditions, Socorro is only available from November through May. During these months mantas and sharks are plentiful. The water temps are 24 - 27ºC in November, December, beginning of January and late April and May.

In late January, through until the beginning of April, the water varies between 21 - 24ºc and attracts humpback whales. You can hear these gentle giants singing on almost every dive and underwater encounters with these whales are increasing every year.

This trip journeys 400 km south of Los Cabos into the eastern Pacific Ocean to the Revillagigedos Islands—more commonly known as the Socorro Islands. Here divers have the opportunity to dance with the Giant Pacific manta ray, play with dolphins, dodge seven different species of sharks and thrill at the occasional interaction with the migrating humpback whale population. This is remote adventure diving at its finest.

In August and September we are based in Ensenada, Mexico and follow the ultimate apex predator to Guadalupe Island, 290 km offshore. This is rapidly becoming the world's best location to dive in custom-built cages with great white sharks. Because we use hookah instead of scuba tanks on these trips, you do not need to be a certified scuba diver to enjoy the rush of going eyeball to eyeball with a 5 meter great white shark.

Solmar V

Solmar V is the only luxury liveaboard dive vessel departing from Cabo San Lucas, Mexico that is within range of the most exciting diving in the Sea of Cortez and Soccoro Islands. During the weeks of the great white shark season at Guadalupe Island, the boat departs from Ensenada, Mexico. The Solmar V travels with a crew of 10 and a maximum of 22 divers.

The interior of the Solmar V is outfitted in brass, rich mahogany and granite table tops, and is completely carpeted. The salon comfortably seats all of the guests and offers a large-screen HDTV, VCR, DVD player and stereo system.

Each cabin features air conditioning with individual controls, an ensuite bathroom and shower, and a TV/DVD player for your enjoyment. All cabins have top-of-the-line "Pillow-Top" mattresses and down pillows.

You will be well fed from the time you set foot on board until the time you leave. Arriving guests are greeted with snacks and a welcome Margarita. Three course meals are served at lunch and supper, and fresh fruit and other snacks are available all day long. Beer and wine are available free of charge and customers are welcome to bring their own onboard.

The dive deck is very spacious and designed for flow and ease of use, even with a full load. The dive stations are positioned around the outside of the dive deck. The crew will fill your tank between dives and move your gear to or from the panga if needed for the next dive. There is also plenty of room on both sides to hang your wetsuits.

At the center of the dive deck is a huge multi-level camera table, complete with charging stations and an air gun. There are also plenty of charging stations inside the lounge.

At the back of the dive deck are four large rinse bins; two for rinsing gear and two separate bins for cameras. There are also two fresh water showers so you can rinse off after getting out of the water. Towels are provided and fresh drinking water is always available on the dive deck.

Nitrox fills of 32 and 36% are available onboard for all certified divers. Instructors can provide training on board for those guests who wish to use Nitrox and are not currently certified.

Technical Specifications

Cabins: 11
Guests: 22
Crew: 10
A/C: Throughout
Navigation: GPS, Radar, ecoloder, VHF, Side scanning sonar, multiple radar systems and the most modern electronic marine technology
Extra: Twin compressors, with cascade storage for fast filling provides guests with an endless air supply and quick fills between dives.

Diving routines

Diving routines from Solmar V

When the boat visits the Sea of Cortez or Socorro, diving is done from the pangas or from Solmar V's dive platform, depending on the dive site and conditions. The Divemasters will let you know the plan when we arrive at each location. For each dive site your Divemasters will give the group a thorough dive briefing and answer any questions you might have before you get into the water.

Typically the divers are divided up into two groups, each with their own panga. A simple back roll and you're enjoying the wonders each destination provides. Your panga driver stays within sight of your bubbles throughout the dive. Each pangas has a sturdy side ladder so you can put on your gear in the water, and easily climb up after your dive.

Guests may also dive directly from the Solmar V. There are entry gates on both sides of the vessel, as well as a custom-built double swim step.

Guadalupe Island Shark Diving

Departing from Ensenada, Mexico, this is a fantastic adventure in Baja California. Solmar V teams up with Great White Adventures, long known for their expertise in this area, to provide guests with a safe and secure environment to meet the apex predator of the sea – the great white shark.

While at Guadalupe Island, the diving is done in cages, so the routine is different from a regular dive trip. For these trips the crew bring three state-of-the-art shark cages; two float at the surface at the back of Solmar V and one is a submersible that sits at about 9 meters.

These trips are limited to only 16 divers so you'll have plenty of time with the sharks and more room in the cage. Two of the cages at the back of the boat gives divers a great view! Air is supplied from the surface (Hookah), so regular scuba gear is not used and therefore can be enjoyed by divers and non-divers alike. Diving is done all day, rotating divers every hour. Divers can get in and out of the cages themselves even in rough weather.

The submersible cage allows us to descend a little further into the realm of the great white shark. Although the submersible cage lowers to only 39 m below the surface of the water, it provides a completely different perspective to your great white shark diving experience. These spectacular dives are available to certified scuba divers only. A safety diver escorts one diver at a time on these 20 minute rides.

The cage diving at Guadalupe is bar none the greatest on the planet, with often more then 30 meters of visibility. The water temperature ranges from 19 to 21 C degrees making this the ultimate White Shark destination, especially for the discriminating underwater photographer.

Socorro

The Revillagigedos Archipelago, more commonly called Socorro is located in the eastern Pacific Ocean approximately 400 km south of Cabo San Lucas, Mexico – at the tip of the Baja peninsula. These islands have been compared to the Galapagos Islands in Ecuador or Cocos Island in Costa Rica because of the big animal encounters they provide.

The Revillagigedos Islands consist of 4 islands – San Benedicto Island, Socorro Island, Roca Partida and Clarion. They are simply called Socorro. They are wild, remote and unpredictable and have been called the Mexican Galapagos.

This area is famous for up close and personal encounters with the Giant Pacific manta ray, which can grow to 22 feet from wingtip to wingtip. The crew on Solmar V have been interacting with these gentle giants since 1992 and as a result of having worked with several manta researchers over the years, they have extensive ID’s on most of them, and special relationships with many of them. There is absolutely no chasing or riding on the mantas, and interaction with them must be initiated by the mantas themselves. Their continued willingness to interact with divers is due to the respect shown for them over the years. San Benedicto is by far the best location in the world to experience and photograph these gentle giants.

There are lots of sharks in the Revillagigedos Islands - hammerhead schools, white tips, silver tips, silkies, duskies, Galapagos and occasionally tigers. Divers have encountered up to 7 species of sharks on a single dive! There are several hammerhead cleaning stations that are visited on each trip, weather permitting. Whale sharks are a special treat at the islands, in November/ December and late April/ May.

Pods of wild bottlenose dolphins play here on a regular basis, and from January through March, these islands are home to a large population of humpback whales that come here to breed and calve. Several newborn humpbacks have been spotted over the years. In the last few years the frequency of underwater encounters with humpbacks has increased dramatically.

The scientists who visit the Revillagigedos Islands every year to study the migrating whale population have told the Solmar V crew that after twelve years of encountering the SOLMAR V, the humpbacks now recognize the vessel and so the opportunity for underwater encounters improves. Add to the mix extremely large tuna (the world record yellowfin is from these waters), wahoo, thick schools of jacks and many other big critters along with endemic tropicals found nowhere else in the world, and you have some of the best big animal diving on earth!