Mexico, Socorro (Revillagigedo Islands) · March 2023
Socorro: Big-Animal Diving in the Revillagigedo Islands
Some destinations earn the word legendary, and Socorro is one of them. Far out in the Pacific off the tip of Baja, the remote Revillagigedo Islands are Mexico's answer to the Galapagos, reachable only by liveaboard and famous for some of the most thrilling big-animal diving anywhere on the planet. Our small group spent a week out in that wild blue, surrounded by giants.
Day by day
Day 1
Gathering in Cabo
We met up at the tip of Baja for a night in Cabo San Lucas, shaking off the travel and prepping gear before the long-anticipated crossing. Anticipation ran high. Out past the horizon, the giants were waiting.
Days 2-3
Crossing to the open Pacific
We pointed south and left the mainland behind, steaming through open ocean toward the remote archipelago. As the water turned a deeper, clearer blue, the first sweeps of the great seamounts came into view, and we readied ourselves for what these islands are known for.
Days 4-7
Among the giants
This is why you come to Socorro. Curious giant oceanic mantas, the largest in the world, swept in to hover overhead and circle us again and again, seemingly as fascinated by us as we were by them. Pods of dolphins buzzed the divers, schooling hammerheads patrolled the deep, and sharks cruised the blue at the famous open-ocean pinnacles like Roca Partida and the waters around San Benedicto. Every dive felt like an audience with the wild.
Days 8-9
The long way home
We turned north for the crossing back to Baja, the group quiet and glowing, scrolling through thousands of photos and already talking about a return. Socorro gets into your blood. Few places leave a group this changed.
From the trip
Giant mantas overhead, dolphins at arm's reach, sharks in the blue, and the raw remoteness of one of the planet's last great pelagic frontiers. Socorro is not a trip you take. It is a trip that takes you.
Want to do this one yourself?
We run trips like this every year. See where we're headed next and grab a spot before the group fills up.