We don’t tend to repeat destinations often, but our whole family agrees that the Revillagegedo Islands — often referred to as Socorro, after the biggest of the four islands — has some of the most exciting scuba diving anywhere. Our previous trip in 2013 had lengthy encounters with manta rays, massive schools of fish, and all kinds of sharks, along with a few dolphins and a whale shark.

The downside is that the only way to get to the Revillagegedos is via a 30+ hour open-ocean boat crossing starting from San José del Cabo or Cabo San Lucas at the southern tip of Baja California, and once there, landing on the islands is prohibited. Nevertheless the destination is popular enough — increasingly popular since 2013 — that a number of 20-passenger “liveaboard” dive boats run fully booked for 10-day trips throughout the high season.

It was Alex, Jennifer, and Emily this time. (Tim & Fluri had just returned to Switzerland after a two-week California visit, with Tim then heading off for a rock-climbing trip to South Africa.) Given the fully-booked boats and exclusively double cabins, Alex drew the short straw to have a potluck roommate — more on that below.

Our vessel, Valentina, was comfortable and stable with excellent, friendly crew; a streamlined dive operation — all diving is done from speedy, maneuverable Zodiacs; decent-sized cabins by dive-boat standards; and ample delicious food including free beer once the diving day was done. We were graced with near-perfect weather, and although our two crossings weren’t entirely smooth, they were far from the worst case.

The diving certainly lived up to our expectations. One notable difference from our previous trip — and a thrilling one — was that instead of seeing them only at selected sites, numerous giant oceanic manta rays (both “black” and “chevron” varieties, for those in the know) graced us frequently throughout every one of our 20 dives. Perhaps they’ve become somewhat habituated to divers over time? With 15–18' wingspans and often an entourage of fish in tow, despite their omnipresence they never lost their majesty.

As on our previous trip we saw many sharks of several persuasions: whitetip, silvertip, Galapagos, silky, and quite a number of hammerheads although only in twos or threes rather than the schools that are occasionally spotted. “Cleaning stations” — where sharks line up for small fish to nibble parasites off their skin — were fun to watch, while Roca Partida (a large rock jutting from the ocean with nothing around for dozens of miles) delivered the exciting swarms of sharks we well remembered from this spectacular spot.

Our dive sightings were rounded out with lobsters, eels, octopi, Galapagos fur seals, dense schools of fish, and a truly magical experience when a friendly dolphin joined our small dive group. (Alas, no whale shark sightings this time.) One thing Socorro lacks is colorful reefs, but none of the divers had any expectations in that regard.

Our fellow passengers were a typical mix when you throw 20 experienced divers together for a trip at this level of adventure. We had singles, couples, three father-daughters (including us), and avid divers leaving their non-diving significant-others behind; Americans (some living abroad), Canadians, French, Swiss, Israeli, and Japanese; a wide variety of professions and several retirees. A highlight in our exceptionally congenial group was an underwater marriage proposal, which the chef proceeded to celebrate with a special cake. The Zodiac drivers enjoy coming up with nicknames for some of the divers — to Emily’s appreciation they dubbed her “la professora” while Jennifer was “mama.” Alex was just Alex.

Long boat trips, especially remote scuba-intensive ones, are rarely without problems, and we had three notable ones. First, Alex’s cabin-mate came down with a nasty 24-hour bug on the first diving day of the trip. Predictably Alex was hit next, then four more passengers and one crew member; the virus was severe enough that each of them missed at least a day of diving.

Second, the special “Nitrox” tank-filling equipment on the boat failed after our very first dive, and despite valiant efforts by the crew to troubleshoot via the boat’s reasonably reliable Starlink internet, the machinery couldn’t be repaired at sea. Nitrox, a mixture with more oxygen and less nitrogen than regular air, is commonly used by divers these days — it allows longer time at depth with less danger of decompression problems.

We all reset our dive computers to monitor our depths and times based on breathing regular air rather than Nitrox, but nevertheless, one diver came down with mild symptoms of decompression sickness (“the bends”). Luckily we happened to be not far from the one small populated outpost in the Revillagegedo Islands. A doctor came on board to check the diver and, while in the neighborhood, offered some extra medicine for those with the virus. Thankfully the diver’s decompression symptoms abated after half a day and we were on our way, though she wasn’t permitted to dive the rest of the trip.

With Emily (a.k.a. la professora) moving to San Diego to start her UCSD faculty position the first week of January, we didn’t have extensive time in Baja after the boat trip, though we did spend two nights in Los Cerritos, a popular surf spot about an hour from Cabo. In addition to surfing (mostly Alex & Emily) we enjoyed some short hikes, evening pickleball, authentic food at street-side taco shops in the nearby town of El Pescadero, and the view from our well-located Airbnb condo.

This article was contributed by @Jennifer Widom (a client of Dive and Cruise), Please respect the author’s copyright.