The archipelago di Revillagigedo, also known as the Socorro Islands, are about 450km south west of the southern tip of Baja California. They sit on the same oceanic plate boundaries - Pacific and Cocos plates - as the Cocos and Galapagos Islands to the south. For divers they are a fantastic location because of the high number of oceanic pelagics - mantas, whales, sharks and dolphins. Rising from the ocean floor they provide a visiting point where these beautiful creatures come to feed, breed and clean.
I am booked on a 9 day trip leaving San Jose del Cabo on April 7, 2026. Because the islands are so remote it takes about 34 hours for our boat, the Valentina, to get there. Leaving on Tuesday evening we are at sea all of Wednesday and drop anchor at 4am on Thursday morning. First stop is the Isla San Benedicto, an ash covered volcanic cone sticking out of the sea with some lava flow offshoots. From here we sail another 130km to the Roca Partida and then head to Socorro Island itself, another 108km before spending our last day back at Isla San Benedicto to break the journey home. The fourth island, Carión, is 287km further west and too far to visit. This means only six days diving on a 9 day trip making it a destination for the adventurous. On our trip we have a very international crew with divers from the US, Canada, Spain, Germany, France, Denmark, UK, Australia and South Africa! In addition we have our marvellous Mexican boat crew who look after us.
Location of the Revillagigedo national park
Valentina at Socorro, diving deck
Lounge area on upper deck, rib dropping divers at San Benedicto
I have flown from London to Dallas and then on to San Jose del Cabo arriving the day before our trip. I spend a day exploring the town, checking out local restaurant and a brewery before joining the boat at 3pm. The long trip leaves plenty of time to get to know the other guests and our dive guides as well as get briefed on the boat and the diving before we get to Socorro.
Our first dive is a check out at the Cañon on Isla San Benedicto but there are two other boats here already so we head to another site - El Boiler. This is a submerged pinnacle. We drop into the blue then swim to the wall - almost every dive we do is negative bouyancy entry due to the currents. There are mantas everywhere. We find a corner of the pinnacle where we can hang and watch and then move to another corner. On our second dive at El Boiler we see more mantas as well as reef fish, a big Galapagos shark on the wall, shark and a shark nursery on a ledge.
Manta with carion angelfish cleaners, hanging off the wall at El Boiler
Manta with hangers on at El Boiler
After our last dive at El Boiler we move the boat back to El Cañon so that we can be first divers in the morning. We try to dive at 7, 10, 1 and 4 but if there are other boats around the schedule can be shifted by an hour or two. First dive at El Cañon is spectacular - we drop in and swim to a pinnacle. The viz and light are quite low. First we see a few sharks and then loads. Hammerheads cruise by in pairs along with many white tip sharks. A smallish whale shark cruises along a ridge - exciting as they are out of season. At the cleaning station are large schools of jacks and reef fish and lots more sharks. As we end the dive we spot a big tiger shark cruising along the bottom.
The rest of our first day at Cañon is a bit disapointing after the first dive. The viz is not great below 16m, currents are quite strong and while we continue to see hammerheads, white tips, silky sharks and silver tips they are hard to make out in limited visibility. On our last day we revisit the Cañon and have two fantastic dives with loads of hammerheads, mantas and dolphins so it is clearly a great site.
Lorenzo briefing us for El Cañon, small whale shark
Hammerhead sharks in the murky water of El Cañon
12 hours from San Benedicto is a rock in the middle of the ocean - Roca Partida. Small split towers at the surface look like the front fins of a manta from some angles. Under the water steep walls drop down to 65m. In the briefing we are warned about surge currents and vortices that tumble you like a washing machine so we enter the water with some trepidation. In fact the currents at either end of the rock are not too bad and we don't find a vortex (phew).
We drop in by a scoop on the west side of the rock and swim along the wall. Sharks are sleeping in scoops in the wall. The surge current as we turn the southern end of the rock is quite strong but beyond this the water is still and we hang in space and enjoy watching huge numbers of white tip sharks, jacks and wahoo. The rock itself is spectacular - the core of an old volcano it now has great pillars and cracks that continue down into the depths.
Two more dives here reinforce what an amazing site this is. Mantas cruise by in trains, big tuna dart through the reef fish below us, and the white tip sharks are joined by larger silver tip sharks swimming in small groups. We leave after the last dive for the 108 km crossing to Socorro. This must be the most remote site I have ever dived as well as one of the most spectacular.
Roca Partida - 100s of km from anywhere!
On the Roca Partida wall and in the blue
Sharks on the Roca Partida wall, sleeping juvenile sharks
In the morning we wake to see small cliffs and gently sloping green hillside rising to a peak in the distance. We could be in Scotland or Cornwall! In fact Socorro island is unpopulated apart from a small navy station and some scientists. At one time it was considered for a penal colony!
Punta Tosca is our first dive site on the SW side of the island. It is some way from the boat so we all pile onto the two ribs rather than diving in three groups as we have done so far. We drop onto sand between pinnacles and boulders with patches of hard coral. Despite diving here all day we don't see a lot of action. Reef fish, white tip sharks, stingrays, a manta and a big hammerhead shark on one dive. There is also quite a bit of surge so much of the time we are swimming forward two metres and then being washed back one. A good workout!
First sighting of Socorro Island, Trudy at Punta Tosca with big fins
Punta Tosca manta
Socorro sunset
For our second day's diving on Socorro we have moved around to the NE side of the island. We have been promised that we will see a lot more at Cabo Pierce than the day before. In fact for us the day starts slowly. We drop onto a wall and swim around to meet a big shelf which we follow to the cleaning station. The rocky underwater topography is impressive. We see a lot of pufferfish and parrots and a few white tips but there is no action on the cleaning station. A scoop in the rock has lots of white tips and a silver tip passes us as we swim along a ledge. Maybe we are in the wrong place as another group finds a whale shark!
Our second dive is also quiet but dives 3 and 4 are spectacular. We are watching a big manta when we spot a group of dolphins. They swim around us for 5-10 minutes, very keen to see their old friend Fernando! Another manta appears as well as a huge school of silky sharks. On dive four we are back at the 'blue corner' and see more dolphin and shark. Back on the rocky shelf we find a green moray, mating flounders, and lots more puffers and boxfish. Great dive site.
Looking for whales, briefing for Cabo Pierce
Fernando with friendly dolphin
Green Moray, Flounder
We leave Socorro after only diving two sites. We are sure that there is a lot more to explore but you would need a longer trip. Next morning we are back at Isla de San Benedicto and by the afternoon we have started the long trip back to San Jose. The wind has got up so we are expecting a more bumpy ride.
This has been a great trip for firsts. First time diving on a sea mount in the Pacific, first dives with hammerhead sharks, first close up diving with dolphins. The other guests were great and our guides, Lorenzo, Mariana and Arturo were terrific. I would recommend the Valentina - big and sturdy steel-hulled - although perhaps a bit tired! And Socorro is a great destination - only 5000 visitors per year but apparently more varied than the Cocos Islands to the south. Hard to think of the next adventure to cap this one!
Julio with dolphins, Hammerhead
