Socorro

For those divers looking for something a little more exotic and exciting, a liveaboard like the Nautilus Explorer can take you from Cabo San Lucas to the remote island of Socorro, one of a chain of volcanic islands about 400 km (250 miles) off the southern tip of the Baja Peninsula. It’s a long cross over the big, open ocean, but the pay-off is huge. Here you can get up close and personal with a number of the Pacific’s largest residents, including famous and friendly giant mantas, bottlenose dolphins, and schools of hammerheads, tiger sharks, and even whalesharks during November and December.

Here you can get up close and personal with a number of the Pacific’s largest residents, including famous and friendly giant mantas, bottlenose dolphins, and schools of hammerheads, tiger sharks, and even whale sharks during November and December.

Fill up your tanks between January and early April, and chances are excellent that you’ll hear, and possibly even see, visiting humpback whales singing on every dive. Socorro is known as one of the only places in the world for big animal sightings, and what it lacks in colourful reefs, it more than makes up for in heart-pumping action.

A trip to Socorro is only accessible by liveaboard, and it’s a dive destination that’s not ideal for non-divers because the island is under the military control. The memorable moments from close encounters with amazing manta rays that actually want to be around divers will remain with you forever.