Revillagigedo Archipelago, Mexico
Socorro (Revillagigedo)
Volcanic archipelago roughly 400km off Baja California, reachable only by liveaboard, with one of the largest known giant oceanic manta aggregations, up to twenty shark species, and a wintering humpback population.
- Giant oceanic manta ray
- Scalloped hammerhead
- Pelagics
- Strong current
Best season
Best Nov–Apr
Minimum cert
Advanced + experience
Water
21–28°C
Current
strong
Season
When this place works
RESOLVED BY TIER 1. CONANP, the Mexican protected-areas authority, states the tourist diving season as November to June, 07:00-18:00, with a park fee of $3,760 MXN per person per day. That corrects the commercial sources, which variously…
Why dive here
What this place is known for
- 01pelagic
Giant oceanic manta rays
Aggregate here in some of the largest numbers known anywhere, including a melanistic all-black morph. These animals routinely approach and stay with divers, which is behaviourally unusual and is the actual reason people pay for this trip. Clarion angelfish, a…
02sharkMulti-species shark aggregation
Up to twenty shark species recorded in the park. Silvertip, Galapagos, silky, whitetip reef and scalloped hammerhead are the ones divers see; tiger sharks turn up at Cabo Pearce with luck.
03cetaceanHumpback whales and bottlenose dolphins
Up to 2,000 humpbacks pass through, with song audible underwater through the winter months. Resident bottlenose dolphins initiate interaction with divers at Cabo Pearce and Roca Partida, which is rare behaviour and under-advertised relative to the mantas.
Seasonality — peakpeakpeakshoulderabsentabsentabsentabsentabsentabsentabsentoff
Marine life
Twelve-month species timelines
Resident. Aggregates here in some of the largest numbers known anywhere. Present in every month; you can only reach the islands Nov-May.
Song is audible on most dives Jan-Mar; visual underwater encounters are opportunistic and not the basis for booking. Cows with calves are present in this window.
Resident pods that approach divers deliberately, most consistently at Cabo Pearce and Roca Partida.
Present year-round with reported increases in the cooler Feb-Apr window. Schooling behaviour here is less consistent than at Cocos or Galapagos.
Resident year-round, particularly at Roca Partida.
Sources contradict each other on the window: Nov-Dec, Apr-May, or both. CONANP does not list whale shark among the park's representative species at all, which is itself a signal. Encoded as the…
Conditions
What the water is like
Water temp
21–28°C
15°C — 32°C
Visibility
15–30 m
0 m — 40 m
Current
strong
mild — strong
Thermoclines
Expected
likely
Minimum certification — Advanced + experience
Ripping current, strong surge, negative entries, blue-water safety stops with no reference, and a two-day boat ride from any hyperbaric chamber. Operators generally require Advanced plus 50-100 logged dives, and nitrox is effectively…
Entries — boat
Recommended & required
- nitrox — recommended. Effectively expected by operators. 3-4 deep dives a day for five days.
Logistics
How people dive it
8-10 days
scuba
The only way to dive here. Roughly 20-30 hours of open-ocean crossing each way from Cabo San Lucas or San José del Cabo, leaving about 5…
Operators
Who to book with
Loading operators…
Sources & verification
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