Liveaboard Diving in Socorro Island

Mexico Dive Site: Socorro Island

Socorro, or the Revillagigedo Archipelago, is a group of four volcanic islands in the Pacific Ocean about 400km (250 mi) off the coast of the southern tip of Baja California, a southwestern state of Mexico. Socorro Island is one of these four islands and is most popular for the different pelagic species you can see and dive with. The other three islands are Roca Partida, San Benedicto, and Clarion, all incredible dive sites in their own ways.

Socorro Island is a year-round dive area, but each season brings its gems. The calmest seas are from November to May, with the waters being around 28 degrees Celsius (82 degrees Fahrenheit) in November, 21 degrees Celsius (69 degrees Fahrenheit) in February, and back up to 25 degrees Celsius (68 degrees Fahrenheit) in May. These winter months also bring the main spectacles; the thousands of humpback whales that come here to breed and many Pacific manta rays. The visibility here depends solely on the plankton in the water, which depends on the moon, but in general, the visibility varies from 15 - 50m (49 - 164ft).

Socorro Island is a more advanced diving area as sometimes there are strong currents and big waves, and most dive spots are quite deep; however, each liveaboard has its minimum dive experience level, and most expect to have your Advanced Open water with at least 50 logged dives, but there are a few which only need you to have your Open Water and no minimum logged dives. Please keep this in mind.

What You Can See

Socorro Island is the place to go if swimming with large marine life is what you desire to do; it is truly a pelagic paradise. From January to March, you can swim with some extremely curious and playful pods of wild Bottlenose Dolphins, and from January to April, there are thousands of Humpback whales in their breeding season, which is an impressive, unique, and unforgettable experience. Throughout the year, there are numerous Pacific Manta Rays, one of the most popular spectacles here; they are some of the largest in the world with extremely wide wingspans measuring up to 7m (22ft) with who you can 'fly' through the water. Sharks are also around all year, with species such as Silky sharks, Galapagos sharks, white tips, and silvertip sharks.

This archipelago of islands is part of a protected biosphere reserve, and many conservation organizations are working around here to preserve the unique wildlife which inhabits and passes here. Socorro diving area is not a coral reef, so do not expect bright colors everywhere, but once you spot the spectacular marine wildlife you won't be able to focus on much else anyways!

Getting To Socorro Island

This island is only accessible via Mexico liveaboard. Because this island is mostly uninhabited, this is the perfect way to get away from the busy cities and get a good quality experience with some of the best the oceans have to offer. Liveaboard.com currently offers six different liveaboards that visit these sites, all different to suit anyone's desires.

There are two ports from which the liveaboards we have to offer depart from, these are Cabo San Lucas and San Jose del Cabo. These are both cities in the state of Baja California and located in the most Southern municipality, Los Cabos in Mexico. The closest international airport to these two cities is Los Cabos International Airport, which has flights arriving from the United States, Canada, and other Mexican Cities.


Socorro Island Diving Reviews

  • 9.0 Superb
  • 40 Verified Reviews
  • 10.0 Exceptional
  • Sarah W
  • United States United States

Cabo pierce dive site was amazing. Such a great dolphin interaction there.

Diving Socorro Island in April on the Valentina

  • 9.2 Superb
  • Stacey W
  • United States United States

Always fun to see what is happening at El Boiler. If the big animals aren't in the area, there is plenty of small creatures to see in the rocks.

Diving Socorro Island in April on the Solmar V

  • 10.0 Exceptional
  • Michael J
  • United States United States

This is the third best island to dive.

Diving Socorro Island in May on the Nautilus Belle Amie

  • 9.6 Exceptional
  • Matthew L
  • United States United States

Socorro Island was a nice and calm dive. It was not current at all, but the landscape was huge and always mantas around.

Diving Socorro Island in December on the Quino el Guardian

  • 8.4 Very good
  • Jason K
  • United States United States

Roca Pearce was a let down, had 4 dives with not much going on.

Diving Socorro Island in December on the Solmar V

  • 8.8 Fabulous
  • Stephanie F
  • United States United States

We saw the most manta from start to finish at Cabo Pierce, making it my favorite dive site. They would follow us nearly the entire dive, and then more would come. We also played with the dolphins here.

Diving Socorro Island in January on the Nautilus Explorer

  • 10.0 Exceptional
  • David M
  • United States United States

It was beautiful we explored both sides of the island

Diving Socorro Island in May on the Valentina

  • 9.2 Superb
  • Gregory M
  • United States United States

Great wall structure, lots of mantas

Diving Socorro Island in November on the Quino el Guardian

  • 8.8 Fabulous
  • Gary C
  • United States United States

Real, real good. Visibility was less than I expected, but was told that we had normal visibility.

Diving Socorro Island in December on the Valentina

  • 10.0 Exceptional
  • Camille B
  • United States United States

Extraordinary!!!!!!! Sharks and mantas galore!!!

Diving Socorro Island in January on the Quino el Guardian

  • 9.6 Exceptional
  • Bernard V
  • United States United States

Great diving, but better visibility would have been nice

Diving Socorro Island in January on the Nautilus Belle Amie

  • 10.0 Exceptional
  • Eli R
  • United States United States

Definitely a magical place, this is where the giant mantas are viewed.

Diving Socorro Island in March on the Nautilus Belle Amie

  • 9.6 Exceptional
  • Sunny K
  • United States United States

Amazing. Saw friendly dophins and Mantas. Spotted some hammerhead sharks in the distance as well.

Diving Socorro Island in May on the Nautilus Belle Amie

  • 10.0 Exceptional
  • Alan P
  • United Kingdom United Kingdom

Amazing so Dolphins, Sharks and Manta Rays

Diving Socorro Island in December on the Solmar V

  • 8.8 Fabulous
  • Daniela S
  • Germany Germany

Generally, I had expected more fish there! There were Mantas and sharks, but I was missing the schools of smaller fish.

Diving Socorro Island in April on the Nautilus Explorer

  • 10.0 Exceptional
  • Sanjay K
  • India India

World Class. If there is anything that beats that experience, I am not sure what it would look like, because i felt like I was in heaven.

Diving Socorro Island in December on the Nautilus Explorer

  • 9.2 Superb
  • Fabian F
  • Argentina Argentina

Excelentes, de los mejores del viaje, con la mayor visibilidad y abundante fauna: mantas (negras y chevron), delfines, tiburon ballena, tiburones punta blanca, punta plateada, sedosos y de Galapagos en abundancia

Diving Socorro Island in January on the Nautilus Under Sea

  • 8.0 Very good
  • Marcel K
  • Germany Germany

Very good, we saw a school of hammerhead sharks.

Diving Socorro Island in February on the Nautilus Explorer

  • 8.8 Fabulous
  • Florian V
  • Germany Germany

Phantastic. A lot of Manta

Diving Socorro Island in November on the Valentina

  • 9.6 Exceptional
  • Martin K
  • Czech Republic Czech Republic

Great, just great - so many sharks and mantas.

Diving Socorro Island in February on the Quino el Guardian

  • 8.4 Very good
  • Ewa Z
  • Germany Germany

Mantras were very friendly

Diving Socorro Island in February on the Nautilus Explorer

  • 8.0 Very good
  • Jose Manuel U
  • Mexico Mexico

Punta Tosca was ok but nothing to be remembered

Diving Socorro Island in February on the Nautilus Belle Amie

  • 9.6 Exceptional
  • Luke L
  • New Zealand New Zealand

Cabo pearce - interesting dive. Great visuals of the rock/ volcanic formations. Lots of manta life Punta Tosca - Different to the other dives. Lots of fish life, stingrays/ electric rays. Fewer sharks than other sites

Diving Socorro Island in March on the Nautilus Belle Amie

  • 10.0 Exceptional
  • Nadine G
  • Lebanon Lebanon

Visibility in March so-so. Hammerhead, silvertip, blacktip, whitetip, tiger, Galapagos sharks, manta rays, and dolphins (for the lucky) or humpback whales (for the super lucky)

Diving Socorro Island in March on the Valentina

  • 8.8 Fabulous
  • Binshuang L
  • China China

It was great! Seeing manta rays on almost every dive!

Diving Socorro Island in May on the Nautilus Belle Amie

  • 8.8 Fabulous
  • Trang N
  • Poland Poland

Beautiful manta encounters

Diving Socorro Island in March on the Nautilus Explorer