Diving the Revillagigedoes: Punta Tosca

Punta Tosca is a great dive site on the island of Socorro. It can become quite deep, so one really has to be conscious of depth. Sometimes, when you are playing with a dolphin or a manta, or watching sharks, you can forget your depth and look at your computer and say, “holy shit, I’m at 126 feet!”. That happened to me, of course. It is easy to get distracted. Let me show you some of the more distracting creatures!

Punta Tosca was a very nice dive site, it had more coral than most of the sites in the Revillagigedoes, so it was more colorful. I enjoy the big animal dives because they are so exciting, but I also love the dives where you get to see other, smaller fish. The Sharpnose puffer is only 3 inches or so long. Most of these fish have Caribbean cousins, and Indian Ocean cousins. Their coloration is different from place to place, thanks to good old Darwinian evolution.

On Day One, we traveled. As I said, it takes 24 hours to get to the islands from Cabo San Lucas. We did a check out dive at 4pm when we arrived at Socorro. A check out dive is exactly what it sounds like: checking your gear, is everything functioning correctly, is your weight right (divers need extra weight to descend since salt water is so buoyant.) We spent days two and three exploring the different dive sites of Socorro. Day Four was spent at San Benedicto. That night we headed for Roca Partida, the dive site everyone is always excited to go to. Roca Partida is famous for big pelagics, lots of sharks. It did not disappoint us on this trip! We spent two and a half days there, the diving was so fantastic. On my next blog…Roca Partida!

As you can see from the video, the waiting is the hardest part of strong current and deep diving. Often, you have to grab a rock, and wait for the animals. Sometimes they come, sometimes they don’t. Luck of the draw!