Vessel: Sea Hunter
Water Temperature: 85°F average (84 to 86°F)
Visibility: 55 ft average (50 to 70 ft)
Current: Light to moderate (avg 3/10)
Highlights: A manta swimming with the group and a squadron of mobulas on the final day, schooling scalloped hammerheads, playful dolphins at Alcyone, silvertip sharks, an orange frogfish, big-eye jacks, marbled and eagle rays, and a black durgeon spawning event
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Day 1: The check-out dive at Chatham Bay was a relaxed one, with mantis shrimp, whitetip reef sharks, and reef fish. Manuelita Outside had low visibility and quiet cleaning stations, though hammerheads moved over the rocks in small groups, along with big yellowfin tuna and a black-tip oceanic shark. Manuelita Coral Garden picked things up, hammerheads passing in small groups, a very large marbled ray gliding just below the group, and a fine ending with three silvertip sharks cruising the surface and coming in close.
Day 2 at Dirty Rock, the water was clear enough to watch small groups of hammerheads passing deep, with a school of big-eye jacks and an eagle ray. Punta Maria was slow, and Manuelita Channel started green and low before opening up nicely, with a few hammerheads coming in to be cleaned. One group also found a silvertip at Porites.
Day 3 Manuelita Coral Garden had excellent visibility, good hammerhead activity over the sand, and an orange frogfish. At Alcyone, dolphins followed the skiff in and stayed to play with the group and a school of big-eye jacks for the first ten minutes of the dive, a real treat, with a few small Galápagos and a hammerhead school holding deep. Manuelita Outside closed the day with hammerhead action on the third cleaning station, yellowfin tuna, and marbled rays.
Day 4 we went to Small Dos Amigos and Manuelita Outside. The current ran strong at Dos Amigos, with a fast-moving Galápagos and a pair of silvertips, and one group hit a big school of hammerheads out in the blue at Manuelita Outside.
Day 5 was a fun, active day. Manuelita Outside had hammerheads throughout, curious big yellowfin tuna passing right up to the group, three eagle rays, marbled rays, and a black-tip oceanic shark. Dirty Rock was quieter, but Pajara was fascinating, a black durgeon spawning event with whitetip reef sharks hunting through the spawning fish and a small silvertip joining in, plus lobster and mantis shrimp among the coral.
Day 6 Alcyone held a big school of big-eye jacks and a deep Galápagos, and the Manuelita Outside dives brought cleaning-station hammerheads, heavy whitetip activity, and more big yellowfin tuna.
Day 7 everything came together. At Alcyone, we swam with a large school of hammerheads, close in over the rock, with big-eye jacks, a few Galápagos, and three dolphins that dropped by on the safety stop. Manuelita Coral Garden then closed the expedition in style, hammerheads over the sand, an eagle ray passing right in front of the group, the orange frogfish back on its coral, and then a manta that appeared at the surface, came down, and circled the divers for a full 5 to 10 minutes, followed by five mobulas gliding past close by. Truly a perfect goodbye to Cocos!