Dive Review of Nautilus Belle Amie in
Mexico (Western)/Socorro Islands

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Nautilus Belle Amie: "Good Liveaboard but 3rd Time Wasn't a Charm for Conditions", May, 2021, by Gary & Robin Schiendelman, PA, US ( Top Contributor 31 reports with 46 Helpful votes). Report 11527 has 3 Helpful votes.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity	N/A
Dive Operation		Shore Diving	N/A
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	This was our third trip to Socorro, second time on the Belle Amie. It's a really nice boat and the crew has always been very good. They are dealing with Covid restrictions as well as can be expected. All guests were given rapid Covid tests prior to boarding. They split the guests into 2 groups for meals and switched the order each day. First group was limited to a 30 minute meal time in order for the second group to get into the dining room. Pretty inconvenient but they are doing the best they can. Divers are also split into groups. "Shark" group were the more experienced divers and always in the water first. We had a good group and everyone was geared up and ready to dive 10 minutes or so before the scheduled time. They put a dive guide in the water with us but it was stipulated that you need not stay with them and you are responsible for yourself and your buddy. The other 2 groups alternated on being the 2nd and 3rd group into the water. The DM's were more hands on with these divers and they stayed together as a group. Gear up on the main boat then board the RIB's on the back deck with help from the crew. Backroll entry once at the dive site. Remove gear and hand up before boarding back on the RIB. Pretty easy although we had some days with rough seas that made it more challenging. There was a medical emergency on board after the first dive at San Benedicto. We had to motor to the Navy base on Socorro in order for the diver to be evacuated to the mainland. It was a minor heart attack and we heard later that he is expected to make a full recovery. The crew did an excellent job of handling the emergency and dealing with the situation and the guests. We were given updates on what was happening and they modified the itinerary to allow us to continue the trip with as few disruptions as possible. Kudos to the crew for an excellent job. Unfortunately, the conditions were not as good as we had previously encountered. We dove at Cabo Pearse for 2 full days with pretty poor vis, as low as 35' on some dives. However, we did see a lot. Hammerheads, whale shark, silkies, manta, white tips, octopus, swimming moray eels and a dolphin with a baby. We then went to Roca Partido where the vis was much better! Rough seas but best diving of the trip. Big tuna, Galapagos sharks, silvertips, hammers, schools of jacks, swarms of whitetips. Final day was in San Benedicto. We were excited to be at The Boiler but it was a dud with no action. Final dive site was Canyons. Again poor vis and only saw action on one of the 3 dives. It was a cleaning station were there were many silvertips, galapagos, a manta fly by and a tiger shark. The crossing back to Cabo San Lucas was really rough with waves breaking over the bow at one point. Another passenger reported seas as high as 10-12'. But again, the Captain and crew did a really good job. The Covid test required to re-enter the US was done on the boat the morning of disembarking. By the time we arrived at the airport, the results were in our email. Could not have been easier. In summary, the Belle Amie continues to be a good boat with good crew. They are safety conscious as well. Drills were held on day one including donning life vests and mustering on the dive deck. All divers are given a Nautilus Lifeline, safety sausage and Dive Alert horn if they don't have these items in their personal kit. We will probably go back but not at this time of year. Our disappointment with dive conditions was just a reminder that Mother Nature has her own agenda and we need to be appreciative of whatever she sends. [youtube.com link] We are happy to answer any questions or provide further detail upon request.
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	Over 1000 dives
Where else diving	Indonesia, PNG, Solomon Isl, Red Sea, Maldives, South Africa, Mozambique, Cocos Isl, Galapagos, Socorro, Palau, Var Caribbean locations, New Jersey, Florida, No Carolina, Philippines
Closest Airport	SJD	Getting There	PHL to MIA to SJD
Dive Conditions
Weather	dry	Seas	choppy, surge, currents
Water Temp	70-72°F / 21-22°C	Wetsuit Thickness	7
Water Visibility	35-100 Ft/ 11-30 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	Depth, No going "blue"
Liveaboard?	yes	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	Lots	Mantas	Squadrons
Dolphins	1 or 2	Whale Sharks	1 or 2
Turtles	1 or 2	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals	N/A	Tropical Fish	N/A
Small Critters	N/A	Large Fish
Large Pelagics
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter		Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's		Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	Poor vis made still photography challenging. Cameras were loaded onto skiffs after divers and unloaded back to main boat before divers. Pretty large camera tables on the dive deck with lots of plugs. As is becoming the norm, unattended charging in your cabin is no longer allowed.

Report currently has 3 Helpful votes

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Dive Review of Nautilus Belle Amie in Mexico (Western)/Socorro Islands

Nautilus Belle Amie: "Good Liveaboard but 3rd Time Wasn't a Charm for Conditions", May, 2021,

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Overall Rating

Reporter and Travel

Dive Conditions

Dive Policy

What I Saw

Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Dive Review of Nautilus Belle Amie in
Mexico (Western)/Socorro Islands