Dive Review of Nautilus Explorer in
Mexico (Western)/Guadalupe Island

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Nautilus Explorer: "Awesome Great White Shark Encounter", Sep, 2018, by Michael J. Millet, CA, US ( Top Contributor 92 reports with 58 Helpful votes). Report 10501 has 1 Helpful vote.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity
Dive Operation		Shore Diving	N/A
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	In early September, I flew down to San Diego from Oakland and met the White Shark Express ( a very comfortable motor coach) at the Best Western on Shelter Island. We departed at about 7 PM and went thru Mexican customs at Tijuana. This required getting off the bus, gathering all luggage and presenting passport. It took about 20-30 minutes for the 22 guests. We arrived dockside at Ensenada at about 10 PM and started the 18 hour cruise to Guadalupe Island arriving at dusk the next day. The next morning the cages were open. The Nautilus Explorer has 4 cages. 2 at the surface and 2 that are submersed about 20-25 feet. The air is all surface-supplied. One needs to be dive certified to go in the submersed cages. These cages have a DM inside and also backup air tanks available. For the 3 days at Guadalupe, each guest gets 3 turns per day in the submersed cages. We had very good shark action on this trip. The Great Whites are attracted by the large chunks of frozen tuna that is trolled thru the water at the stern from wrangling platforms. Quite often, the sharks are successful at snagging the tuna. For my experience, I found the shark encounters actually better from the surface cages versus the submersed cages. At the surface, there is better visibility and lighting. Also, there are more sharks in view and closer to the cages. The were parts of all 3 days when the visibility from the submersed cages was a bit murky. We headed back to Ensenada in the late afternoon of the 4th day (3rd day in cages) arriving at about 2 PM on the 5th day. We headed back to San Diego doing the same luggage exercise crossing thru US customs. I was dropped off at the San Diego Airport in time to catch a flight that was 2 hours earlier than originally booked. As usual, the crew of the NE was very friendly, helpful and professional. The food was plentiful and delicious. The accommodations are very nice with some upgrades to the boat such as new salon furniture and carpet through out. A very, very good trip!!
Websites	Nautilus Explorer
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	Over 1000 dives
Where else diving	All over the Caribbean; Galapagos, Socorro, Fiji, Solomons, GBR, Vanuatu, PNG, Philippines, Indonesia, Palau, Yap, Kosrae
Closest Airport	San Diego (in the US)	Getting There	For the Nautilus Explorer trip, one flies in/out of San Diego and then take NE provided motor coach down to Ensanada to board the boat.
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, dry	Seas	calm
Water Temp	66-68°F / 19-20°C	Wetsuit Thickness	7
Water Visibility	50-100 Ft/ 15-30 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	?
Enforced diving restrictions	Cage diving with surface supplied air. Must be dive certified for submersible cages.
Liveaboard?	yes	Nitrox Available?
What I Saw
Sharks	Lots	Mantas	None
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	None	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	The Nautilus Explorer has undergone a much needed refitting. It now has a large, easily accessible camera table. The camera rinse is adequate; I recommend an additional, larger rinse tub for cameras. There is plenty of outlets for battery charging.

Report currently has 1 Helpful vote

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Dive Review of Nautilus Explorer in Mexico (Western)/Guadalupe Island

Nautilus Explorer: "Awesome Great White Shark Encounter", Sep, 2018,

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 Explorer in
Mexico (Western)/Guadalupe Island