No photos available at this time
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Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5
(best):
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Accommodations |
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Food |
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Service and Attitude |
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Environmental Sensitivity |
N/A |
Dive Operation |
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Shore Diving |
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Snorkeling |
N/A |
Overall Rating |
Value for $$ |
N/A |
Beginners |
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Advanced |
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Comments |
For the second year in a row, San Francisco-based Great White Adventures (GWA) has chartered the Solmar V out of Encenada, Mexico from mid-August until December, to run its "luxury" live-aboard trips to Guadalupe Island, specifically to dive with great white sharks. The $2,775 price tag includes a one night stay in San Diego at the Hampton Inn Downtown, a two-hour bus ride across the Border to Encendada and five days and four nights on board the Solmar V. The crossing to Guadalupe from Encenada takes about 20 hours and can be a little rough - we had steady 6 footers the whole way over. Definitely recommend the dramamine, even for those not prone to motion sickness. Since the vessel anchors on the leeward side of Guadalupe Island, wind and seas are not an issue once you are there. Diving is conducted in two four-person cages attached to Solmar's dive platform by two specially designed brackets to minimize cage movement and to facilitate entering and exiting the cages. Air is surface supplied. A two-person deep cage is deployed on the second day (depending on current and surface conditions). After a thorough dive briefing by GWA's founder and President, Lawrence Groth, divers are split into four four-person teams and assigned to rotating one-hour shifts per cage. After the first couple of rotations, cage time becomes more flexible as many opt to sit out rotations and observe the action from the upper deck. Within 18 minutes of deploying the hang baits, the first shark showed up. After that and in the three days to follow, we had a total of 15 sharks, ranging in size from 8-12 feet and one in the neighborhood of 16 feet. The Solmar crew was exceptional, the food and drink was plentiful and the quality of accomodations on board was first class.
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Reporter and Travel |
Dive Experience |
Over 1000 dives |
Where else diving |
Bahamas, South Florida, Cayman, Australia, Italy, Malta, Red Sea |
Closest Airport |
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Getting There |
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Dive Conditions |
Weather |
windy |
Seas |
calm, choppy, surge |
Water Temp |
68-70°F / 20-21°C |
Wetsuit Thickness |
7 |
Water Visibility |
30-100 Ft/ 9-30 M
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Dive Policy |
Dive own profile |
no |
Enforced diving restrictions |
Diving was restricted to shark cages with surface-supplied air
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Liveaboard? |
yes |
Nitrox Available? |
N/A |
What I Saw |
Sharks |
Lots |
Mantas |
None |
Dolphins |
None |
Whale Sharks |
None |
Turtles |
None |
Whales |
>2 |
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
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Corals |
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Tropical Fish |
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Small Critters |
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Large Fish |
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Large Pelagics |
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Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5
(best):
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Subject Matter |
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Boat Facilities |
N/A |
Overall rating for UWP's |
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Shore Facilities |
N/A |
UW Photo Comments |
Solmar V provides a generously sized camera table on the aft deck, complete with a stowage shelf for camera cases and air nozzels to dry off gear. Dive crew is is quick to retrieve and rinse cameras in two large freshwater rinse bins. Media center provides means to review video and digital photography on large flat screen tv and smaller monitors located around the main salon and dining areas. |