Socorro Island, Mexico, closed to dive boats until mid March

by Eric Cheng Tuesday, January 26th, 2010

Article Summary:

According to a Wetpixel reader who just returned from a trip to the Revillagigedos Islands in Mexico, the Mexican military has temporarily closed Socorro Island to dive boats. The island will be closed for diving due to “naval exercises” until mid March. There was no advanced warning of the closure, which caught liveaboard dive vessels Nautilus Explorer and Solmar V off guard.

Note that San Benedicto and Roca Partida remain open, and are fantastic places to dive. Socorro Island is not generally considered to be the main attraction of the Revillagigedos Islands, and divers in our forum discussion do not seem to think that it is a big deal to skip out on it. If you are currently booked on a “Socorro” trip, we recommend that you go anyway—spending more time at sites like Roca Partida and the Boiler (at San Benedicto) probably makes for a better trip, anyway!

I am. Good call. But put San Benito on your list - great stop-off on the way to Guadalupe or even as a standalone destination.
Posted by peacedog on 2010-02-04 02:52:25 I think you are confusing San Benito (near Guadalupe) with San Benedicto in the Revillagigedos. The two islands are about 700 miles apart. San Benedicto has fine diving, but Socorro has much more variety including a resident population of dolphins that tends to interact with divers.
Posted by drsteve on 2010-01-31 18:31:47 The Into The Drink crew stopped at San Benito on our way out to Guadalupe to shoot an episode last September, and I can say without a shadow of a doubt that San Benito is some of the finest diving anywhere on the planet, for a multitude of reasons. It is by far the best kelp diving I have ever done. I understand why people would be bummed that Socorro is closed but trust me - San Benito is worth a week-long trip on its own.
Posted by peacedog on 2010-01-29 03:46:15