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Adventure Diving
It’s four thirty in the afternoon, and we are
about to begin the last dive of the day.
Not far from our panga, Roca Partida’s
twin spires cast a broad shadow on the water.
Rolling over the side, we encounter strong
current. The overcast gave the slightly murky
water a dull blue-gray tint, with visibility of
perhaps 50 feet at best.
When I reached the desired depth, I leveled
off and looked for the rest of the group. That’s
when my hair stood on end, my heart began
to pound and boy, did I suck air. Just in front
of me was a literal wall of hammerheads.
Hundreds of them! The formation spread as
far as I could see in any direction to within a
few feet of the surface.
From near the surface to the depths below,
and in every direction I could see, there were
sharks, their sheer number so overwhelming
that I forgot to take a single picture. I didn’t
even raise my camera. I just wanted to close
my eyes and hope the sharks were gone
when I opened them.
Instead, I broke speed records churning
water with my Jet Fins to catch up to my dive
group. And when I did, I did not look back.
So much for photography, but sometimes
the most spectacular images aren’t stored
on film or a hard drive but in my mind’s eye.
That particular scene, which shall forever is adventure diving at its best – both You should always keep an eye on the
remain etched in my memory, was from my exhilarating and unpredictable. One minute blue, as well, because there’s always a
first trip to Mexico’s Socorro Islands, in March a school of jacks obscures the sun, the chance of seeing something really big, like a
of 1999. No way was it going to be my last. next minute a manta ray flies by or you whale shark or humpback whale. And that’s
The underwater scene in the Socorros, come face to face with sharks - or a pod of the part that gets you’re your blood, bringing
also known as the Revillagigedo Islands, dolphin appears.
you back for more.
www.underwaterjournal.com June/July 2007
the Socorros
By Bonnie J. Cardone