Roca Partida, Islas Revillagigedos (Socorro Islands)

Dive Site: 

Date of Your Dive: 

Country/ Continent: 

Difficulty 

: Advanced

Is There A Required Certification Level? 

No

Depth 

: 50 to 130 feet

Temperature 

: Air 80s, water 76 F. Used 7mil wetsuit. No gloves or light allowed.

Conditions 

: 60-200 feet, current, swells, dive off Zodiac

Who Should You Contact to Dive This Site? 

: Solmar V at www.solmarv.com, (310) 455-3600

When Should You Dive This Site? 

: November through June

My Review 

Roca Partida is composed of two small, isolated rock peaks rising approximately 90 feet above the Pacific. It is part of the Islas Revillagigedos, better known as the Socorro islands. The islands are about 250 miles West of Cabo San Lucas, and can only be accessed by live-aboard. Our 9-day trip onboard the Solmar V out of Cabo San Lucas brought us first to San Benedicto, after a 22-hour boat ride, then Socorro, then Roca Partida, which is another 85 miles past Socorro.

For divers who like to see pelagics in the absolute wild, Roca Partida is as good as it gets. The rock, which drops down to about 220 feet, can be circumnavigated in one dive. The depth limit for us was 130 feet, and most of us used Nitrox 28. There are large swells and divers enter the water from one of the Solmar V's two zodiacs (which they call "pangas"). 10 divers plunge into the sea backwards off the panga.

Roca Partida is volcanic and almost sheer wall. This is shark central. We saw numerous white tips, silkies, galapagos sharks, some hammerheads. In some alcoves, white tips were sleeping, stacked up like cord wood. We did three dives at Roca Partida, going around it clock and counterclockwise, and hanging off the rock in blue water, surrounded by thousands of fish, with sharks cruising by.

Depending on conditions, the Solmar V stays overnight for another day at diving at Roca Partida. When we were there, vis deteriorated steadily and so we returned to Socorro.

Overall, this is probably one of the remotest, most unspoiled dive sites on the planet, and one of the best places to see lots and lots of pelagics.

Would you recommend this to a friend? 

Natalie Gibb, Scuba Diving Guide, says: