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Mexico Liveaboards
Mexico Liveaboards
Don
Jose | Nautilus Explorer | Rocio Del Mar | The Mechudo | Baja Aggressor
 Nautilus Explorer
A Safe, Comfortable, Well-Run Ship
The Nautilus Explorer is our third vessel, custom designed
from the keel up to our specifications as a small ship that provides maximum
comfort and reliability for our guests. Heavy-duty commercial grade systems
ensure that you'll have a smooth-running voyage with the highest possible
level of safety. While we choose our itineraries for calm seas, the Nautilus
Explorer's passive stability system ensures the smoothest possible ride
in all conditions.
Nautilus Explorer Specifications
116'
long, 27' wide: Small ship size with big ship feel.
Cruise speed 11 - 12.8 knots: Steady, smooth performance.
5/16th steel hull and main deck: Built-in strength
7,000 gallon fresh water capacity / 1,800 gallons-per-day water maker: Shower
as often as you like.
Twin 70 KW gensets: Quiet power with precise voltage and frequency control
for computers
Air-conditioning and heating throughout: Comfort in every climate.
Built at Sylte Shipyard in Maple Ridge, British Columbia
Launched Spring 2000
   
Mexico Dive Destinations:
Guadalupe Island
Get out from behind the bars and go diving with great white sharks in 40 feet of clear blue water. Guadalupe Island (Mexico) is the top destination for great white shark encounters. This small volcanic island located in the Pacific 240 kilometers (150 miles) off the west coast of Mexico's Baja California peninsula outperforms both South Africa and Australia with shark-seeing consistency and watching conditions. Only Guadalupe Island can boast shark viewing in one-hundred-twenty-five-foot visibility. The bay where we stage our submersible cage diving operations counts a population of 94 great white sharks, which guarantees unforgettable encounters. The Nautilus Explorer offers convenient evening departures, virtually unlimited diving, the opportunity to watch the great whites out in the open in 40 feet of clear blue water from the top deck of our double-decker submersible cages and all the services of a luxury liveaboard - from gear rental to attentive hostesses and sparkling-clear hot tub.
Details about Great White Shark Cage Diving at Guadalupe Island
San Benitos Island and Baja California
We visit San Benitos during our combination trips. Whether it is combined with cage diving with the Great White Sharks at Guadalupe Island or with some of the best west coast diving to be had in the California Channel Islands, it is a perfect addition, bringing variety with its unique kelp forest diving and untouched wildness. Divers commonly see an interesting mix of temperate fish as well as panamic sub-tropicals and silky and white tip reef sharks, wahoo and some tuna. Also we have seen horn shark, guitar ray, bat ray and, of course, the orange Garibaldi. Lobsters and abalone are abundant. The boat departs from Ensenada and we offer luxury highway coach pick up from San Diego and Tijuana. Trip length ranges from 10 night to 15 night.
The Sea of Cortez
Fall is the ideal time of year to dive the Sea of Cortez with the best visibility, warmest water and calmest seas of the season. It is always exciting to see hammerhead sharks and they usually appear at Gordo Bank in early September and the El Bajo seamount by mid-October. Whale sharks are typically present off El Mogote and may provide an unforgettable addition to your trip. The colony of California sea lions at Los Islotes are quite famous and will entertain you for hours with their playful underwater antics. Moray eels are so numerous at certain sites that we joke about them living in "moray condos". There are lots of turtles in these waters and you will likely spot large schools of jacks, tunas, lots of small rays, garden eels and species of fish too numerous to count. Giant manta rays are present but sightings have been sparse in the last couple of years. Invertebrate life includes stony corals, seafans, gorgonians and yellow colonial tubastrea corals. Unforgettable topside experiences may include watching whalesharks choosing to approach the Nautilus Explorer and use the side of the boat as a backboard to feed on plankton, dolphins, pilot whales and the absolutely spectacular starlit Mexican sky at night.
These are very relaxing trips but be warned that there isn't the same "edge" as voyaging out to Socorro Island with giant mantas and sharks everywhere. Sea of Cortez trips are very enjoyable and we liken them to swimming in a giant aquarium with an amazing diversity of animals in bath temperature water. Surface temperatures range from well over 100 degrees in September to the mid eighties in November. Water temps vary from 76 to 86 degrees F (25 to 30 degrees C) and diveskins, 3 mil or 5 mil wetsuits are very popular. There is a remote chance of a tropical storm early in our season but is very unlikely. Most days will be sunny with the very occasional day that is either overcast or rainy. The first "Norte" (or north wind) does not usually blow until late November but may restrict our diving itinerary for a day or two if it starts early.
On the Nautilus Explorer we are always "up" for trying new things and we do our very best to provide the most excellent experience possible, consequently, our itinerary may vary from trip to trip. You can very likely expect to dive the wreck of the 300' ferry Salvatierra, Los Islotes, Las Animas, El Bajo, La Reyna, Isla Cerralvo, Suwanee Reef and El Mogote. Depending on the weather and diving conditions and our guests' inclination, we may voyage as far south as Cabo Pulmo, Gordo Bank or Cabo San Lucas.
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