Scuba Season
Underwater reef at Socorro Islands
Stable

Socorro Islands

Mexico · Eastern Pacific

The Revillagigedo Islands — Socorro, San Benedicto, Roca Partida — sit 400km off Baja in deep Pacific water. The draw is giant oceanic mantas that approach and circle divers, plus humpback whales (in season), silky and Galápagos sharks, and the occasional bait ball spectacle.

Blue Park Award

Parque Nacional Revillagigedo

Awarded 2021

How this reef is doing

ⓘ How we measure this

Reef state

Stable

Pelagic encounters — mantas, dolphins, sharks. Reef cover modest in this Eastern Pacific niche; trips don't go for hard coral.

Coral cover

27%
LowHealthy
Moderate

Heat

SafeBleaching

Warmer than usual right now, but not hot enough to bleach.

Warming

Fishing

QuietBusy

Quiet water, and fishing is fully banned here.

Protected

Sources · Reef survey · NOAA Coral Reef Watch · Global Fishing Watch and reef gravity

Coral cover over time

Live coral cover, by survey year

Across surveys in 2014 and 2024, live coral cover here has fallen from 32% to 27%. Every point is a real survey reading, never a projection.

Live coral cover, percent by year

40%0%region avg 23%20142024
Two surveys
Eastern Tropical Pacific average (GCRMN)
Reef survey

Fish life over time

Fish seen per survey

Across 14 years of REEF volunteer surveys around Revillagigedo Islands, divers have been recording fewer fish per survey. The reef card above has not scored a fish level here yet, so this effort-standardised trend is our read on fish life.

Fish seen per survey, by year

412005200920122015201820212026
14 survey years, 2005 to 2026
REEF · Revillagigedo Islands · 599 surveys

What you will see

12 species across the dive sites here

Dive sites

What divers say

An oceanic manta hovered six inches over my regulator for forty seconds making eye contact. I still don't have words for it.
— First-time Socorro guest

Good to know

Park fee

~$50/day biosphere reserve fee.

Crossing

20–28h each way. Pacific can be rough — pre medicate.

Gear & getting wet

  • Basic kit

    • Mask and fins
    • BCD and regulator
    • 5mm full wetsuit · cooler water
    • Dive computer