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Hotels, dive operators, gear, and how to get here are on the Socorro Islands location page.
Overview
An isolated volcanic stub 100 metres long and 8 metres wide that splits into two guano-white peaks about 110 nautical miles west of Socorro Island, plunging straight to over 50m on every side. Ledges on the north face hold stacks of sleeping whitetip reef sharks by day, while the surrounding blue draws a near-constant rotation of scalloped hammerheads, silvertips, Galapagos sharks, yellowfin tuna and the occasional silky shark or whale shark passing through. Giant Pacific manta rays and bottlenose dolphins use the rock as a meeting point, and February-April brings the songs of humpback whales loud enough to feel through the chest. A single dive often means dropping into hard current, drifting along the wall, then hanging in the blue waiting for the next pelagic to materialise.
Briefing note
Inside the Revillagigedo National Park / UNESCO World Heritage Site (2016) and Mexico's largest fully protected marine reserve (2017); access is by permitted liveaboard only. The rock has no shallow shoulder — the wall drops to over 50m on all sides, and divers must hold mid-water in current rather than touch bottom. Down-currents along the southern face are well documented; carry DSMB and follow guide signals. Touching mantas or sharks is prohibited. Operators typically require 50+ logged dives, advanced certification and nitrox; some require deep specialty. Surface marker and individual GPS/radio beacons are standard issue on the crossing.
What you'll see
11 species curated- year-roundWhitetip reef shark
- year-roundSilvertip shark
- year-roundGalapagos shark
- year-roundSilky shark
- seasonalScalloped hammerheadPeak: May · Jun · Jul
- seasonalWhale sharkPeak: Nov · Dec · Jan · May · Jun
- year-roundGiant oceanic manta ray
- year-roundBottlenose dolphin
- year-roundYellowfin tuna
- year-roundWahoo
- seasonalHumpback whalePeak: Jan · Feb · Mar · Apr
Sightings evidence
1 record on file- high confidenceWhitetip reef shark
- Last confirmed
- May 2026
- Recent records
- 130 within 10 km
Sources & methodology
How we summarise this
We aggregate confirmed occurrence records from GBIF and OBIS within a fixed radius of each dive site. Occurrence records confirm presence and reveal seasonality clustering, but they DO NOT measure per-dive probability — there is no eligible-effort denominator. We deliberately do not publish a numeric '% chance of sighting' from this data.
Sources
- Global Biodiversity Information Facility — GBIF Secretariat
- Ocean Biodiversity Information System — IOC-UNESCO
- iNaturalist — California Academy of Sciences & National Geographic Society
- IUCN Red List of Threatened Species — International Union for Conservation of Nature
- Wildbook (Sharkbook, Whale Shark, Manta Matcher) — Wild Me
- OBIS-SEAMAP — Duke University Marine Geospatial Ecology Lab / OBIS
- WoRMS — World Register of Marine Species — Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ)
- FishBase — FishBase Consortium
- Atlas of Living Australia — CSIRO / GBIF Australia
- REEF Volunteer Fish Survey — Reef Environmental Education Foundation
Conditions
| Month | Water | Visibility | Current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 23–26 °C | 25–40 m | moderate |
| Feb | 21–24 °C | 25–40 m | moderate |
| Mar | 21–23 °C | 25–40 m | moderate |
| Apr | 21–24 °C | 25–40 m | strong |
| May | 22–25 °C | 25–40 m | strong |
| Jun | 24–27 °C | 25–40 m | strong |
| Jul | 26–29 °C | 20–30 m | moderate |
| Aug | 27–29 °C | 15–25 m | moderate |
| Sep | 27–29 °C | 15–25 m | strong |
| Oct | 26–28 °C | 15–25 m | strong |
| Nov | 25–28 °C | 20–35 m | moderate |
| Dec | 24–26 °C | 20–35 m | moderate |
Season calendar
Peak season highlighted · current month outlined
Next step
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