Nautilus Explorer

Nautilus Explorer is a 40-metre steel expedition vessel, built in 2000 and lengthened during her 2018 refit. She sails under the Canadian flag out of Vancouver and remains the first and only dive boat in the world holding a SOLAS ISM certificate from Transport Canada — the same standard as the largest cruise ships afloat. The heavy steel hull and stabilisers are built for long ocean crossings: Socorro is almost a full day of open water away.

Thirteen cabins across two decks take up to 25 guests, looked after by a crew of 10. The lower deck holds eight standard staterooms and one triple cabin; the wheelhouse deck has three superior suites and the premium suite — the former owner’s quarters, with a separate lounge, a floor-to-ceiling picture window and a full-size bathtub. Every cabin without exception has individually controlled air conditioning and its own en-suite bathroom.

The vessel was built around diving: an aft dive deck with a 5-ton hydraulic crane, a water-level platform and a reinforced steel deck rated for film and science teams. Nitrox is available for a fee, along with rebreather support, sidemount, DIN adaptors, a shaded kitting-up area, rinse hoses and a dedicated camera room with charging stations. Dives run from a 38-foot skiff.

There is no shortage of social space: two upper sun decks and a freshwater hot tub deck where guests gather in the evening with a glass of wine. The saloon has panoramic windows facing the dive deck, couches, a library, a bar, dedicated PC and Mac editing stations and a plasma screen. The galley bakes its own bread and pastries, blending North American, European and Mexican flavours.

The headline programme is Socorro — the Revillagigedo Archipelago: giant oceanic mantas that approach divers of their own accord, up to twelve species of shark, bottlenose dolphins and, in winter, humpback whales. In summer and autumn the vessel works the Sea of Cortez — whale sharks, mobula rays, the sea lions of Los Islotes and hammerheads over El Bajo seamount.