Our adventure begins in beautiful Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Feel free to arrive a few days early and enjoy relaxing in Cabo or the surrounding areas!
Date
December 7-15, 2025
Duration:
9 days/8 nights
Yacht: Nautilus Belle Amie
Package Cost:
All Costs are in USD
Wheelhouse Deck (Upper Deck):
$4299.00 per person, double occupancy
Main Deck (Premium Suites): SOLD OUT
$4899.00 per person, double occupancy
Lower Deck (Staterooms):
Room A- Single/Solo Traveler Room: $4750.00 (1 person) SOLD OUT
Rooms C, D, E, F, G, H: $3799.00 per person, double occupancy
Room T- Triple Stateroom: $3399 per person, double occupancy
(*Only 2 people will be booked in the triple stateroom)
Price includes: 5% tax
Price Includes:
- 8 nights on the luxurious Nautilus Belle Amie
- All Meals & snacks
- Diving (approx 3-4 dives a day) & regular air tanks
- Diving “butler” service on the Nautilus Belle Amie
- Experienced dive guides
- Nautilus Lifeline, SMB, Dive Alert Signal Device
- Presentations on marine life
- Travel with a marine biologist and travel/educational expert
- Photography advice & tips
- Private charter just for our group
Price Excludes:
- International and domestic flights
- Dive Insurance
- Travel Insurance
- Nitrox
- Rental Gear
- Alcoholic beverages & “fancy” coffees
- Gratuities
- Socorro Island Park Fee($425.00 USD per person, added to your invoice)
- Port fee ($35.00 USD per person, paid on board)
- Transfers to/from SeaCreatures and/or airport
- Hotels prior/after liveaboard
How to secure your spot:
Please note that this trip has limited spots. The following payments will be required:
Deposit:
- $1000.00 USD deposit.
In 2025:
- First payment due February 8, 2025
- Second payment due May 8, 2025
- Final payment due September 8, 2025
- $425.00 USD Socorro Marine Park fee added to invoice
We will be in touch via e-mail for your payment and the link (as above). We would recommend purchasing your flights into Los Cabos, Mexico (SJD) as soon as possible to secure reasonably priced flights. To book and check for available spaces email: amanda@amandadelaforce.com
About the Diving
The Nautilus Belle Amie caters to all levels of divers, however we recommend having your Advanced Open Water certification prior to joining the trip and at least 50 dives. Diving on the Belle Amie is described as “the diving butler” and you get to choose which category works for you. The first category are the “self reliant” and highly experienced divers, who will be generally be taken quickly to the dive sites first. The Nautilus Belle Amie crew love buddying up with new divers looking for the reassurance of being with a dive guide from the time they start gearing up until they are back on the big boat. Most divers are somewhere mid-spectrum between these two groups and we make sure they are very well looked after as well!
Diving is usually done from the yacht’s skiffs. They use multiple skiffs as “taxis” so that we can pick up divers when they surface and whisk them back to the big boat instead of waiting in the hot sun for everyone else to surface.
December is one of the warmest months for diving in Socorro. Water temperatures can get up to 82 F/28 C. We recommend at minimum a 3mm wetsuit, but bring what keeps you warm and toasty in 80-82 F/27-28 C temperatures.
Itinerary
December 7, 2025: We’ll meet at SeaCreatures in downtown Cabo in the late afternoon (exact time TBC) for check-in. Between 7-8pm the Nautilus Belle Amie crew will bring us and our gear to the boat for boarding. We’ll settle into our cabins and begin our overnight cruise to Socorro. *Possible Backscatter photo and video workshop in the afternoon (TBC).
December 8, 2025: Relaxing day at sea as we continue traveling to the Revillagigedo Islands, with our first planned stop at San Benedicto Island by evening. During the day we’ll participate in safety briefings, unpack and set up dive gear, learn more about giant mantas, and enjoy cocktail hour and sunsets as we cruise.
December 9-13, 2025: Diving begins and continues for 5 days. Our focus will be on diving with the world’s “friendliest mantas”, bottlenose dolphins, up to ten species of sharks, and loads of fish. December is one of the best chances for whale shark encounters too. We’ll start off our diving at San Benedicto Island and make our way around the Revillagigedo Archipelago diving at favorite sites such as El Canyon, the Boiler, Red Rocks, Roca Partida, Cabo Pearse, Punta Tosca, and Roca O’neal. The plan is to average 4 dives a day, however the day we check-in at the local navy base will likely be 3 dives.
December 14, 2025: We’ll begin our early morning voyage back to Cabo San Lucas with another relaxing day at sea.
December 15, 2025: Arrival back into Cabo San Lucas is estimated at 8:30am. We’ll say our goodbyes and disembark the Nautilus Belle Amie. Please do not schedule departing flights before 1pm to allow enough time to get to the airport and check-in, etc.
Note that several dives may be quite challenging and not suitable for divers of lower experience levels. Note that weather conditions, Mother Ocean or crowding by some of our competitors may limit some diving.
Getting There
Arrival Airport: Los Cabos International Airport (SJD airport code)
From North America:
Many airlines within North America fly into Los Cabos, Mexico. The airport code is SJD. Please plan to arrive no later than early afternoon on December 7, 2025.
From Australia:
For most, the first international port of entry will be the United States. The closest US airports are (Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) or San Francisco International Airport (SFO). Everyone flying to the US must clear immigration and customs even if you are continuing onward to Mexico. There is currently no option to stay in transit in the US. If you have a connecting flight, you’ll drop your luggage at baggage re-check or at the ticket counters and head back through security to your connecting flight to Cabo San Lucas (SJD) airport. You might consider a layover in California prior to continuing down to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Please plan to arrive no later than early afternoon of December 7, 2025.
From Europe:
For most, traveling via the US and onward Mexico will be the most efficient way to get to Cabo San Lucas. Alternatively flights to Mexico City (MEX) and onward to Cabo San Lucas, (SJD).
About the Belle Amie
- Launched in 2015 and designed specifically for diving in Socorro
- Has 17 comfortable suites, each with their own bathroom/shower and individually controlled air conditioning
- Offers a huge dive deck with ample space for everyone to get ready for diving
- Relax in the upper sun deck which includes a hot tub, and fully stocked bar
- Constructed with heavy steel for stabilization designed for ocean crossings
- 17 crew members on board
- ISM Safety Certified (Safety Certificates here)
- Comfortable indoor dining & lounging area to work on photos, relax and socialize
Group Leaders
Amanda Delaforce and Kim Randall. Both with a wealth of travel and underwater experience. Kim is located in the States. Amanda is located in Australia. They met on a trip in the Maldives and have been passionate about diving, marine encounters and photography ever since. This is a new trip and they look forward to sharing this unforgettable experience with you. Please refer to the testimonials page for comments on other marine expedition trips.
Amanda is a marine biologist and wildlife ecologist having worked across both NSW and QLD Marine Parks (Australia) over the last 20 years. Amanda has previously been involved in various humpback whale research projects along the East Australian Coast including Eden, Port Stephens, Sunshine Coast and Hervey Bay.
Amanda has been taking guests diving and swimming with marine species including humpback whales, manta rays, whale sharks, dolphins and reef and oceanic sharks while also viewing amazing coral communities and fish in stunning and remote locations. Amanda can provide a wealth of information on the humpback and blue whales while out on the zodiac day expeditions. She holds her coxswains certificate and has been a divemaster for over 23 years.
She works closely with marine conservation and citizen science groups such as Manta Project Australia, Project Manta Maldives, Grey Nurse Shark Watch Australia and Whale Shark Researchers in the Maldives.
Amanda is a passionate underwater marine and wildlife photographer; countless dives and ocean encounters means she knows where to look for inspiration. She has a genuine love and admiration for animals she encounters which are reflected in the experiences she shares with others.
This is her first trip to this amazing location and has been a dream trip for many years. I hope you are as excited as she is to take you on this unforgettable journey. Follow her on Instagram, check out her photography and shop page on her website.
Kim Randall, a native Californian and an avid traveler, discovered her love of the ocean and marine life at an early age, by pleading with her parents to send her to a sailing and diving summer camp. It was here she became certified to scuba dive. While she was always active and into playing sports as a child and young adult, she developed knee issues which prevented her full involvement in them. Scuba diving and water related non weight bearing activities changed all of that!
Kim went on to pursue a career in education, and became a global educational technology consultant. She works with professional learning organizations including Designed for Learning, Discovery Education, Nearpod, and the Krause Center for Innovation, providing relevant and engaging training centered around effective use and pedagogy of educational technologies in the classroom.
When she wasn’t consulting and working with educators, she was (and still is) found planning dive trips around the world. In 2009 she joined the team producing the tv series “Into the Drink”, a diving and travel show filming on location in incredible diving destinations around the world. Kim traveled with the crew and guests on many of the trips, supporting with underwater photography and guest relations. Her love of diving, marine life, underwater photography, and traveling across the globe continued to flourish with this incredible experience. It was through mutual friends filming on one of the boats, that Kim and Amanda became friends, dive buddies, and shared a passion for photography.
With her love of travel, trip planning and diving, she organically loved Google Earth & Maps when they launched in 2005 and became an avid user of both tools. Fast forward to 2018, She co-authored a book geared towards educators called Bring the World to Your Classroom: Using Google Geo Tools. Kim has been an elementary and middle school teacher as well as a technology integration specialist and holds a California Multiple Subject teaching credential. She is based in the San Francisco Bay Area but often found in her spare time traveling to new places near and far, scuba diving, and dabbling with topside and underwater photography. This is her first trip to Antarctica and the only remaining continent she hasn’t visited yet. Kim is so excited for this adventure. Follow her on Twitter, Instagram, check out her photography www.kimrandall.photography or contact her at designedfordiving@gmail.com.
Bookings, Payment, Cancellation Policy and Force Majeure in relation to the Tour
- Amanda Delaforce Photography and Travel Pty Ltd highly recommends you purchase travel and dive insurance as soon as possible after confirming your travel plans. We recommend Dive Assure or DAN for diving insurance. Dive Assure offers a Dive and Travel Insurance annual and short-term (per trip). You can purchase it here: https://app.diveassure.com/#/registration/main/process/0/int/0/18669/en-intl
- Evidence of adequate travel and dive insurance must be provided prior to departure.
- Bookings made more than 100 days out from the start of a trip require a deposit of $1000.00 USD per passenger.
- All deposits are non-refundable.
- Bookings made less than 100 days out from tour commencement require payment in full to secure your booking.
- Payment in full is required 100 days out from the start of the trip. We will email you a final payment reminders. No refunds will be given within 100 days of the start of any trip, under any circumstances.
- If you cancel your spot more than 100 days before the start of a trip, and we/you are able to resell/fill the spot, a trip credit for your remaining balance (minus a $300 USD service fee deducted) will be issued for use on another Amanda Delaforce Photography and Travel Pty Ltd trip within 2 years of the cancellation.
- If you cancel your spot less than 99 days prior to the start of a trip, no refund or credit will be issued for deposits that have been paid.
- If our In-Country Providers cancel or if aForce Majeure Event occurs, meaning any act of God, war, terrorism, fire, flood or any other extreme weather conditions, loss of power, epidemics or pandemics, industrial disputes, slow-downs or other strike activities, riots or civil disturbances, acts of government, semi government or other authorities, inability to obtain any necessary license or consent and delays caused by sub-contractors, suppliers or other third parties (including telecommunications carriers), material shortages or other disruption to the trip beyond our control, Amanda Delaforce Photography and Travel Pty Ltd shall not be held responsible for matters outside of our control or any failure to deliver the trip.
- The affiliated and established company such as the Nautilus Belle Aime, holds the relevant insurances and maintains responsibility for the dive and snorkel insurance policies and procedures. As such when in the water diving, snorkeling or swimming you are diving under the affiliated company’s policies and procedures and must adhere to either the Captain, Dive Instructor or Divemaster’s instructions.
- Amanda Delaforce Photography and Travel Pty Ltd takes no responsibility for loss, damage or injury arising from any shortfall, error or omission in the information passed to the customer during the course of the sale or subsequent delivery of the product. The company takes no responsibility nor can be held liable for loss, damage, or injury that occurs on a supplier’s or service provider’s premises or transport, or between two such premises.
- Participation in any of the Activities involves certain risks which may result in injury or death. This warning does not purport to describe or disclose all risks associated with participation of the Activities. There are a wide range of inherent risks when engaging in sports and particularly underwater sports; for example, with diving there is the risk of decompression sickness, embolism or other hyperbaric injury can occur that requires treatment in a recompression chamber. Open water scuba diving trips may be conducted at sites that are remote, either by time or distance, from emergency services or recompression facilities. Scuba diving, snorkeling and tours will involve uncontrolled encounters with wild animals which bears the risk of stings, bites, and at the extreme end, more serious injury and death. Participants should be responsible and aware of animal behaviors and their own interactions and engage in these activities entirely at their own risk.
- We will not be liable to you in respect of any personal injury (including without limitation serious injury or death) that you may suffer or sustain directly or indirectly as a result of attending the trip or participation in the Activities. Nor will we be liable to you in respect of any other losses arising as a result of any such personal injury (including without limitation loss of profit or earnings or other consequential losses). We will not be liable to you in respect of any of your personal property that is lost, stolen or damaged before, during or after a trip.
- Please ensure you understand our cancellation policy prior to providing any deposits and agree to the booking and trip. By placing a booking with Amanda Delaforce Photography and Travel Pty Ltd, this implies that you accept these booking terms and conditions and cancellation policy.
Trading as “Amanda Delaforce Travel and Photography Pty Ltd”
