MV Valentina

★ 4 · Deborah Grinnell · 2026-05-06

The staff are all excellent and so is the food. The diving is well organized with guests divided into three groups. Each group has a departure time slot and will ride together in one zodiac so there is more room on each dive site. The schedule rotates so every group gets the same number of times being first, second , or third into the water. Briefings are informative and safety in the remote location is taken seriously. That said, we still had lots of fun diving. We saw many huge mantas and a fair number of sharks. The room is comfortable despite being tiny and somewhat in need of a refresh. If you want a trip focused on quality, safe, and efficient diving this is an excellent choice.

★ 5 · Joshua Holland · 2023-04-28

The diving in the Socorro Islands is otherworldly. It will ruin you for other diving--I've logged 220 dives so far and I would say that 7 of my ten best were on this trip. (On one dive, we rolled in on a whale shark that was being pursued by a Galapagos shark while a giant manta watched from above, and then we were joined by some dolphins shortly after.) The Valentina is an older boat; she's slow and showing some wear. But the crew were absolutely fantastic and worked their butts off to show us a great time. This should be at the top of your bucket list.

★ 5 · Jeffrey Lahl · 2022-01-12

This was my second time on this boat. Great crew and food. Excellent Dive Masters who know how to find the critters everyone is looking for. I highly recommend this boat for both the Sea of Cortez and Socorro.