Wall/PelagicUNESCO World HeritageMarine Protected Area

Revillagigedo Islands (Socorro)

Near Revillagigedo

Depth: 15–40 mLevel: Advanced, drift divingNovember-May

Four volcanic islands — Socorro, Clarión, San Benedicto and the Roca Partida stack — that are the peaks of an emergent underwater range. The abundance of large pelagics is their defining feature, and Roca Partida, a tiny stack surrounded by open ocean, is usually the site that impresses most.

Depth

15–40 m

Recommended level

Advanced, drift diving

Average visibility

25 m

Protection status

Biosphere Reserve since 15 November 2008 and National Park since 25 November 2017, the largest in North America

UNESCO designation

World Heritage Site (inscribed on 17 July 2016)

Did you know?

The archipelago owes its name to a gesture of courtesy: in 1793 the English captain James Colnett was captured by a Spanish ship while charting Socorro and taken prisoner to San Blas; on being released by the Count of Revillagigedo, he named the islands in his honour. Together with the Galápagos, Malpelo and Cocos Island, it completes an arc of World Heritage islands in the American Pacific.

Sources consulted: UNESCO World Heritage Centre (ficha 1510) · es.wikipedia · SEMARNAT · CONANP · Pelagic Life

Location

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1 park within 30 km.