Terrible trip.
I booked a single cabin on the Nautilus Explorer to Socorros. The main problem I had with the trip is they have a company policy of allowing solo diving. We were 24 people on board with only 3 guides. One guide for 8 people. Two of the groups were made up of all couples. So each of those groups had 4 buddy teams. My group was made up of the "misfits". We were not required to buddy with each other. No one did. I used to be a diving instructor, 35 years ago, so thought I would be OK with this. But I felt very ill at ease. I would find myself alone, sometimes in murky water, surrounding by 30 or so sharks. When I expressed my dissatisfaction with the lack of the buddy team requirement, I was told it was company policy to allow solo diving and if I did not like it, to stay near the guide. That was easier said than done because the guide was trying his or her best to keep track of 8 people all going in different directions. Staying near the guide required a lot of finning, a lot stamina. It was not the style of diving I enjoy. I took it upon myself to ask one of the solo divers if he would buddy with me. He said no. I felt very saddened by this and brought it to the guide's attention. The guide said to try asking someone else. But I was so demoralised by being turned down, I did not want to ask again. So at the end of the day, I decided not to do all the dives. In fact, I did not dive the last day. I had enough. I did not feel safe. This was supposed to be a dream come true for me. I adore diving with the "big stuff". But it was more than I could handle being asked to do so on my own. In fact, the trip has now put me off of diving for good. Another issue was the cabin. I booked the owners suite, called The Emerald Suite. I thought if I don't get along well with others, I would like a beautiful place to retreat to. But, it is built right on top of the galley (kitchen). The stink from the fried food was nauseating. I knew it was from the galley because on the rare occasion they baked in the galley, a good smell would rise up. I mentioned it to the team. They agreed the cabin had a terrible smell so gave me a spray room freshener. The chemical smell on top of the rancid smell was horrible. It smell was the worst in my private lounge with the sofa and beautiful floor to ceiling window. So I never used that room. It is perhaps worth mentioning that I felt out of sorts because I developed a terrible headache for the few days. The staff told me I was likely dehydrated. I drank extra fluids but it didn't help. They then said to try sea sickness medication. I have never been sea sick in my life. That also didn't help. Finally a fellow diver said maybe it was my sinus'.I tried Sudafed and it cleared my headache. I never had trouble clearing my ears. But having a headache and feeling unwell and then being asked to dive alone with so very many sharks in unknown waters was just too much. I couldn't wait to get off the ship. We were asked to give a review via their laptops while still on board. There was a place to "Tick here" if you had any issues that you would like to discuss with the company and if so, someone would offer a call back. I got an email asking about the problems. It was confirmed to me by email that solo diving is permitted. I said on the email I wanted to discuss my issue over the phone. No one ever called me back or ever emailed again. It made me feel like they didn't care.