Cabo Pearce

A long finger of solidified lava that juts off the east coast of Socorro Island and runs out into open water, its top shelf around 15-20m before the ridge plunges past 30m into the blue. Currents sweeping along the ridge feed a cleaning station that draws Socorro's exceptionally interactive giant oceanic mantas (Mobula birostris) - wingspans to 7m - which hover over divers' exhaust bubbles at arm's length. A resident pod of bottlenose dolphins routinely approaches divers, while schooling scalloped hammerheads, silky and Galapagos sharks patrol the deeper edge. The usual tactic is to wedge into the rocks out of the current and let the pelagic traffic come to you.