+++ Malpelo Island Colombia +++

Ferox Liveaboard

September 16 – 25, 2024

September 15, 2024
Arrival in Cali, Colombia. Stop overnight in Cali before we start our dive cruise. Longer stays in Colombia on your own or organized by us are possible.

16 to 25 September 2024
A common transfer around noon brings us to Buenaventura for boarding the Ferox. In the evening we will leave the harbour and spend the next day at sea. Up to 3 dives per day will follow the next 6 diving days. (September 18 – 23)

The final itinerary choices are, of course, always dependent upon weather, sea conditions and where the best animal sightings are at any particular time of year

Diving in Malpelo is for advanced divers. The strong and quickly changing currents demand experience to react to them. In some places like the Gringa and David, located on the south side of the island, you’ll do direct descents to 30 meters and it’s not uncommon that due to strong winds and rough seas only one side can be dived on the island. That having been said, there’s little in the world more exciting and rewarding for a diver than a good trip to Malpelo.

September 25th
After breakfast on board back in the harbour of Buenaventura we head back to Cali. Another stop overnight is recommended. We will be happy to assist you in arranging the entire trip.

Our Liveaboard – Ferox

Ferox, a muscular 32-meter (105-foot) ice-classed vessel was refitted in 2018 and is now home-away-from home for 12 guests on a Malpelo diving experience of a lifetime!

CABIN TYPES:

• 2 lower deck DOUBLE cabins: double bed (160 cm), en-suite, TV & portholes
• 2 main deck SINGLE cabins: single bed (80 cm), en-suite & porthole
• 4 lower deck SINGLE cabins: single beds (80 cm), en-suite & port hole
• 2 lower deck SINGLE cabins: larger single bed (120cm), en-suite & port hole

All cabins have air conditioning, a private bathroom & adequate storage facilities.

Ferox impresses with her solid steel hull, all new machinery & electronics and extensive list of safety equipment (including three 6-meter, self righting, Fast Rescue Boats that were operated in the rough conditions of the North Sea). This vessel is built to withstand the challenging seas in the waters around Colombia & Malpelo.

The common areas onboard offer plenty of space for 12 divers. You can dine and lounge on the large shaded deck or catch some rays on the sundeck. The experienced and fully trained crew are available for your 24 hour service onboard.

Ferox offers easy access to the water, a camera table with a rinse tank, low-pressure air hoses and storage as well as two showers. Diver safety has not been compromised as Malpelo has strong currents, all divers are equipped with a PLB ‘Personal Locator Beacon and are given instructions in their use.

Reminder: this is adventure diving, not a luxury liveaboard. If you’re looking for hot-tubs and champagne, we have other options for you …. but not at Malpelo.

Ferox specifications:

L.O.A.: 31,20 meters

Beam: 7,42 meters

Propulsion: DIESEL

Main engines: 2x SCANIA DS11 57M22U 230 Kw / 308 HP @ 1800 rpm

Bow thruster: 1x 82Kw / 110 HP @ 940 rpm

Rated for ice

Compressors: 1 Air compressor Nuvair 26 and 1 NITROX generator Nuvair LP420

Navigational Aids: X-Band Radar, Electronic Chart Plotter, Depthsounder, A.I.S., Windsensor, Speed Log, 3 GPS, Magnetic and GPS Compass, Pitch/Roll Indicator, Rudder Angle Indicator

Safety Aides: EPIRB (emergency position indicator radio beacon), S.A.R.T. (Search and Rescue Transponder), S.C.B.A. (Self Contained Breathing Apparatus), Fixed fire fighting system for Engine Space (Inergen Gas), E.E.B.D.s (Emergency Escape Breathing Device ), 42 Personal Flotation Devices, 2 Portable oxygen, A.E.D. (Automated External Defibrillator), 2 Trauma kits, 15 Portable Fire Extinguishers, 7 Lifebuoys, 3 Fire-fighting suits, 2 Line-throwing apparatus, 1 Complete set of pyrotechnics (Rocket Flares, Smoke, Handheld Flares), 19 Smoke detectors, Fire blanket, 14 Alarm bells

Malpelo Island

WILD,  SPECTACULAR,  INTOXICATING & CRAWLING WITH SHARKS ….. THAT’S MALPELO ISLAND !

Malpelo is considered one of the best shark diving destinations on the planet. This is a wild & spectacular marine environment, renowned for its abundance and quantity of schooling shark and big marine animal encounters.  The island itself, is forbidding … standing strong against the formidable elements in the eastern Pacific. When Malpelo diving is at its best, only Cocos & Galapagos can roughly compare with the numbers of sharks and big fish in the water.

You have schools of hammerheads (up to 300 animals in one school) and silky sharks, plus a variety of other shark species, such as the Galapagos shark, whale shark and white-tip shark, together with huge schools of other big fish species – giant schools of angelfish, Creole fish, jacks, tuna, and occasionally a sailfish.

Malpelo is located at a site of convergence of different major currents in the Pacific Ocean: the cold Humboldt current (south-north), the warm North-Equatorial (west-east) counter-current, and from January to March, the cold cyclonic Panama current (north-south).  It is these conflicting cold currents and warm equatorial currents which create conditions ripe for a sea rich in nutrients and therefore also rich in marine species.

Hammerhead sharks can be seen all year round.