+++ Malpelo: The Shark Rock +++
10 nights Big Animal diving on the Ferox 🪨
If you like the following, this trip might be for you:
Hammerheads ⚒️
For those passionate about big marine life, Malpelo delivers a surreal dive scene, with hammerheads often spotted in groups of hundreds gliding through the deep blue. The remote, protected environment around the island attracts these elusive creatures, offering rare close-up encounters with hammerheads in their natural habitat
Safe Steel Vessel 🛥️
Ferox, a muscular 32-meter 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. Equipped with specialized diving facilities and comfortable accommodations, the Ferox is designed to support extended trips to this UNESCO World Heritage site.
Marine Biodiversity 🦈
Beyond the hammerheads, Malpelo teems with fascinating marine life, including massive whale sharks, silky sharks, and graceful manta rays that glide through the nutrient-rich waters. The island's deep walls and seamounts are also home to schools of barracuda, vibrant moray eels, and unique species like the endemic Malpelo fang blenny.
Whalesharks 🪩
Although they can be seen year-round, March is still within their seasonal range, and there’s a good chance of encountering these gentle giants.
Small Group Travel 👪
A small group with a maximum of 12 divers to keep dives cosy and avoid bubble walls. To come out as far to a place like this, small group diving is such an advantage.
Colombia 🇨🇴
An underestimated tourist destination, Colombia is going all in on its eco-tourism. Perfect to take some time before or after to explore the beauty and nature of this wonderful country.
Diamond Destination
Malpelo stands for the diving we love most: adventurous, challenging and big. Conditions can be tough, yet more rewarding than anywhere else on the planet.
Mystical Malpelo
I have been to this place many times now, and "electrifying" is as close as I come to finding a word describing my feeling about diving here. The parade of enormous sharks, the viz, the amount of big fish just make this an elite dives. It's one of my favourite places in the world to film big animals, and we'll get a dynamic group of people together to make it another special expedition."
Peter Löseke, BTM videographer and trip leader
Pacific Big 4
"Socorro, Cocos Island, the Galapagos Islands and... Malpelo. The latter is probably the lesser known of the 4 destinations, although not with good reason. The diving is sublime, the viz can be spectacular and the all round dive experience offers the thrills the other big 3 Pacific present. We will keep planning trips here since it just never disappoints."
Marcel, BTM Travel
Meet your BTM Trip leader
Peter Löseke
Filmmaker & Tour Leader
Ferox Liveaboard
Mar 13 - 23, 2027
Trip price:
- per person (see details below for what is included in this price)
Included:
- Transport Cali InterConti Hotel – Buenaventura Ferox and return
- 10 nights on board
- single cabin or double bed cabin (some smaller cabins available with 250 € discount)
- Full board, soft drinks, coffee, tea, water
- Up to 3 dives per day (2 dives on the last day) incl. tanks, weights, guides & Nitrox
- 7 diving days
Not included:
- Flights
- Travel insurance
- Hotel before/after
- Round trips Colombia (4-5 days highly recommended)
- Parking fees $440 USD per person (can be changed at any time by the authorities)
- Alcoholic drinks
- Tips for the crew
- Rental gear
Requirements:
- Advanced Open Water
- Min. 50 dives experience
- Nitrox Certification
Important: We highly recommend DiveAssure insurance which also covers force majeure and single missed days of diving due to sickness. Feel free to ask us about it. Further extensions in Ecuador or South America are always possible and we’re happy to assist! Our terms & conditions apply!
Mar 13 – 23, 2027
Mar 13, 2027
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.
Mar 14 to 23, 2027
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 07 – 12)
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.
Mar 23, 2027
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.