Diving Malpelo

Massimo Franzese · Issue 134, Sep/Oct 2023 · pp. 56–60

Products mentioned: Sony A1, Nauticam housing, Sony 28-60mm, Sony 28mm, Nauticam WWL-1, Canon 8-15mm fisheye, Metabones adapter, Kenko 1.4 HDX Pro teleconverter, Sea and Sea YS-D2J strobes

Malpelo island is a small rocky island off the coast of Colombia and is not inhabited if we exclude the thousands of birds that live on it and the few soldiers that manage the outpost. It is situated around 500 km away from mainland and is 1.5 km long by 640 meters wide at the best. The island is volcanic in nature and despite being a Sanctuary of Flora and Fauna has no vegetation on it. Malpelo has two weather seasons and dive conditions change considerably: • January to April – Dry season • May to December – Wet season The main difference in addition to the fact that it rains is the water temperature and the depth of the thermocline. Most people go to Malpelo to see hammerheads and as the weather gets warmer the thermocline goes deeper and so do the hammerheads. On the other hand visibility improves during the wet season so if you are into video or photo you can get 20+ meters visibili…