Malpelo Hammerhead Wall Expedition

Malpelo Fauna and Flora Sanctuary, Pacific Colombia · Colombia

Challenging10 daysSouth America~£4,200 est.

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Overview

Malpelo is a bare rock 500 kilometres off Colombia's Pacific coast, ringed by some of the sharkiest water on the planet. Scalloped hammerheads school three hundred strong off La Nevera; silky sharks mass in the blue; and in the cool thermoclines of early spring divers meet the smalltooth sand tiger — a deep-water shark reliably seen almost nowhere else on Earth. There is no lagoon and no easy dive: you roll from pangas beneath 300-metre cliffs whitewashed by boobies, and everything happens in current. The UNESCO sanctuary admits one licensed liveaboard at a time, boarding in Buenaventura for a 30-40 hour crossing that sorts the committed from the curious. Sea state, thermoclines and surge are the honest variables; a hundred logged dives and confident negative entries are the entry ticket. January to May gives the best hammerhead action and the sand tiger window. Ten-day expeditions run about £4,200 plus park fees, and berths sell out around a year ahead — this is a pilgrimage, not a package holiday.