LCF wrote:Yes, I'd love to hear more details about the trip -- what operator/boat did you go with? What was the approximate cost? What tanks and gas did you dive? What were the profiles? How bad were the currents?
I've put the Galapagos way down on the bucket list because of high currents, but those hammerhead photos could make me rethink the whole thing
I booked through Dom at Dive Advice, who offers liveaboards all over the world (Go to
http://www.diveadvice.com/ and subscribe to his newsletter at the top), and have nothing but good things to say about him. I actually did a charter of the boat, Deep Blue, which I had chartered for my dive group a couple of years ago (and then wasn't able to go myself!) and everyone loved it. It's a good boat with nice cabins and a good dive operation, but the food was sub-par on this trip. I'd be comfortable diving on the Aggressor or Peter Hughes boats there, though, as they have a good reputation as well. Whatever boat you go on, go during "whale shark season," which is July through October. Although we only saw one whale shark (my first!), most trips this time of year see lots of them at Darwin Island (my group saw them on 14 dives in two weeks when they went in Oct. a couple of years ago).
You'll find that Galapagos liveaboards are more expensive than almost anywhere else in the world. For a 10 night/11 day charter like ours on Deep Blue, the cost is around $6,200, or $620/night - roughly double what you'd pay for many liveaboards in places like Indonesia. ANd that's just for the boat - airfare, hotel in Quito, etc. is on top of that. It's a once in a lifetime trip, but you PAY big to have the experience.
I addressed the gas/tank question in my answer to Tom's post. Almost all dives were less than 100 fsw, and typically we didn't go below 70 fsw. On one dive, a couple of people went to 120 fsw to see red-lipped batfish, but that was really unusual. The cool life was fairly shallow, and we wanted to see the rays, hammerheads, and whale sharks, all of which were typically above 70 fsw. IOW, all definitely recreational depths. NOTE: depth of hammerheads can vary significantly depending on water temps and currents; on my 2002 trip there, most of them were below 100 fsw due to warm temps on the surface (they like cool water).
Currents are a legitimate concern, and Galapagos diving is definitely for advanced divers only - beginners should NOT consider going. Having said that, anyone who's done 100+ dives in Puget Sound is likely going to be able to dive there, as our currents around here can be just as troublesome. The key is to be fully aware/comfortable with buoyancy in unpredictable currents (Galapagos has vertical as well as horizontal water flows), and be a strong enough kicker to be able to hold your own in moderate current. We only had a few dives in the Galapagos (notably at Roca Redonda) where the current was simply unmanageable and the dives were a constant struggle, but there was some current and we were kicking throughout the dive on almost every dive (that's what brings in lots of the fish and other stuff you want to see!).
So...if you're a reasonably experienced diver in Puget Sound waters, feel totally comfortable with your buoyancy skills, and have the money to afford it, diving in the Galapagos is definitely a fabulous experience!
HTH,
