Is the Galapagos worth it?

[Still Kicking]

I'm wondering if the diving in the Galapagos is worth it? I'm a well traveled diver with more than 1,000 dives and I've been looking at booking a Galapagos LOB. I've seen walls of Hammerheads in the Banda Sea and Soccorro, so this trip would not be so much focused on the Hammerheads, don't get me wrong I love them but this trip would mostly be about Whalesharks, and Marine Iguanas.
I do really appreciate Epic encounters big and small and the building La Nina does bode well for the Hammerheads and other sharks, and of course I would be booking during the Whaleshark season to maximize its potential sightings.
My questions are first with the Marine Iguanas do we get to dive with them? or is it just viewing from the panga?
I a question about the moon phase, I'm not a huge fan of blistering currents or hanging onto a rock as I'm thrown back and forth in surge, so I will most likely trying to avoid Full and New Moon phase, but for whalesharks they like lots of algae to feed on so should I go before a full moon during first quarter moon or during last quarter moon for best opportunity at Whalesharks?
I will be checking local tide info to see slack times to see how those may affect my timing.

So long story short is the Galapagos worth the expense as it's not cheap.? Is it truly Epic diving?

I thought it was epic. I don't have a lot to compare it to but after 30 years of California diving, two back-to-back Wolf and Darwin trips blew my mind. Shark bonanza ... humpback.... dolphins....pilot whales.... whale sharks.... wild currents. I would have gladly paid to go again if I had the money LOL.

Revillagigedos were amazing too but Galapagos was a whole other level IMO. YMMV of course.

 

[Scared Silly]

@Scared Silly scared haven't looked into just land tours yet but am interested for sure. Do you have any recommendations ?

Diving live-aboard Explorer Ventures - Tiburon or Humboldt Explorer
Land tour live-aboard Beluga or Cachalote (Fernandina Itinerary)
Places to stay - Wyndham Quito Airport, Puerto Ayora - Capitan Max B&B, San Cristóbal - Hospedaje Romy

We did all of the live-aboard bookings through Dive Advice which worked quite well as we were originally on the Humboldt Explorer but moved to the Tiburon. Similarly originally on the Cachalote but moved over to the Beluga.

We took a shuttle boat from Santa Cruz to San Cristóbal and back.

 

[Still Kicking]

Diving live-aboard Explorer Ventures - Tiburon or Humboldt Explorer
Land tour live-aboard Beluga or Cachalote (Fernandina Itinerary)
Places to stay - Wyndham Quito Airport, Puerto Ayora - Capitan Max B&B, San Cristóbal - Hospedaje Romy

We did all of the live-aboard bookings through Dive Advice which worked quite well as we were originally on the Humboldt Explorer but moved to the Tiburon. Similarly originally on the Cachalote but moved over to the Beluga.

We took a shuttle boat from Santa Cruz to San Cristóbal and back.

I was on the Humboldt -- great crew.

 

[Centrals]

@dirtfarmer
Enjoy your retirement and I do(for several yrs already). Two dives a day is my daily maximum allowance and the afternoon siesta is very very important.
I even cashed my last life insurance and turn the lump sum to travel fund( several Greenback fixed time deposits) for the next few yrs. I really cannot see myself on any diving trip when I reach 80(few more yrs). Land trip in SE Asia is very economical.
Being single has distinct advantage with no one to worry about.

 

[rongoodman]

@dirtfarmer
I really cannot see myself on any diving trip when I reach 80(few more yrs).

I have a trip booked to Cocos for my 80th next year, with Socorro six months prior.

 

[dirtfarmer]

I have a trip booked to Cocos for my 80th next year, with Socorro six months prior.

I hope I can still dive when I'm 80. I've met a few 80+ on trips and I've always had a love for old people and the stories and experiences they have had. I met an 84 year old woman on a Raja Ampat LOB who kept up in the current just fine. She had like over a gillion dives and had been diving since the 70's and she was travelling alone. I loved being her dive buddy and she had so many fascinating stories.

 

[Centrals]

I have a trip booked to Cocos for my 80th next year, with Socorro six months prior.

I know as you had mentioned it before.
I hope I can still dive when I reach 80, only time will tell.
Went to Cocos once on Undersea Hunter many yrs ago and the school of hammerhead was WOW. But the 72hrs round trip on a boat is not something I like to repeat at any cost.
You will enjoy other species of shark eg. Silky, Galapogos etc etc.
I have a chance to dive Socorro with trusted buddies but the time required was not practical when I have work to attend. I can live with that.

 

[Manuel Sam]

I am retiring soon so that may change but these days I'm either picking locations based on "experiences" or checking out locations closer to home. The day after I made my decision to retire I booked a full moon grouper spawning trip to Tahiti in June 2027. That trip should be epic and those kind of trips are what I'm interested in as I will be free to travel when I want since I will not be tied to the farm.

Simple answer: Do it!!

More long-winded answer for why to do it:

(1) From a physical standpoint, we're all getting up there in age, and let's face it, health and fitness are fleeting as we get old. If you have any inkling to do it, then do it while you still have those, because as I see it, Galapagos diving can be more difficult as well as more physically challenging than Cocos, Socorro or the Tuamotus in French Polynesia (Tahiti). I can say that with some level of confidence, having been to Galapagos 5 times, 7 times to Cocos, 11 times to Socorro, and 8 times to the Tuamotus (I did the grouper spawning in South Fakarava in 2021).

Also, as we age, others around us age as well: parents, spouse, siblings, etc. Suddenly, family obligations can get in the way of all that free time that you will enjoy upon retirement. Granted, your situation is probably different than mine.

(2) From a practical standpoint, as you said, a Galapagos trip is not cheap: it is right up there with the most expensive dive trips anywhere if you figure the per day cost; but it is bound to keep going up rather than down.

(3) You are not going to see everything in one trip - unless you are really lucky. That's why I keep returning to these destinations. But only the Galapagos offers the potential to see the really huge, bus-size whalesharks, Oceanic Sunfish (Mola Ramseyi), marine iguanas, penguins, and fur seals, in addition to all the other stuff that you might see elsewhere: mantas, eagle, golden-cownose and mobula rays - often in big schools - dolphins, sea lions, hammerheads, other sharks, and big schools of fish. And then there is all the land stuff as well.

And as an aside, I've seen walls of schooling Hammerheads in Socorro as well, but they numbered about 100 at best. In the Galapagos and Cocos, I've seen schools in the hundreds.