New Galapagos 2011 itineraries

[DiveTheGalapagos]

The Park has imposed the long rumored 'no land visits' regulation on Galapagos live-aboards. As someone who, by far, prefers the focus on diving, I think it is making for some exciting new itineraries.

Here's the Aggressor's new itinerary:

Day 1: Arrival. Isla Lobos check dive.
Day 2: AM: Bartolome PM: Cousins
Day 3: Wolf
Day 4: Darwin
Day 5: AM: Darwin. PM: Wolf (Jan - May AM: Roca Redonda, PM: Punta Vicente Roca
Day 6: AM: Roca Redonda 2 dives. PM: Punta Vicente Roca (Jan-May: Cabo Marshall)
Day 7: Highlands of Santa Cruz. Darwin Station visit. Dinner in Puerto Ayora.
Day 8: Departure

Here's the Humboldt's new itinerary.

Day 1: Arrival, Check dive
Day 2: AM: Bartolome dive and snorkel with penguins; PM: Sail to Darwin
Day 3: Wolf 3 dives
Day 4: Wolf 3 dives
Day 5: Darwin 3 dives
Day 6: Darwin 3 dives
Day 7: AM: Cousins Rocks 2 dives. PM: Santa Cruz Highlands land visit and BBQ. Darwin Station.
Day 8: Interpretation Center (optional and independent). Departure.

Exciting to have 2 days at Wolf and 2 days at Darwin in one week. Yay! Exciting to visit Punta Vicente Roca (mola molas, flightless cormorants, penguins and Orcas over there so often!) and really smart for that to be seasonal since viz can be nothing at times of the year, and cool, giant mantas at Cabo Marshall the rest of the year.

Personally, I'm excited that Roca Redonda will again have a presence in the area so hopefully, sharks will have more protection rather than being prime finning grounds. Area is too big and resources too limited to adequately patrol. Dive boats present deters finning. Yay!

Gordon Rocks, N. Seymour and Mosqueras now off limits to live-aboards and reserved for land-based access. Floreana and Cousins will continue to be accessible via land-based operators (all 4 with permits from Santa Cruz) for 2011. Here's Scuba Iguana's 2011 dive itinerary from Santa Cruz:

Mon: Floreana (snorkel during surface time)
Tues: Gordon Rocks (snorkel during surface time)
Wed: Seymour Canal/ Mosquera North (snorkel during surface time)
Thurs: Cousin/ Bartolome
Fri: Mosquera South/ Seymour Punta (snorkel during surface time)
Sat: Beagle/ Daphne
Sun: Seymour Canal / Gordon (snorkel during surface time)

For those disappointed about land visits, hopefully you can plan a few days on land before or after your dive cruise -lots of fantastic options that will provide you with wildlife and experience rich topside excursions. For the rest of us, exciting new dive itineraries.

 

[champ]

It's going to be real tough for people to justify paying $5000 for a one week liveaboard on Aggressor if they can only do a maximum of 3 dives a day and no land visits.

I think people will more inclined to do land based trips in the Galapagos.

It will be interesting to see how this all plays out. I hope the government reverses this decision.

 

[jjacobsen22]

Wish I could change my aggressor reservation to humboldt - four full days at darwin/wolf !!

And theres gonna be a lot of sparetime with only 3 dives pr.day.. changes not for the better..

 

[galapagosexpert]

The changes will definitely take a bit of adjusting to for those used to the old itineraries, but I believe the changes are better for the conservation of the islands, both below and above sea level. The land based trips are also changing itineraries: a 15 day rotation which will have ships and passengers visiting each site only once every 15 days, to reduce the impact.
With more diving ships coming in next year, there were bound to be some changes.
You´ll still have a fantastic cruise and enjoy time in "paradise"!

 

[ChainDiver]

My wife and I were on the Humboldt Jan 2-11, 2011. We did two days at Darwin then one day at Wolf with four dives each day. This was just right.

The other three days only offered two dives. This was not enough.

On the second last day we had a and trip to see the giant tortoises in the highlands of Santa Cruz, traditional Ecuadorian BBQ lunch at a farm.
The last day we sailed back to San Cristobal and had a trip to the interpretive center and visited the beach in town to see sea lions and marine iguanas.

The limited land based tours were not an issue for me, but with only 3 dives a day I would not go back to the Galapagos.

Here is a link to my trip video which also shows some of the land based stuff we did.

YouTube - Galapagos_Jan_2011.mpg


Mike.

 

[champ]

I'm curious to see what the different liveaboards try to do to fill each day since they will be limited to only 3 dives and no land visits. I'm sure snorkling with the Pinguins, marine iguanas, and sea lions will help for a couple of days. But a whole week of only 3 dives max a day?

Maybe they will take the zodiaks out to go whale watching and search for Mola Mola on the surface? Any other suggestions?

 

[Gaz]

It is a long way to go so it makes a lot of sense to spend maybe 2 weeks and spend the second week exploring the land based options, I always thought it was a destination where at least 2 weeks is needed to be able to really do Galapagos I week diving 1 week land.

For what you spend in time to get there and the expense it just make sense to add on more days and do the land stuff as well.

I agree that there will be a lot more spare time without out that fourth dive of the day just means I can get a beer earlier (think positive LOL)

Gaz Cooper

 

[champ]

Maybe this will force the Galapagos liveaboards to lower their prices. $5000 for 15 dives

Glad I went last year before these changes (although last year was too warm and did not have as many big schools of sharks / fish).

 

[RJP]

I think people will more inclined to do land based trips in the Galapagos.

Which would rule out diving Wolf and Darwin, which would make going to Galapagos for diving a lot less attractive/interesting.

 

[bsppc]

Do you have a sense of the revised itenerary for the Galapagos Sky ? I was on the ship last August and really enjoyed the diving.