@Paul Crane
1. The dives were of all sorts. We did no current dives as such, but especially at Darwin, where you dive directly under the former arch, which they now call Darwin’s Columns, there is quite a bit of back and forth surge. I wouldn’t use a hook, I just clung on with my gloves, which got a workout. What you see is so exciting, honestly the surge didn’t phase me. You learn to just go with it, like the fish do. During some dive we would hide among the rocks, clinging to them, then swim out when we saw something.
2. I stayed in Quito for 3 nights. On my way home I did stay at the Wyndham one night. It was very nice, and is near the airport, with a hotel shuttle in between. You gather your luggage and go outside to look for the Wyndham shuttle.
3. You are on the correct flight into Baltra. You proceed out with your luggage and a representative meets you to take you to the correct bus that will take you to where the Calipso is docked. It was easy to find him. I think he had a sign that said Calipso. I wouldn’t take the earlier flight.
4. I never saw a Calipso rep at the Quito Airport. It is a very modern airport and easy to figure out. The Galapagos official check-in is easy to navigate without a rep. it is located just inside the airport “National Flights” door to the left once you enter.
5. No ferry on arrival, just a bus to a port where the Calipso will be refueling, then you take the zodiac to the Calipso.
6. They pick up in groups that are all on the same flight.
7. I brought one large bag with my BCD, my wetsuit (a 5mm plus a separate hooded vest), my fins, etc that weighed just less than 50#. My carry-on had my mask, lights, dive computer, regulator, etc. They did not weigh my carry on. If I had it to do over again, I may have rented my wetsuit and fins from the boat. Their BCDs looked fine, too, but I really like my Hydros Pro. I used their larger tank option, because I am 6’2” and use more air (nitrox) than my dive buddy. I needed less clothes than I brought. I used a dive skin, so really only needed one bathing suit. You do not wear shoes on the boat all week. I could have made do with one pair of TEVA sandals for the plane and the tortoises.
8. We were allowed to board when we got to the boat. We got on, were welcomed, then unpacked pretty quickly.
9. The “Check” dive was fun. It is held in the Channel (Canal Itabaca) at Punta Carrion between Baltra and Santa Cruz. There are fun things to see. It is not a trivial dive, luckily. It is your chance to get your weights right and for them to see how you handle yourself, but we saw white tipped sharks, rays, morays, and lots of other things. Our dive guides were EXCELLENT. I wore just my 5mm without a hood for all the dives except the ones at Cape Douglas and Isabela, where I wore my hooded vest under my 5mm, and I was fine. If you rent you will probably get a 7mm wetsuit with a separate hood, which would work fine for all the dives – you could decide whether or not to wear the hood based on the temps, the guide will help you to decide. The Friday dive is off of another island.
10. The boat leaves the dock Thursday (noon?) once all the passengers are on board, and doesn’t return until the end.
11. You wake up at 5:45 and have coffee, toast and a dive plan meeting and are on the Zodiacs by 6:30. By 6:40, you are rolling backwards off the zodiac into paradise! I thought it was going to seem early, but it worked perfectly. Breakfast after first dive. Omelet station every breakfast plus lots more. The food is amazing. The crew is also amazing.
12. On Friday we dove off Mosquera in the am, off Seymour later that am, and off Bartolome in the afternoon. Three dives. Friday night is a long relocation to Wolf, which can get choppy. The only land excursion was on Wednesday afternoon, after we dove in the am at Cousin’s Rock. We went to see the land tortoises at a refuge of sorts which was fun. You will see many tortoises!
13. I never used the hot tub. It was available at Wolf and Darwin, and I think at Isabela. Some used it.
14. There are four showerheads on the dive deck which have plenty of hot water, if you want it. The showers in the rooms were great. I think they had shower gel and shampoo in there, but I used my own.
15. The most challenging thing is getting on the Panga. Your fins actually stay on the Panga. You load with tanks, and everything else on, but there are two crew to help you get on and seated. The boat is stable, but the Panga moves with the waves so it can be tricky. If you do as they say, they will make it seamless.
16. You fin to the Panga, which is usually very near, they are good bubble followers, then you pass up your weights, then your fins, then climb the ladder. The Panga Captains are great and help you. I found it no problem to get back up.
17. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND the night dive. We did it on Sat night at Wolf. I would let the crew and dive guides know you for sure want to do it. We saw LOTS of shrimp, lobster, crabs, hermits, turtles, etc, and turned all lights off for a while to see the bioluminescence when we waved our arms and legs back and forth. AMAZING!
18. We never felt crowded ever. There was at most one other boat in the vicinity, but I think the Galapagos guards against it feeling crowded. Different boats do different schedules, and some boats are land tours etc. If I remember correctly, at only one dive site were there pangas from a different boat near enough for me to even notice. I wouldn’t worry about that.
19. Monday we did three dives at Darwin, and then one at Wolf. They decide based on sighting how to divide that day. Sometimes they do two and two. Our dive that day at Wolf I swam near a 33 foot whale shark.
20. One dive at Cousins and it was nice.
21. The last day we went to a turtle sanctuary, then into the town to get our covid tests, then wandered around and shopped, them ALL met up for dinner. Our three guides came with us and we all bought their dinners to thank them. We had one extra guide hired privately.
22. Yes. Mosquera Island was great fun. Sealions, Sally lightfoots and birds and a beautiful sandy beach. Kind of a nice farewell little jaunt. We walked and explored and took lots of pictures.
23. They were adept getting us back. I like your timing which I think was what I did. I had time to browse the airport shops and have a coffee.
24. I can’t really answer this question because we got our tests in Puerto Ayoro. I would definitely get tested where the ship recommends to make it easier. Maybe they recommend testing in Quito now? I would shoot them an email.
25. Temps. Mine were 77-78 everywhere except first dive at Fernandina was 64, second 72 (Iguana Dive) Isabela where you may see Oceanic Sunfish (Mola mola) was the coldest at 62. It was the only place with some thermocline that I noticed. Cousins was 69. The guides will tell you the temps they expect and advise you each day. Unless you want to bring a 7mm, I would just rent theirs if I do this again.
26. No divers ever got separated. Sometimes different small groupings would end the dive at slightly different times due to differing air use, but the great panga captains would always be right there.
27. All the cabins were very similar. They assigned the cabins. There are two on the level of the salon, and six upstairs. I was upstairs. Both locations have benefits, I would just go with the flow.
28. I think they are told to wear masks the first 24 hours unless the passengers vote differently. We voted no masks immediately as we had all just tested negative. The crew, I think were 100% vaccinated as are the entire population of the islands, since they are a tourist economy. We had no problems.
29. We wore masks in Puerto Ayora and at the tortoise sanctuary.
Someone asked if I would do this trip again. If they called and said can you be on a flight tonight? I would jump at the chance! Some of our group had done many liveaboards, and they said that after Calipso we would be spoiled. It really is nice. Maybe I should do it again at another time of year? Hmmmm.... Shoot me your cell phone number by message, and I'll text you picks of my dive log for the trip so you will have lots of info about the dives. The boat had two or three Galapagos Fish books to study to help log your species sighted. Don't hesitate to ask any more questions that come up!