A Galapagos Dilemma...

[DiverLS]

I'd do the medication and dive the liveaboard. I did it about 4 years ago and want to go back. It's worth it to see Wolf and Darwin. We saw numerous whale sharks, even close, hammerhead sharks (there is a cleaning station at Darwin for them) and more sea lions than I could count. Also silkie sharks that "entertained" us while we were doing our safety stop and Galapagos sharks, my Divemaster found a whole cave of them.

And you will get plenty of time on shore. We were mandated to take two land tours lead by an "Ecologist" which happened to be our head Divemaster.

 

[GalapagosSky]

We just got back from doing two weeks, back to back trips, on the Galapagos Sky. We did this because we wanted to max our time at Wolf and Darwin and happy we did. First trip we saw 5 whale sharks at Darwin and at Wolf we saw walls of Hammerheads but "in the distance". Second trip we saw 2 whale sharks on one dive at Darwin, then no more but the Hammerheads and Galapagos sharks came in much closer.

On the first trip about 1/3 - 1/2 of the people got seasick, missing dives. There were 4ft seas at times making panga entries a bit challenging but everyone did fine. The second trip was about the same but only 2-3 people had issues with seasickness. We used Scopolomine (SP?) patches for the whole trip and never had an issue. Like any destination conditions can change minute to minute but I think it is best to prepare for dealing with some "rough" water in the Galapagos Islands.

I have been diving for 30yrs, cold water, +3000 dives. Galapagos when conditions are "rougher" and currents are running is very manageable but not for the beginner diver. Our dive guides were excellent but you must follow instructions, be comfortable with negative entries and be in good enough condition to deal with stripping your weight belt, and BC off on the surface, in chop then haul your self in the zodiac. Again we had people of all ages and levels of fitness do fine but I personally know divers that I would say skip the Galapagos until you do or master X. Want to emphasis the crew is always on the spot to deal with your gear, helping you in and out of the pangas, etc... So go, have a great time just be prepared. Trip report in a couple of weeks....

Thanks for your comments!!! We agree 100% w/ your synopsis of weather, currents, skill levels etc!!!! Galapagos is AMAZING and can for sure serve up a variety of conditions from hour to hour, day to day and even seasonally. We do want to stress again that a divers skill and comfort level in currents, cold water and tender diving are very important when considering the Galapagos for ones dive holiday. With that said, during the Manta Season (Dec-June) their is a significant difference in these conditions which are more managable for divers and also friendlier to those with motion sensitivity as the seas are not as rough (on a more consistent basis). We hope all those that travel to this incredible destination experience "Exceptional Underwater Adventures"

Happy Diving!

 

[lemon]

Darwin & Wolf are by far the best diving that the galapagos has to offer. Unfortunately most liveaboards only offer 3 days diving at them.

 

[tracydr]

The very best diving is out at Darwin. I wouldn't bother unless you are going on a livaboard.

 

[GLENFWB]

I spent a week in the Galapagos in June 2010. I am very prone to sea sickness also. I put the patches on two days before my trip to get them in my system. I put new ones on every two days during the trip. I was amazed that I NEVER got sea sick. We had some rough conditions but nothing to extreme. I would strongly recommend using the patches if sea sickness is an issue. Of course I would test them here before doing it over there. We used the Deep Blue liveaboard and had a great experience.

Here is video I put together of our trip:
[vimeo]13713355[/vimeo]

 

[merxlin]

My wife (a non-diver) just accompanied me on the Aggressor. She is very prone to seasickness but despite the conditions (we went the same week as Tstorm) did not get sick on the boat, and actually had a few days she did not take Dramamine. She had patches but did not wear them.

She did spend some time doing guided meditation (hypnotherapy) before we left to help her with how she could handle it if she started to get sick. It seemed to help tremendously.

The big boats are more stable than most dive boats, so there is an advantage to that as well. The panga rides are usually the most challenging.

 

[RJP]

We hope all those that travel to this incredible destination experience "Exceptional Underwater Adventures"

Welcome to SB Ali!

Ray

 

[StephMiller]

thanks for the advice, the patch is my next port of call... have found the standard drugs work well for shorter trips but not always for longer ones! will have to do some testing over summer

 

[GalapagosSky]

Welcome to SB Ali!

Ray

Thanks Ray!!! I might be contacting you for some "Scubaboard tips" I am a TOTAL novice here

Hope you are still enjoying your Galapagos Sky high Looking forward to more pictures from you...

Cheers!

 

[DandyDon]

thanks for the advice, the patch is my next port of call... have found the standard drugs work well for shorter trips but not always for longer ones! will have to do some testing over summer

I do hope you can also arrange the best in additional training, experience, dive & trip insurance. This is not a newbie destination at all, I don't think. Well, your profile reflects more diving that your dive count maybe?