Aggressor Galapagos II Apr. 2005

[adrianwd75]

Anyone been to the Galapagos with the Aggressor Fleets.
Is April a good time to go..

Thanks for any comments

Adrian

 

[Ber Rabbit]

My instructor went this summer and said the diving is awesome. You have to be comfortable with a ripping current though she said it's like nothing you ever saw. The only thing she didn't like was the part of the briefings where they said to start your ascent at 500psi. She said she would start with 1000psi (no less than 800psi) and it was a good thing on one dive because she had to halt her ascent for a few minutes while a large group (she said hundreds) of hammerhead sharks swam between her dive group and the boat. There are a lot of barnacles there and they are extremely sharp, everyone in her group came home with holes in their dry suits because the current would slam you into them. Many of their dives did not include a safety stop shallower than about 60 feet because the current was so strong. Every diver was issued a safety sausage as well as a GPS locator device in case they got separated from the group. The way I understand it if you activate the homing device they use the signal to find you with a shore dispatched rescue team in a plane. She and another diver were ripped away from the group by the current and by the time they surfaced they couldn't see the liveaboard, the zodiac or any land. The zodiac found them about 25 minutes later and they said the only reason they found them was because they saw the safety sausages. My instructor was glad she had surfaced with about 1000psi in her tank because the water was too rough to use a snorkel, she had to keep her regulator in her mouth in order to breathe.

The group was hoping to see a whale shark or two during the trip, she said they saw 4 or 5 on EVERY dive. All of the dives are guided since the area is a protected marine sanctuary and she said you've never seen life like they have there it's simply an amazing amount. She said once you dive there you won't be satisfied diving anywhere else

Hope this helps even though it's second hand info.
Ber :lilbunny:

 

[boydski]

Anyone been to the Galapagos with the Aggressor Fleets.
Is April a good time to go..
Adrian

Hi Adrian,

I went on the Galapagos Aggressor II in June with a large group of local divers, and we had a great time. You'll get to see a lot of amazing critters both above and below the water.

You can read my trip report for more information on the boat.

Have a great trip!

 

[adrianwd75]

Further to my previous post has anyone been on the

M/Y Mistral.

Adrian