Darwin & Wolf vs rest of Galapagos.

[bati]

Hi all!!!!!
A few weeks ago i posted a thread about how much experience a diver has to have in order to dive Darwin & Wolf islands. Regarding the opinions of the people i realize maybe i´m not ready to dive those islands.For what i saw in others threads everybody agree that Darwin & Wolf are the best for diving.
Which is the great difference in diving the other Galapagos islands? the quantity of pellagics you see?the quantity of species?is not worth it to dive the other islands?should i gain more experience and wait for Darwin & Wolf?

Many Thanks,



Bati

 

[Mossman]

You'll see a greater "quantity of species" in the central and southern islands, including exotics like frogfish and sea horses. One travels to Wolf and Darwin primarily to view pelagics. That said, I believe most or all of the liveaboards travel to Wolf and Darwin as part of their itineraries. Day boat diving is probably your best bet if you don't want to head north.

 

[ZzzKing]

We saw very few hammerheads and no whale sharks at the southern islands. We saw schools of hammerheads at Wolf and schools of hammerheads and numerous whale sharks at Darwin. We also saw quite a few dolphins at Wolf including a pod that had to be 300 yards long and 100 wide. (surface interval on the boat).

On the other hand, we saw a couple of large manta rays at Cousins Rock and sea lions at North Seymour and Cousins and we didn't see any of these in the north so there are interesting dives to do without going so far afield.

 

[galapagosexpert]

The diving in galapagos is great, even if you can´t get up to Darwin and Wolf. From Puerto Ayora or San Cristobal, you can do day trips to numerous sites where you ll have the chance to see hammerheads, mantas, sea lions, endemic Galapagos garden eels (not very exciting, but definitely different to see them spread as far as the eye/vis can see!) I´ve seen Pilot whales outside of Gordon´s, as well as dolphins and even an Orca on our way back into Academy bay. (That wouldn´t be your "average" dive, however...we were very very lucky!)

 

[seagal]

Although, I found the diving in the Galapagos some of the best diving, if not the best diving I have ever done in my life, I would recommend waiting until you have more experience to travel such a long way to dive. Most people will only travel to the Galapagos once in their lives, and Darwin and Wolfe are a must when diving in the Galapagos.

If you think you will have a chance to go to the Galapagos in the future when you have more experience, I would do that. However, my sister went on the liveaboard last summer and did just fine with only about 30 dives. It just depends on your comfort level in the water.

The hammerheads, whale sharks, whales, dolphins and other pelagics are definitely worth waiting for!

Good luck!

 

[laurenceh]

if you don't go to wolf and darwin then the galapagos is not worth the trip if diving is your reason for going.

 

[DiveTheGalapagos]

One other issue now is that the price of diving is rising dramatically in the central islands. With only 4 authorized dive operators on Santa Cruz, pricing begins around $200 per day for a 2 tank dive. That doesn't include hotel, meals and other necessities. So the difference price wise between diving in the central islands and diving on a liveaboard is diminished except for the more expensive boats...unless you're staying at an oceanfront hotel which begins at about $250 per day. One dive operator in Santa Cruz is now charging $350 per day for a 2 tank dive.

And ps...Cousins is no longer possible from land. That's now restricted to liveaboards.

 

[RJP]

if you don't go to wolf and darwin then the galapagos is not worth the trip if diving is your reason for going.

I would agree.