Dive trips to prep for Galapagos?

[ssvirsky]

Dive trips to prep for Galapagos? Moved from Galapagos or Cocos thread

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I have been doing my homework for our Oct 2006 trip on the Agressor to the Galapagos, and we plan on getting out there a few days earlier and diving off Santa Cruz. What would folks recommend for dive travel before that trip? We can do two trips before then (and also dive here in Rockport MA off the boat) to prep for the "big trip". The main issue would be more experience with current, we have cold here, and less than ideal vis.

Husband willl be fine, we've long lost count of the number of dives he has done in all conditions, but while I have a few hundred dives, most have been in the Caribbean. I am planning on going out here over the next two summers to get more accustomed to cold, etc. now that wetsuit technology has advanced to something far friendlier that a medieval torture device when I was diving here previously.

The restictions that we have are that the trips can't involve very long travel time or super expensive locations. I was thinking Coz for one (we have not dove there since I had a nasty nondiving trip there years ago). Would love some suggestions.

Thanks

Susan

 

[Doc]

I have been doing my homework for our Oct 2006 trip on the Agressor to the Galapagos, and we plan on getting out there a few days earlier and diving off Santa Cruz. What would folks recommend for dive travel before that trip? We can do two trips before then (and also dive here in Rockport MA off the boat) to prep for the "big trip". The main issue would be more experience with current, we have cold here, and less than ideal vis.
Susan

Smart. I really like that.

Considerations to prepare for:

- Current: No doubt about it. Two kinds. Lateral and Vertical. What to do with your buoyancy, reacting quickly, decisively and with no over-reaction. Vertical currents are one of those life altering experiences. Holding onto your first stage and knowing how to play the thin laminar flow layers of currents as a seagull over rocky cliffs. You can't fight it, lbut go and live with the flow.

- Staying with the DM: beyond the obvious skills, getting into the fact that it's okay to grab onto the lava rock and barnacles. Leather work gloves.

- Cold: I never thought the Galloping Pogos was all that cold as compared to waters of Massachusetts. Downright balmy. Look for temps of 70-74 degrees. Vis should be 80 to 150 feet, or not.

- Surface Recovery Techniques: Ability to get into and out of small or inflatable boats. Experince is a cruel master.

- Deco Stops: Is your safety sausage tied to a twnty five foot line? If it is, you are well versed in this topic. Learn to shhot the sausage from 25fsw (and dont blow your profile) while you hang there (safe underwater away from the sickening waves) awaiting the sight of the pickup boat's bottom- when the captain is ready to pick you up?

- Confidence in knowledge of surface survival and signalling. Not only the fancy shiny gear, but the knowledge and ability to deploy. Have you the mental mindset for previsualizing spending a night adrift. The chances are nil for this eventuality, but it is an absolute part of being prepared.

The greatest place to prepare for the Galloping Pogos nearby? Tobago in Speyside. But it not a weekend jaunt.

The great majority of divers who go to Galapagos are not really qualified to dive in those conditions, but many will be well into the path upon their return home. None of the really twitchy dive sites are serviced by the live aboards, but the DM's are well aware of the issues. They have a real knack for not making you aware of how dumb you are, in contrast to the DM's that you might find in the cattleboat Caribbean dive zones, Cayman being well known. The DM's in the Galop know how to do the deal!

 

[ssvirsky]

The greatest place to prepare for the Galloping Pogos nearby? Tobago in Speyside. But it not a weekend jaunt.

Thanks Roatan Man! :07:

We can do a week or more, just don't want to spend half of it getting to and from the location (such as Palua).

 

[Doc]

The greatest place to prepare for the Galloping Pogos nearby? Tobago in Speyside. But it not a weekend jaunt.

Thanks Roatan Man! :07:

We can do a week or more, just don't want to spend half of it getting to and from the location (such as Palua).

We travel to Tobago (several times now) from Chicago. Seems like you might be moving for 20 hours straight before you hit Speyside. Air connections are bizarre and then you have to get a rental Jeep in Pigeon Point and navigate the twisty, dark mountainous roads at 11pm.

Well worth the bother. It is an enchanted island.

I took "Herself" there on dive #45 or so. It was part of a process that she went through, because when we met she said, "Gee, I want to go to the Galapagos". I told her that she better go there as a diver.

Now she understands why I sent her through dive boot-camp first.