Galapagos Aggressor 12-15-05

[divebuddy68]

Hey All,

Went on the Galapagos Aggressor 12/15. Outstanding trip.

Diving: Excellent. We did 7 dives at Darwin and 3 at Wolf. 16 in total. Saw a whale shark, hundreds of hammerheads, dozens of Galapagos sharks and incredibly thick schools of fish. At times, I could not see a diver next to me because of the fish. They were that thick.

Conditions were not as bad as I anticipated. In fact, my girlfried only had 30 previous dives and she did just fine. Biggest surprise was the water temps in the southern islands. Max 68 with 61 below the thermocline. Bring a 7mm with hood and gloves. I wore a semi-dry and was comfortable. Northern islands were 74-77.

Crew & Boat: Boat was very nice. I would highly recommend the cabins on the top deck. Big windows that open. The crew was amazing. Great DMs, cooks, etc. Went out of there way to be helpful. They even cleaned our gear at the end of the trip including flushing the inside of the BCDs with a hose.

Land Tours: Let's put it this way... I don't think I will ever be able to go to a zoo again. In the Galapagos, you are right there next to the animals. They are completely unafraid of us. Really is a special place.

Let me know if I can answer any questions.

 

[Reeveseye]

My wife and I have been considering taking the trip ourselves, but we have some concerns and questions we were hoping to have answered before making our final decision. So you'll know what type of divers we are, we both hold NAUI advanced and drysuit certifications. We would consider ourselves intermediate skill level divers, and have done most of them here in southern California, with diving trips to Hawaii and Cozumel as well. I have about 135 dives, and my wife has about 100.

First off, my wife is concerned about getting seasick and feeling cramped in on a boat for a week. She's done her share of boat diving here in southern California, but she's not overly fond of boats and the cramped spaces found within. She does all right on our favorite 80' dive boat, and she's hoping the G.A. II is spacious enough to keep her from feeling cramped. Did it have enough elbow room to suit you and your girlfriend?

And how was it stability-wise as far as rocking and rolling was concerned? We don't want to spend all kinds of money for this trip only to spend half of it leaning over the railing feeding the fish. Did you notice anyone on the boat getting seasick, and if so, were the affected individuals able to get used to it?

We're very interested in the land tours as well. How many of them were there? When during the day did they do them, and how did they work them around the diving?

How harsh were the currents? We've done some drift dives in Cozumel last year, so we have some experience with strong currents. We can safely cope with them, but we don't care for dives where you get whipped past the scenery so fast that you don't have time to stop and smell the roses, so to speak. Were the Galapagos currents manageable enough to let you check out the sights and stop for a moment if you come across something good?

Sorry about all the questions, but we'd rather hear the answers from someone like you who's actually been there, done that. Thanks for your time.

 

[divebuddy68]

Okay, here goes...

The boat is very comfortable with plenty of room to spread out. There are several outdoor lounge areas. Cabins are cozy, not large, but comfortable. Cabins on the upper deck have a wall of windows that open. At no time did we feel cramped.

At night and at the dive sites the boat is moored in nice flat seas. During crossings it can get rough. Many people take seasick meds during this time. You are out in the Pacific Ocean. We had several people on our trip that are prone to seasickness but they felt the tradeoffs were worth it. I agree! In fact, my GF hates the day dive boats because she always feels cramped and gets sick.

We did 4/5 land tours mostly in the afternoon. The only days we did not do land tours were the days at Wolf and Darwin because you can't go on those islands. Unlike other live-aboards, in the Galapagos they only do 3 dives a day on average because of the land tours, travel time between islands and no night dives. We did a total of 16 dives. Land tours were great and the guides were very good. You will not get to see all of the islands (Isabella, etc. ) you would if you went on a non-diving boat.

Currents... the only dives that had current were at Wolf and Darwin and even there it wasn't that bad. As I said, my GF only had 30 or so dives and she did fine. You basically drop to the bottom, grab and barnacle encrusted rock (bring kevlar golves) and watch the show. Then after about 30 min you head into the blue to look for whale sharks. Unlike Coz you don't actually cruise along a wall because there is no wall. I thought Wold & Darwin were the best dives and the only way to dive them is on a live-aboard because of the distance.

Hope that helps!

 

[Kat]

divebuddy68,
Thanks for all the great info. I would love to do this liveaboard. But had some questions as well.
Reeveseye actually asked you almost everything I was wondering about. (I too have a seasick problem. )

But I do have a few more.
How many people does the ship hold ?
What kind of beverages are on board ? (Coke, juice, beer, hard stuff)
Bathroom facilities ? (Arrrggh - call it a head, ya silly lass)
Is it private or shared. If shared, by how many.
How is the shower ? Plenty of pressure & hot water ?
Is it mostly guys or more of a couples/coed thing ?

Those are all the frivolous girly things I could think of, at the moment.

 

[Taxgeek]

Hey, Kat, sticking up for the other frilly girls around, ya gotta ask about whether it has a hottub! ;-)
Taxgeek

 

[divebuddy68]

divebuddy68,
Thanks for all the great info. I would love to do this liveaboard. But had some questions as well.
Reeveseye actually asked you almost everything I was wondering about. (I too have a seasick problem. )

But I do have a few more.
How many people does the ship hold ?
What kind of beverages are on board ? (Coke, juice, beer, hard stuff)
Bathroom facilities ? (Arrrggh - call it a head, ya silly lass)
Is it private or shared. If shared, by how many.
How is the shower ? Plenty of pressure & hot water ?
Is it mostly guys or more of a couples/coed thing ?

Those are all the frivolous girly things I could think of, at the moment.

Hi Kat,

Ship holds 14 people in 7 cabins.
Beverages - Coke (no diet), juices, beer, no hard liquor. You may realize this is more limited than other Aggressors and they say it is because of restrictions imposed by the National Park. I wonder.
Bathrooms - Relatively large for a live-aboard. Each cabin has it's own with a decent size shower stall, sink and full size (not marine) toilet.
Shower pressure - sometimes good, sometimes not. Be patient and it gets the job done with hot water.
On my trip it was 5 couples and one family of 4. The other boat (there is two identical Aggressors) had mostly singles.

Hope that helps.

 

[RLarsen]

I really want to visit Wolf and Darwin to experience my first Big Animal dive.
I'm curious how it compares to other dive trips in that price range.
So far I've only been to Mexico.
Rex

 

[divebuddy68]

I really want to visit Wolf and Darwin to experience my first Big Animal dive.
I'm curious how it compares to other dive trips in that price range.
So far I've only been to Mexico.
Rex

I'm not aware of other places as pricey as a live-aboard in the Galapagos, but once you figure out the cost per big animal encounter it's probably one of the best values.