nippurmagnum
Contributor
(Part 1 of 2)
I thought I'd share a few notes from a trip on the Aqua (AKA Pinguino Explorer) liveaboard in early June 2024. This was my first experience in the Galapagos, and is written from the point of view of a first-time diver there.
SUMMARY: I was unsure what to expect in June, but we encountered spectacular marine life, including half a dozen whale sharks, innumerable hammerheads, Galapagos sharks, mantas, around 20 mola mola, countless marine iguana, sea lions and fur seals. We also encountered orcas, false killer whales, and penguins from the boat. Some divers encountered schooling mobulas and even a tiger shark.
The seas were largely flat, and the crossings to Wolf and Darwin were gentle. Visibility at Darwin was outstanding, at over 100 feet, somewhat less at Wolf, and much more limited at other islands -- with as little as 10-20 foot visibility when diving with mantas and marine iguanas, but good enough for what we encountered. Water temps ranged from 78 degrees at Darwin to 62 degrees when diving with molas at Isabela. We had surge and current to contend with, but it was manageable. The Aqua liveaboard had very good divemasters, an efficient crew, great food, and comfortable common areas, though cabins were tiny and the dive deck somewhat crowded, but overall it was a great value/price proposition.
THOUGHTS ON DIVING IN GALAPAGOS IN JUNE: In booking the trip, I had trepidations about diving Galapagos the first week of June, because it was during the transition from the "high visibility/warm water/limited marine life" warm season to the "low visibility/cold water/awesome marine life" cool season. Would I get crappy visibility and not much to see? Or get the best of both worlds? Would the transition of an El Nino to a La Nina be a factor? As it turns out, on this trip all the stars aligned for us -- flat seas, good viz, whale sharks, molas, mantas, and hammerheads all near the surface, manageable currents/surge, and pleasant temperatures above water. I have no idea whether this is par for the course for early June, or whether we just got lucky, but I offer it as a data point, and your mileage may vary. (On the Aqua, they mentioned that the previous week (in late May) they'd had sightings of whale sharks at Darwin, the first of the season.) I will say that some liveaboards were discounting trips in June by up to 20 percent, which makes me think that there must be divers unwilling to risk diving in the "transition" month, and that there must be instances where the stars don't necessarily align. Based on my experience, I wouldn't hesitate to go back in June, though I might book a trip a little later in the month, for a little more "insurance" on the cool season kicking in.
While the water temperatures were as high at 78 F at Darwin, they varied throughout the week and were as low as 62 F. I wore a 7 mm wet suit, with hooded vest, 7 mm boots, and Hammerhead lobster gloves, and was fine with that throughout the week. I wore more lead that normal to ensure quick negative entries, which were often called for. Because the hammerheads, whale sharks, dolphins, and rays tended to hang out in the first 50 feet of water, our dives tended not to be deeper than 60 feet, the main exception being the mola dives, which were as deep as 100 feet. I can see how the trip would have been quite different if the pelagics were hanging out deeper.
THOUGHTS ON LOGISTICS OF TRAVEL TO THE GALAPAGOS FROM THE USA:
I had never been to Ecuador, and in my mind's eye, the Galapagos were unpopulated and something of a mystery in terms of logistics. I called Liveaboard.com and Martin (a fellow Argentine) took my call. Martin had been to the Galapagos twice, and gave me great advice. Based on his general advice, I booked a flight on Avianca from Washington DC to Baltra airport in the Galapagos, with connections in Bogota and Guayaquil (where I spent the night at a cheap but pleasant hotel near the airport, the DC hotel), arriving in Baltra two days before the liveaboard sailing date. I took a ferry from the Baltra Airport to the island of Santa Cruz, and stayed at a lovely AirBNB in Puerto Ayora, the main town in Santa Cruz, $120 a night with two bedrooms and bathrooms, far more than what I needed but thoroughly enjoyable.
The AirBNB owner arranged for me to do a highlands tour of the tortoise preserve on the way from the airport to Puerto Ayora, which saved time and money. The next day I devoted to exploring Tortuga Bay, which was one of the most beautiful beaches I've ever seen, and had some spectacular snorkeling, with marine iguanas in a shallow wading area at the end of Playa Brava, and large turtles and dozens of whitetip reef sharks in the mangroves on the far side of Playa Mansa (a little unnerving because of the low visibility, but that's why the juvenile sharks hang out there). I also snorkeled at the beach across from the Charles Darwin Research Station, which had countless marine iguanas and Sally Lightfoot crabs on the rocks, as well as blue herons and sea lions on the beach. I had some great meals at Midori Sushi Bar and Al Mar restaurants in Puerto Ayora, and enjoyed hanging out at the pier in Puerto Ayora, which had blacktip reef sharks attracted by blue lights in the pier, as well as pelicans diving into the water in acrobatic fishing moves. The following morning I took a taxi, again arranged by the AirBNB owner, back to the ferry to the Baltra airport, and met the other liveaboard divers at the airport at 11 am. From there, the Aqua team took care of everything until the end of the trip, when they dropped us off at the Baltra airports for our return flights. All in all, it was very easy.
One takeaway for me from planning this trip is that it's well worth the time to call Liveaboard.com for advice, rather than to just email. On the phone, their agents are extremely helpful, knowledgeable, and happy to provide frank advice. Via email, communications with them is slow, terse, and heavily focused on getting you to provide a credit card number.
Ecuador uses the U.S. Dollar as its currency, and I advise you to bring double the amount of cash you think you'll need, for tips and souvenir purchases. Shops accept credit cards when they have a WIFI connection, but they charge 15-20 percent extra for credit card purchases, because of the "tax implications of cash vs. credit card purchases" (i.e., the shops have to declare the sales revenue on credit card purchases to the government, and not so much on cash purchases.) There is a $100 national park fee that you have to pay upon arrival in the Galapagos, which seems reasonable enough to me.
I thought I'd share a few notes from a trip on the Aqua (AKA Pinguino Explorer) liveaboard in early June 2024. This was my first experience in the Galapagos, and is written from the point of view of a first-time diver there.
SUMMARY: I was unsure what to expect in June, but we encountered spectacular marine life, including half a dozen whale sharks, innumerable hammerheads, Galapagos sharks, mantas, around 20 mola mola, countless marine iguana, sea lions and fur seals. We also encountered orcas, false killer whales, and penguins from the boat. Some divers encountered schooling mobulas and even a tiger shark.
The seas were largely flat, and the crossings to Wolf and Darwin were gentle. Visibility at Darwin was outstanding, at over 100 feet, somewhat less at Wolf, and much more limited at other islands -- with as little as 10-20 foot visibility when diving with mantas and marine iguanas, but good enough for what we encountered. Water temps ranged from 78 degrees at Darwin to 62 degrees when diving with molas at Isabela. We had surge and current to contend with, but it was manageable. The Aqua liveaboard had very good divemasters, an efficient crew, great food, and comfortable common areas, though cabins were tiny and the dive deck somewhat crowded, but overall it was a great value/price proposition.
THOUGHTS ON DIVING IN GALAPAGOS IN JUNE: In booking the trip, I had trepidations about diving Galapagos the first week of June, because it was during the transition from the "high visibility/warm water/limited marine life" warm season to the "low visibility/cold water/awesome marine life" cool season. Would I get crappy visibility and not much to see? Or get the best of both worlds? Would the transition of an El Nino to a La Nina be a factor? As it turns out, on this trip all the stars aligned for us -- flat seas, good viz, whale sharks, molas, mantas, and hammerheads all near the surface, manageable currents/surge, and pleasant temperatures above water. I have no idea whether this is par for the course for early June, or whether we just got lucky, but I offer it as a data point, and your mileage may vary. (On the Aqua, they mentioned that the previous week (in late May) they'd had sightings of whale sharks at Darwin, the first of the season.) I will say that some liveaboards were discounting trips in June by up to 20 percent, which makes me think that there must be divers unwilling to risk diving in the "transition" month, and that there must be instances where the stars don't necessarily align. Based on my experience, I wouldn't hesitate to go back in June, though I might book a trip a little later in the month, for a little more "insurance" on the cool season kicking in.
While the water temperatures were as high at 78 F at Darwin, they varied throughout the week and were as low as 62 F. I wore a 7 mm wet suit, with hooded vest, 7 mm boots, and Hammerhead lobster gloves, and was fine with that throughout the week. I wore more lead that normal to ensure quick negative entries, which were often called for. Because the hammerheads, whale sharks, dolphins, and rays tended to hang out in the first 50 feet of water, our dives tended not to be deeper than 60 feet, the main exception being the mola dives, which were as deep as 100 feet. I can see how the trip would have been quite different if the pelagics were hanging out deeper.
THOUGHTS ON LOGISTICS OF TRAVEL TO THE GALAPAGOS FROM THE USA:
I had never been to Ecuador, and in my mind's eye, the Galapagos were unpopulated and something of a mystery in terms of logistics. I called Liveaboard.com and Martin (a fellow Argentine) took my call. Martin had been to the Galapagos twice, and gave me great advice. Based on his general advice, I booked a flight on Avianca from Washington DC to Baltra airport in the Galapagos, with connections in Bogota and Guayaquil (where I spent the night at a cheap but pleasant hotel near the airport, the DC hotel), arriving in Baltra two days before the liveaboard sailing date. I took a ferry from the Baltra Airport to the island of Santa Cruz, and stayed at a lovely AirBNB in Puerto Ayora, the main town in Santa Cruz, $120 a night with two bedrooms and bathrooms, far more than what I needed but thoroughly enjoyable.
The AirBNB owner arranged for me to do a highlands tour of the tortoise preserve on the way from the airport to Puerto Ayora, which saved time and money. The next day I devoted to exploring Tortuga Bay, which was one of the most beautiful beaches I've ever seen, and had some spectacular snorkeling, with marine iguanas in a shallow wading area at the end of Playa Brava, and large turtles and dozens of whitetip reef sharks in the mangroves on the far side of Playa Mansa (a little unnerving because of the low visibility, but that's why the juvenile sharks hang out there). I also snorkeled at the beach across from the Charles Darwin Research Station, which had countless marine iguanas and Sally Lightfoot crabs on the rocks, as well as blue herons and sea lions on the beach. I had some great meals at Midori Sushi Bar and Al Mar restaurants in Puerto Ayora, and enjoyed hanging out at the pier in Puerto Ayora, which had blacktip reef sharks attracted by blue lights in the pier, as well as pelicans diving into the water in acrobatic fishing moves. The following morning I took a taxi, again arranged by the AirBNB owner, back to the ferry to the Baltra airport, and met the other liveaboard divers at the airport at 11 am. From there, the Aqua team took care of everything until the end of the trip, when they dropped us off at the Baltra airports for our return flights. All in all, it was very easy.
One takeaway for me from planning this trip is that it's well worth the time to call Liveaboard.com for advice, rather than to just email. On the phone, their agents are extremely helpful, knowledgeable, and happy to provide frank advice. Via email, communications with them is slow, terse, and heavily focused on getting you to provide a credit card number.
Ecuador uses the U.S. Dollar as its currency, and I advise you to bring double the amount of cash you think you'll need, for tips and souvenir purchases. Shops accept credit cards when they have a WIFI connection, but they charge 15-20 percent extra for credit card purchases, because of the "tax implications of cash vs. credit card purchases" (i.e., the shops have to declare the sales revenue on credit card purchases to the government, and not so much on cash purchases.) There is a $100 national park fee that you have to pay upon arrival in the Galapagos, which seems reasonable enough to me.
