Galapagos Dive Advice Needed, alternative to liveaboards?

[Pisces Diver]

I am contemplating diving the Galápagos Islands sometime in the next year, combined with a trek to Macchu Picchu. In my initial research, it seems like all the liveaboards go out for a 7 night trip. Of course I would love to see all that can be seen by Darwin and Wolf Islands but wonder if there are any shorter term alternatives to dive these sites? I definitely want to see hammerhead sharks, one of my diving holy grails. Has anyone done a land based dive trip to the Galápagos? Thanks for any and all advice! I have previously done a yacht-based trip to the Galápagos with snorkeling only.

 

[Tbar]

I am contemplating diving the Galápagos Islands sometime in the next year, combined with a trek to Macchu Picchu.

We did the Inca Trail to Macchu Picchu prior to the Galapagos trip. It adds some logistic challenges, if you are taking your dive gear. We left bags in hotels but then you have to return the same path.

In my initial research, it seems like all the liveaboards go out for a 7 night trip. Of course I would love to see all that can be seen by Darwin and Wolf Islands but wonder if there are any shorter term alternatives to dive these sites?

No - its in the order of 250km from a town to Darwin, across open water. So a day trip would be about 500km (300 miles)
I have just come back from a live-aboard, and the first few dives were really to get us ready for the procedure to dive in the current at Wolf and Darwin. We saw Hammerheads, Silkies, Galapagos and Whale sharks. You also (depending on the boat) get to Punta Vicente Roca and have a change to see the Mola Mola.

I definitely want to see hammerhead sharks, one of my diving holy grails.

Some travellers told us they had seen Hammerheads while snorkelling (not at Wolf or Darwin). You would have to be lucky and I don't expect they would be in the same numbers!

I have previously done a yacht-based trip to the Galápagos with snorkeling only.

We did a week liveaboard naturalist tour before the weeks diving. The snorkelling was great, the diving is different!

 

[Pisces Diver]

Thanks Tbar for the info. I don't have much dive gear to bring so that should make a combined trip a bit more doable. Which liveaboard did you use? I have checked them out a bit and the Humbolt Explorer looked a bit less expensive than some, but had good reviews.

 

[Tbar]

Thanks Tbar for the info. I don't have much dive gear to bring so that should make a combined trip a bit more doable. Which liveaboard did you use?

Astrea Astrea | Yate Astrea. Viajes de Buceo y Naturalistas en las Islas Galápagos. this was the lowest cost option and I could do both the naturalist and dive tours on consecutive weeks. Its not flashy, but the operation worked well, food was great and we dived the same dives as much more expensive boats. The cost may have gone up a bit we paid $US3189 for diving week and that included Nitrox as we booked in 2015 and $US2385 for the naturalist week.

 

[Pisces Diver]

Not too bad a price, I think I paid almost that much for 3 nights on a Mike Ball liveaboard in your neck of the woods. What your company did you use for Machu Picchu?

 

[Tbar]

What your company did you use for Machu Picchu?

We used Peruvian Soul Peru best tours with active journeys | Peruvian tour operator | Peruvian Soul - Carmen Paredes - carmen@peruviansoul.com, everything went like clock work, Carmen met us at the Lima airport at 10PM to give us a personal welcome and briefing, we flew to Cusco the next morning. They put together a tailored itinerary as I did not have a lot of time. I would recommend the Inca Trail, rather than just Machu Picchu. Its a great journey, with a good guide, lots of history, culture and archaeology. We did a 'private' tour so just a group of two with the guide and porters.

We finished our trip with a few days in the Ecuadorian rainforest. It was good but not sure I would do it again. Booked direct with La Selva jungle lodge http://www.laselvajunglelodge.com/

 

[Tbar]

You need to look at the boat itineraries. Humbolt seems to focus more on Wolf and Darwin and misses Punta Vicente Roca. Punta Vicente Roca is the cold water side of the islands. On Astrea we packed in 20 dives:

Day 1 TUESDAY
AM: Arrival to Baltra
PM: Check Dive

Day 2 WEDNESDAY
AM: Bartolomé Island (Pinacle Rock) (1 Dive)
PM: Rocas Cousin (2 dives)

Day 3 THURSDAY
AM/PM: Wolf Island – Landslide, Shark Bay (4 Dives) Sharks

Day 4 FRIDAY
AM/PM: Darwin Island – Arch (4 Dives) Whale Shark

Day 5 SATURDAY
AM/PM: Wolf Island - Landslide, Shark Bay, Bat Fish, Caves (4 Dives) Sharks, Bat Fish

Day 6 SUNDAY
AM: Vicente Roca Point (2 Dives) Mola Mola
PM: Marshall Corp (1 Dive)

Day 7 MONDAY
AM: Pinzon Island (1 Dive) Manta Rays
PM: Charles Darwin Research Station

Day 8 TUESDAY
AM: Santa Cruz Highlands – Baltra

 

[mattia_v]

You can do day boat dives with a few operators out of Santa Cruz (We went with Academy Bay diving, there are a few others). Simple 2 tank morning boat dives, sometimes an option of doing afternoon dives as well. We paid around 180 dollars or so for a 2 tank boat trip with lunch, transport and full rental gear. The sites are probably not the very best, but you can go out to Gordon's Rocks, for example. We did 2 days of diving, and saw hammerheads on 2 of the 4 dives.

If I went again I would probably go for a liveaboard, but if you just want a little taste of the diving, a few day boats are an economical way to do it.

I will admit that (other than hammerheads) we saw a ton of wildlife simply snorkeling. Playing with the sea lion pups was definitely a highlight, as were the snorkels with the largest green turtles I've seen (easy 5ft shell length), totally oblivious to the insignificant, tiny people bobbing about.

 

[Manuel Sam]

I have seen HHs at Gordon Rocks as well but in small numbers. If you are looking to see them in wallpaper numbers, then Darwin and Wolf are it for the Galapagos.

Cocos is another place to see them in large numbers but it is not cheap either and then there is that matter of the 32+ hour crossing each way. But if there was a year to do either of these, assuming you can even get a spot, 2016 is it because of the transition from El Niño to the cooler waters of La Niña.

And you can also try Malpelo or Socorros for big schools of HHs if you can find a spot. Both of these also require lengthy crossings. Socorros is probably the cheapest of the bunch.

 

[Dan]

We used Peruvian Soul Peru best tours with active journeys | Peruvian tour operator | Peruvian Soul - Carmen Paredes - carmen@peruviansoul.com, everything went like clock work, Carmen met us at the Lima airport at 10PM to give us a personal welcome and briefing, we flew to Cusco the next morning. They put together a tailored itinerary as I did not have a lot of time. I would recommend the Inca Trail, rather than just Machu Picchu. Its a great journey, with a good guide, lots of history, culture and archaeology. We did a 'private' tour so just a group of two with the guide and porters.

We finished our trip with a few days in the Ecuadorian rainforest. It was good but not sure I would do it again. Booked direct with La Selva jungle lodge http://www.laselvajunglelodge.com/

Another nice trail is 5-day Salkantay trail passing Salkantay glacier at 14,500' to Machu Picchu. Above picture of Salkantay glacier from the trail at 14,500'

Also don't want to miss Huayna Picchu once you arrive in Machu Picchu. It's only 2 hour track round trip from the ruins. It's that peak behind the ruins. Above is the view of the Machu Picchu ruins, peak, and bus switchback roads from Huayna Picchu peak. A different view than what the typical tourists see of Machu Picchu.