Galapagos - Ecuadorean Presidential Decree

[cowjazz]

I'll share this, a response my LDS received from our favorite Ecuadorian, Patricio Tamariz.

It sounds positive, but who really knows at this point.

"We regret this situation, but basically it is the National Park's decision after their legal analisis. However, we are doing our best (Minister of Tourism is involved directly) in talking with the Ministry of Environment who is the ministry that runs national parks, to pass a moratorium for the best interest in all of who have paid their trips, and to the operators to legalize their operations. We believe this can pass this week and we would
have this problem solved.

Best regards,

Patricio Tamariz
Executive Director
Ecuador's Tourism Promotion Fund"

 

[djac5700]

Here is some more information relayed by our tour operator:

Embassy of Ecuador in Washington
Tel: (202) 234-7200
Fax: (202) 667-3482
Email: embassy@ecuador.org

Consulate of Ecuador in Washington
Tel: (202) 234-7166
Fax: (202) 265-9325
Email: consuladodc@ecuador.org

Consulate office in Ecuador for US citizens in Guayaquil:
http://guayaquil.usconsulate.gov
US Toll free number: 1-800-919-5290
Email: acsguayaquil@state.gov

As he suggested, let them know your are American and need their help...

 

[Mossman]

There's a new notice posted on the Peter Hughes site that begins as follows:

"Peter Hughes Diving, Inc. wants to reassure all of our guests who are booked on the M/V Sky Dancer for upcoming voyages that the vessel will be sailing as scheduled, and has not been impacted by the recent enforcement actions by the Galapagos National Park Officials. Reports that all diving has been suspended in the Galapagos National Park, and in particular, the area of Wolf and Darwin Islands, by operators who have had to cancel voyages are not true."

http://www.peterhughes.com/Sky/Sky_pressrelease.shtml

The notice includes a link to a PDF of the actual license.

We're on the 8/16/07 trip, one of the last 10-day Galapagos liveaboards ever. I'm still keeping my fingers crossed.

 

[djac5700]

Sorry to inundate everyone with posts, but I just wanted to pass along another note from our tour operator. Again, it is all hearsay to me, but I want to at least provide the info I'm getting:

"It appears the hold out is Dr. Anita Alban Mora, the Minister of Environment. It's time for some pressure to go her way.
I could not get her direct email address but here are some e-mail addresses for the people that work directly with her:
pyanez@ambiente.gov.ec
anofa@ambiente.gov.ec
osarango@ambiente.gov.ec

Please copy your letter to the above listed email addresses.

The US Embassy in Quito does not post an email address but rather it is one of those boxes where you type your letter and hit the "send" button. You can send your letter to them by going to http://www.usembassy.org.ec/English/ContacEN.htm and cutting and pasting your letter into the box.
There is also a phone number on that page but it is an Ecuadorian number. "

 

[Doc]

Ditto to Scared Silly.

Has anyone looked at other options, i.e., staying in Puerto Ayora and diving with Scuba Iguana? Yes, you won't get to Wolf/Darwin, but you can hit all the central island sites and maybe see some of the highland area. PA is a pretty neat little town, very clean, I would certainly not mind spending some time there.

Just a thought for those that already have air, etc.

Chris, as you well must know, getting an US diver to do the Galapogos as a land based dive is like picking diamonds out of a wildcat's butt with a pair of tweezers. Worth it, but not likely.

But, Chris is absolutely right. For about 30% the cost of a liveaboard, you can dive the Galoping Pogos plus see some cool things on land.

As I mentioned on the thread on SB2, the problem here is not only non-payment of specific licensing fees, but that cruise ships allowed diving/snorkeling and dive boats allowed for passengers to set foot on land without specific guide arrangements.

It is a licensing issue that was deigned to protect the environment, a requirement that all but a very few have ignored.

Chris has it on the money, though. Land based with Scuba Iguana http://www.scubaiguana.com/index.html is an elegant alternative to being on a bouncy ship at 3X the cost for seven days. Here's our trip report: http://www.geocities.com/johnofrancis/galapagos.htm

There's more than one way to ride a galloping pogo!

 

[WaterKtn]

I don't see anything on the license that PH linked to that actually mentions the word diving "buceo" - anyone else?

 

[Fionab]

I don't see anything on the license that PH linked to that actually mentions the word diving "buceo" - anyone else?

No I went through the translation and I didn't either, although I can't imagine they would have posted it if it wasn't the correct one. It did list Wolf and Darwin though and I don't suppose you go there for anything else.

 

[WaterKtn]

The Galapagos Park Service website has a listing of tourist vessels operating in the park, though - and the Deep Blue and 80 others are listed on it. I checked the website a few days ago when I heard about this situation and all the itineraries of each boat were listed. I noticed that PH did list darwin/wolf as a destination, and Deep Blue did not, but nothing indicated that there were any specific activities involved in the charter, just simply locations. If you check the same website today, no itineraries are listed, yet the link still states "itineraries".

http://www.galapagospark.org/png/in...anejo Turístico&IDTIPOPAS=1&TIPOPAS=Galápagos

All the links to the itineraries were removed in the past day or two.

I know this really doesn't matter because arguing with the park service has proven futile, to quote your signature, but I'm just not buying that this "crackdown" on scuba divers is based on legitimate permit issues or environmental dedication.

 

[Bali Diver]

What does Mossman mean by he will be on one of the very last 10 day trips

 

[Mossman]

What does Mossman mean by he will be on one of the very last 10 day trips

Old news.

Mossman means that starting in 2008, new regulations go into effect that limit all liveaboard itineraries to 7 days and prohibit night diving, among other changes. I don't have a cite to the specifics (they were printed in Rodale's a year or so ago), but you can check the PH site for confirmation:

http://www.peterhughes.com/Sky/Sky_charterschedule.shtml

Plenty of 10-day boats in 2007, 4 left after my trip. Click on 2008 and see nothing but 7-day trips.