Galapagos - Ecuadorean Presidential Decree

[Scubafrnds]

We do have openings for anyone that needs to get on board the Aggressor. Our dates are Sept 13 through Sept 20 and Sept 20 through Sept 27...
Pam

 

[EnronX]

ok guys, this is the first piece of good news I've read in what seems like a LONG TIME!
This could be the end of this week-long nightmare, but we'll see tomorrow. This just came from our operator late tonight:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I have been informed by Ecuador that the awareness is now all the way up
to the presidency. The Minister of Tourism - who has been pushing for
a moratorium on the ban on diving has finally gotten the Minister of
the Environment who is in charge of all national parks to agree to
this. They have produced a document that will be going to the
president of Ecuador tomorrow. If he signs it, it will be passed into
law and ALL dive operators that have dive trips scheduled will be
allowed to resume their operations immediately. Supposedly this
moratorium will last until at least the end of 2007 to give the national
park time to work on writing new regulation concerning diving in
Galapagos. As soon as I have confirmation that the president has
signed this document, I will let you know.

BTW - the calls to Embassies and Ecuadorian Consulate were by far the
most effect !!!!!
Ken

 

[Downsouth]

ok guys, this is the first piece of good news I've read in what seems like a LONG TIME!
This could be the end of this week-long nightmare, but we'll see tomorrow. This just came from our operator late tonight:
...............cut................

WOW!! That seems to be the first sign of good news!! Can you tell us what`s the source? Just to measure the ammount of hope we can have...

I`ve tried contact with a friend who works in Agressor but he has been unable to reply so far. I sure hope he`s out diving!

Just a tought: prohibiting diving because of the new species introduced is as blind as punishing the passenger for the plane crash!! If the rules are soft and they don`t have real customs procedures, to ensure no animal or plants are taken inside, and if they cannot control the ammount of residents in the park, is diving really to blame? (Sorry, couldn't help myself!)

28 days my second trip and counting....

 

[Fionab]

WOW!! That seems to be the first sign of good news!! Can you tell us what`s the source? Just to measure the ammount of hope we can have...

I am guessing as the note is signed Ken, that is Ken Weenhoff of Galapagos Adventures who is the agent for Deep Blue, but I could be wrong.

I`ve tried contact with a friend who works in Agressor but he has been unable to reply so far. I sure hope he`s out diving!

Probably as they didn't seem to be effected.

 

[EnronX]

"I am guessing as the note is signed Ken, that is Ken Weenhoff of Galapagos Adventures who is the agent for Deep Blue, but I could be wrong."

That is correct FionaB...Thankfully he has been in very good contact with us...ever since everything hit the fan.

 

[Fionab]

Because of the time difference I am getting information more quickly from here and will continue to monitor for updates, our fingers and toes are still crossed

 

[tiggerbella]

So my question is why is it that the majority of the participants on this board are from Deep Blue passengers?

I've seen some comments from the Aggressor and Peter Hughs, but is it that the other operators have not truthfully informed their clients and Deep Blue is more forthcoming?

What's the deal with this? And why can't we find any news of any of this anywhere in normal news channels, and by that I mean, the news about the restriction of diving as of now in the Galapagos....etc.?

If there were really people that were screwed out of diving just like that immediately, have they just not contacted a news agency?

I am not whining when I say this, I am presenting this as fact but after this, I have no desire whatsoever to support Ecquador at all with my travel funds.

 

[Mossman]

I am not whining when I say this, I am presenting this as fact but after this, I have no desire whatsoever to support Ecquador at all with my travel funds.

Good for you, but it's hardly about supporting Ecuador, it's about diving with whale sharks. Dealing with the Ecuadorian government is just another hassle of dive travel, along the same lines as dealing with airport delays and security restrictions, airline luggage restrictions and embargoes and delays and losses, theft, violent crime, hurricanes, and tsunamis.

For instance, the last time I was diving up in Burma, we had to cancel the rest of our dive trip due to a tsunami. That's the last time I support such a totalitarian regime with my dive dollars.

 

[chadbeck]

I personally booked the deep blue for a couple of reasons. One of the other boards I am on had a number of great reviews. The trip it self was far less for the booking(around 700 bucks for the trip compared to other boats).

As far as the news I really don't think its that big of a deal to the ecuador govt at least compared to other issues.

My first reaction was like yours not to support travel there and just cancel my trip. However its not until this time next year and there are very few places to dive like this. It makes it hard to give up on a trip like that...

 

[ChrisM]

Divers make up a very very small percentage of visitors to the Galapagos. Other than divers, no one really cares about this. And even among divers, it's a small percentage that get to go to the Galapagos.

Personally (and not a swipe at Mossman), there are much more important reasons not to visit a country, such as the repressive military regime in Burma.