Galapagos in April - who to book?

[Rirarianneke]

Hi All,

I'm planning a trip to the Galapagos in April and realy want to do a live-aboard dive cruise (combined with islands visits). I've have read great stories about the agressor but this is a little bit above budget.
Can someone recommend me another company a little bit less ' expensive' ?

Also, is April a good period to dive at Galapagos?

Thanks for your help,

 

[Manuel Sam]

Try the Deep Blue. I've been on it twice and have had good experiences with them. You can book it via Galapagos Adventures (do a Google search for Galapagos Adventures). It's cheaper, but nowadays there are no inexpensive Galapagos liveaboard trips.

You will find a lot of good info about the Galapagos in that website. April is the dry season and tends to be fairly calm. But to me, the best diving is from June thru October, maybe November.

 

[MagicChicken]

Ditto for the Deep Blue. Incredible liveaboard experience.

Great staff, best prices. They can't garantee you'll see anything... but no one can!

 

[Fionab]

Ditto for the Deep Blue. Incredible liveaboard experience

Not for everyone

 

[pikeblenny]

Best diving is July-November. April will still be good but less chance of whale sharks. YOur options for Darwin and WOlf are pretty limited - only a few boats are allowed to dive there in 2009: the 2 Aggressors, Deep Blue, SKy Dancer, Estrella del MAr and a couple others for select weeks. Prices have gone through the roof this year and are expected to go higher as there are so few boat diving there.
If the liveaboard option does not work for you there is good diving from the island of Santa Cruz. Gordon Rock is a fantastic divesite and similar life to Darwin and Wolf. North Seymour has had really good activity this year so far. You can book all local diving on island. I would suggest diving with Scuba Iguana or Macarron. All land based diving includes equipment in the pricing and both these shops have decent equipment.
I'd be happy to answer any more questions for you. I have spent a lot of time down there over the past year.

 

[sinduda]

Everyone is right that only live aboards will get you to Darwin and Wolf for the whale sharks, but the whale sharks begin migrating away from there about now, so can be seen elsewhere in the Galapagos until about June/July. I would also recommend Macarron as he is about to put a new boat on the water next month which will be much nicer than alternatives. He is totally pro with good gear. He's also hooking up with Red Mangrove to offer a land-based dive trip on 3 islands.
I live in Ecuador and was just out there last week...going back to dive with him in Feb. on the new boat. He worked at/ran Scuba Iguana for 10 years and went out on his own about 2 years ago.

 

[Gully]

Not for everyone

What is your reponse all about?

 

[5continentBo]

Macarron is a total god and his shop rocks. I would recommend them any time. What a pro! Don't go if you have no experience, but if you are a good diver go and go with Maca -- what a great time. I love that shop and would recommend them to anyone. Fun and safety oriented? Where else in the world can you find that? In my experience, not too many places!SCUBA Iguana were snotty, so go with Macarron!