Galapagos in Sept. 2017, possible El Nino - please advise us!

[ClairevL]

My boyfriend and I are considering to do a liveaboard in Galapagos in September this year. We've been wanting to go there for a long time and are so excited about diving in this amazing place. Since this will be by far the most expensive liveaboard we have ever done, and it's not something that we'll be able to do again soon, we want to make sure to get the most out of it.

So we were looking into El Nino predictions for this year, and what I found on the NOOA website is that they expect neutral conditions to persist in the Northern hemisphere Spring of 2017 and that there are increasing probabilities for an El Nino event in fall.

Climate Prediction Center: ENSO Diagnostic Discussion

I realize that at this time of the year, the predictions are still very uncertain, but it makes us wonder if we should book the Galapagos trip for September 2017. Could anybody tell me how much marine life would be affected by a moderate El Nino? And how long does it typically take until marine life starts to be seriously affected by the El Nino?

I really hope that somebody with more experience on this could advise us! We are so excited to go to the Galapagos Islands, but if it seems better to postpone our trip a bit, we will definitely do that!
Thanks so much in advance for any help you could provide!

 

[thumbsplitter]

Lots of previous threads on this. Do a scubaboard search for "Galapagos" and "el nino". From a brief skimming, I didn't see much to worry about.

Have fun, my wife and I just booked a liveaboard for August 2019!

--Thumbsplitter

 

[NYCNaiad]

I'd also urge you to get full trip insurance. Not for the El Nino factor, just because if something happens you want to ensure you get all of your money back for the pricey trip.

 

[ClairevL]

Hi Thumbsplitter, Thanks for your reply! I indeed read the El Nino posts on the forum and stories seem a bit mixed. It seems like the El Nino can have a pretty big effect on the hammerhead sharks at Darwin and Wolf. I read that some people have only seen very small groups of hammerheads. And even though, that's still pretty amazing, I have often seen groups of hammerheads in Egypt and Sudan and since a Galapagos liveaboard is so expensive, I really hope to have a big chance of seeing large schools of sharks. It can be absolutely spectacular there

Thanks. Great to hear you booked a Galapagos trip. Definitely something to look forward to!
Thanks for your advice of taking the full trip insurance...good idea.

Is there anybody who has an idea of what the effect on marine life at Darwin and Wolf is likely to be be at the start of a moderate El Nino?

 

[ClairevL]

I just got back from a Galapagos trip and there was plenty of marine life!
Also the latest NOAA reports lean more towards ENSO neutral conditons for the rest of the year
http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/analysis_monitoring/lanina/enso_evolution-status-fcsts-web.pdf

 

[Dan]

This was what I saw last December in Darwin:

Here is my trip report with some fish & critters that I encountered during that time: How is diving in Galapagos in December?

How does it compare to what you saw recently?

This coming November I'm planning to go to Banda Sea, Indonesia to see these guys for half the cost that I have spent in Galápagos:

 

[ClairevL]

Hi Dan,

The amount of hammerheads seems quite similar to what we mostly saw at Wolf & Darwin. I didn't see the "wall of hammerheads" (visibility was also not great..I'm sure there were many more sharks than we could see), but there were always a few of them around. I mostly enjoyed it when one of them came very close (happened a few times when I was hiding between the rocks and there were not too many other divers around).

We had 1 dive at Wolf (Land slide) where we also had a few small groups of eagle rays. And we usually saw a few Galapagos sharks on most dives; near the boat we often saw silky sharks. For me, the most spectacular thing were the whale sharks at Darwin! And around the central Islands we saw a few mola molas (and there were not as many divers as on my earlier trip to Nusa Lembongan;-). We also did a day trip to Floreana where we dived with many sea lions. Overall, I really enjoyed the trip

The video of Banda looks amazing. I was thinking to go to Socorro for my next trip, but maybe I should also consider Banda; great visibility, warm water and many sharks sounds pretty good;-) Which boat will you take?

 

[Dan]

Hi Dan,

The amount of hammerheads seems quite similar to what we mostly saw at Wolf & Darwin. I didn't see the "wall of hammerheads" (visibility was also not great..I'm sure there were many more sharks than we could see), but there were always a few of them around. I mostly enjoyed it when one of them came very close (happened a few times when I was hiding between the rocks and there were not too many other divers around).

We had 1 dive at Wolf (Land slide) where we also had a few small groups of eagle rays. And we usually saw a few Galapagos sharks on most dives; near the boat we often saw silky sharks. For me, the most spectacular thing were the whale sharks at Darwin! And around the central Islands we saw a few mola molas (and there were not as many divers as on my earlier trip to Nusa Lembongan;-). We also did a day trip to Floreana where we dived with many sea lions. Overall, I really enjoyed the trip

The video of Banda looks amazing. I was thinking to go to Socorro for my next trip, but maybe I should also consider Banda; great visibility, warm water and many sharks sounds pretty good;-) Which boat will you take?

You have a better luck than me in Galápagos. I didn't see whaleshark & barely see the silhouette of Mola Mola in cold-greenish 5-feet visibility water of Punta Vincente Roca.

I'll do a 12-day crossing liveaboard trip from Ambon to Sorong passing Banda Sea & Raja Ampat with La Galigo in November, 3 months from now. Very excited!

If I miss the "walk of hammerhead", then I'll be in Cocos to get my second try with Argos' sub while staying dry & seeing other deep-water fish in 1000-foot deep sea.

 

[ClairevL]

Wow 12 nights and Banda and Raja Ampat...that sounds like an amazing trip! I can imagine you're excited! I'd love to hear about your trip after you get back!

Yeah, I guess I was quite lucky with the molas... On the liveaboard, we had 2 dives at Punta Carrion where we saw them. They were quite far away though. Then after the LOB we did 2 day trips and we saw them in Gordon rocks. On our first dive here, we saw almost nothing, and on the second dive a group of hammerheads, a few eagle rays, and 2 molas. They came quite close. But the visibility at that day was very low, less than 10 m.