Galapagos Live Aboards

[lloyd_borrett]

G'day,

I dived from the Humboldt Explorer in August 2010. The boat had a good diving setup, though with 16 onboard it was a bit crowded. 12 would have been much better.

The food was very ordinary, but hopefully they've fixed that since then. The boat was also very noisy. You spend a long time underway and the sound and vibration control was sadly lacking. There were facilities to watch DVDs etc. but you couldn't hear them over the sound of the boat. My noise cancelling headphones helped to make the noise tolerable.

Don't get me wrong, I can tolerate a wide range of boat conditions. In October 2012 I was on a live aboard dive expedition to Bikini Atoll where all 12 of us shared a large single accommodation area with 12 bunk beds. It was a working boat with only 2 heads and 2 showers!

It's just that Humboldt Explorer was sold to us as a "luxury" liveaboard, at a luxury price, and didn't deliver. It's all about meeting expectations.

The four days of diving at Darwin and Wolf was simply fantastic. But the dives down south were ordinary if you've been to paces that provide similar marine life and environments.

We got to do 4 dives a day at Darwin and Wolf, even though once we were onboard we were told about the 3 dive restriction in place. They justified doing 4 dives because the other boats weren't out there at the time. But in our itinerary we were led to believe we would be doing up to 5 dives (including a nght dive) on a couple of days. So again, our expectations weren't met.

Only 3 members of the crew seemed to speak any English and interact with the guests. It seemed the rest of the crew were there because it's a job and I felt that was strange. My experience has been that normally on a liveaboard you get to interact with ALL crew members, and you pick up on their enthusiasm because they're also divers and they want to be in the water too!

I've been there and ticked that box, but I wouldn't bother going back. Meanwhile there are plenty of other places I certainly will be revisiting like: Bali (revisiting in 2013), Great Barrier Reef (already been twice and will go again), Chuuk Lagoon and Bikini Atoll (revisiting October 2013).

Best regards, Lloyd Borrett.

 

[Shasta_man]

You already checked off Bikini...

 

[jennexplorer]

The Humboldt Explorer was in drydock for 6 weeks from February 2012 to April 2012. In this time the dive platform was extended by over 7 ft(2.3 metres). Two hot water showers and another rinse tank were added. the dive deck now offers much more space than when Lloyd was onboard in 2010.
The noise problem was dealt with as best as possible. The two cabins closest to the engine room are still noisier than others (Lloyd was in one of these cabins in 2010).
The chef that has been onboard for over a year now is terrific, especially at meeting the needs of guests with special food needs. There also are no instances of not having enough food. I was onboard in September with a group of big eaters and there was always food left over.
The Humboldt is a nice boat - comfortable and functional. The changes made in drydock have been well received and have definitely improved the quality of the boat.

The Humboldt Explorer has never done nor advertised 5 dives per day. As most people are aware night dives have not been permitted in Galapagos for many years. That information is not advertised for Humboldt nor will up to 5 dives per day be found. Explorer Ventures has boats in the caribbean that offer 5 dives a day including night dives but this is not the case with Galapagos, nor has it even been the case. Sometimes in the communication between the operator, the wholesaler or agency and the consumer the information is misconstrued. I am assuming this is what happened with Lloyd's group as the itinerary was sent to the wholesaler that booked him well in advance and they were aware of the maximum number of dives available.

Ecuador is a Spanish speaking country and the quality of English taught in the public schools is not good. The guides onboard the boat speak good English and most of the crew understand English but are hesitant to speak it. I trust they would all love to do so. They do the best they can. We provide the guides to speak with the passengers and help them interact with the crew, among their other responsibilities.
Many of our guests love to practice their Spanish with the crew.
We have guests from all over the world. It would be unrealistic to require the crew to be fluent in German, French, Japanese, Russian and even English.

 

[lloyd_borrett]

G'day Jenn,

Great to learn that you've made some improvements to the boat and that you have a new chef. It wasn't the quantity of the food that was a problem, it was the quality and variety.

I'd just like to point out that I was in one of the forward cabins, quite some distance from the engine room, not in the rear cabins close to the engine room.

Best regards, Lloyd Borrett.