Galapagos liveaboard help - when to go?

[large_diver]

So, my buddy and I are planning a "big" trip for 2014, with one of the ideas being a Galapagos liveaboard. We may already be too late in planning this for 2014 .....which may result in a 2015 trip, but we are willing to wait (perhaps "settling" for another Caribbean liveaboard in '14).

Anyway, assuming no availability restrictions, when is the best time to dive in the Galapagos? I know this answers depends on whale sharks...so to answer that question, yes, we would like to go at a time when we have a better chance of seeing them.

Liveaboard "high season" pricing would seem to indicate May/June-December. Undercurrent says Dec-Jan and May-June. A response I received from divethegalapagos.com says Sept/Oct liveaboards book up as far as 2 years in advance. Sept/Oct will likely be a "no go" for us due to work restrictions...

So all that said = any tips people have on recommended time of year would be welcome. We would probably book one of the Buddy boats, the Aggressor or the Humboldt explorer....any thoughts on these would be welcome as well.

Thanks!

Chris

 

[tajkd]

My buddy and I planned to go exactly between hammerhead and whale shark season. We planned for September in 2010. The timing was perfect with, I'd say, thousands of hammerheads and multiple whale shark sightings. There were also many huge mantas at the time. I've known other trips that went earlier in the year (April, June, August) and missed one big animal or another. My vote is September. At least it worked for us.

I'd also put my vote in for Peter Hughes boat the Galapagos Sky. Exceptional staff and very accommodating.

 

[large_diver]

David - thanks a lot for the details - very helpful.

Only 1 reply...?

 

[suzbo]

Well, if you can get your act together really quickly, I got an email today from Aggressor that they had a group cancellation, and the entire boat is available, with fares going for half price for a trip October 31-November 7, 2013. Yes, that's only a little more than a month away, but.... hard to beat the price! (Personally, I've never been able to be that spontaneous about big trips, but some are.)

:shocked2:

 

[large_diver]

LOL - I got that e-mail today as well. Prob won't happen, but price definitely made me think twice! Thanks for the tip.

 

[OnTheSpot]

June to December we reckon for the whale sharks. The boats you've mentioned are good choices, we've had no negative feedback from any of them and as somebody else has mentioned the Galapagos Sky is worth a look. Trip report here

 

[large_diver]

Thanks for the tip and the link!

Chris

 

[Dave BVI]

Hi Chris... We have just been - whatever you do... do NOT book with Deep Blue.
Misinformation, no nitrox as advertised, bad air in the cylinders, diesel fumes throughout the boat and cabins, cobwebs on the windows, ants in the bathroom, cockroaches in our cupboard, arrogant dive leader... if this is a first class boat... then I would hate to see those boats considered to be in a lower class. When the owner was approached about this... not much was done about it. It's a case of there are only so many boats and if you want to dive the Galapagos, you have to use one of them. The Galapagos are amazing... it's a pity that the dive boat we were with, DEEP BLUE, made it feel as if they were doing us a favour... at almost $5000.00 per person per week... and $350.00 to hire dive gear and then they called a special briefing telling us that they had put envelopes on our beds for tips, which we HAD TO give to the captain the night before we left.... DISGUSTING!!! It was not just ourselves that were upset... EVERYONE on the trip were annoyed.

Stay away from Deep Blue... don't believe a word on their website.

Regards
Dave

 

[Shasta_man]

Sounds pretty bad. On the flipside, the tip envelope is a universal concept for most liveaboards. However, apparently not every culture does tips. I've heard of other Galapagos boats demanding tips up front because of that.

 

[large_diver]

Hi Chris... We have just been - whatever you do... do NOT book with Deep Blue.
Misinformation, no nitrox as advertised, bad air in the cylinders, diesel fumes throughout the boat and cabins, cobwebs on the windows, ants in the bathroom, cockroaches in our cupboard, arrogant dive leader... if this is a first class boat... then I would hate to see those boats considered to be in a lower class. When the owner was approached about this... not much was done about it. It's a case of there are only so many boats and if you want to dive the Galapagos, you have to use one of them. The Galapagos are amazing... it's a pity that the dive boat we were with, DEEP BLUE, made it feel as if they were doing us a favour... at almost $5000.00 per person per week... and $350.00 to hire dive gear and then they called a special briefing telling us that they had put envelopes on our beds for tips, which we HAD TO give to the captain the night before we left.... DISGUSTING!!! It was not just ourselves that were upset... EVERYONE on the trip were annoyed.

Stay away from Deep Blue... don't believe a word on their website.

Regards
Dave

Thanks for the feedback Dave and welcome to scubaboard - sounds like it was a pretty poor experience. That said, how was the diving?

Chris