We just returned to 10 inches of snow around Chicago from a week on the Calypso Liveaboard. Much has been written about both the islands and the boat. See a pair of video posts about a trip on the Calipso that are very informative. I'll just add some additional thoughts that may be helpful. First, half of the group stayed for 4 nights in Quito and had a great time seeing the city, the churches and museums. Try the Hotel Ecuatreasures in the historic district. Great place and amazingly helpful family ownership. On to Galapagos:
La Nina had a big impact on this trip. Water temps were 5-7 degrees colder than usual for the "wet season" (Dec-June) which is supposed to have warmer water temps, better vis and calmer seas than the "dry" season, but no whale sharks. Viz was also quite limited. All of us were really looking forward to the "wall of hammerheads" in Wolf and Darwin and only got silhouettes of some hammers. Milllions may have been back there, but we couldn't see them. Seas weren't bad, but it took a few days for folks to adjust to the diving we were presented with rather than the diving we hoped for. That's life with the ocean, eh?
We had arranged for the boat to do a different itinerary than normal for the wet season. We went down to see the Mola and the marine iguanas. Only a shadow of a Mola but the marine iguanas were a true highlight of the trip. What a blast to watch these creatures eat, move about and swim.
We all ended happy about the trip because of two things. We layered up with everything we had to be as warm as possible. For the central islands and the Marine Iguanas, I wore a 7mm, a long sleeved sharkskin, 3mm hooded vest, a short sleeve lavacore and a beanie and a second 2 mm hood on top of the hooded vest. At Wolf and Darwin, I did not wear extra hoods and no second undergarment. Temps as follows: The Central Islands 69-72F, Wolf and Darwin 74-75F, Marine Iguanas 60F. Second, at Darwin we realized that turning around from watching what was suppose to be a parade of sharks allowed us to see the top of the reef where there were huge schools of amazing fish. Biggest school of Mexican goatfish I ever saw. Also, one or two hammers would come across the top of the reef and be close and pretty clear. So, for or second half of the second day and the third day up there (stayed two days at Darwin instead of one and a half because it was warmer and clearer than Wolf) we'd spend 10 minutes looking out to the grey then move up to swim with and see wonderful fish life and better hammer viewing. Also, great and close up views one or two hammers and huge, almost disorienting schools of fish on the accents to the safety stop. On one accent 4 hammers drifted within 10 feet of me and on another a large school of eagle rays swam with us. We learned one big lesson: turn around and see what's behind you...it could be better than anything you were supposed to be watching. The dive guides agreed and we really enjoyed the last day and a half at Darwin.
The boat is really nice. The dining tables are in one big salon with couches and a bar area with waist to ceiling windows for great viewing and light. Rooms have plenty of space and the same waist to ceiling windows across the whole wall. Dive deck is spacious and the top deck has lounge chairs and a jacuzzi that a few people used. We ate at long tables on the top deck one day. A bit noisy and rocky but our group was quite pleased with the boat. The crew was amazing. They were all on the dive deck to help you dress and undress the many layers we had on. It was like being in a shoe store as they would be at your feet if they thought you needed help with socks or booties and as you disembarked from the panga it was like a gauntlet with folks unzipping and starting to get your wet suit off. It wasn't creepy or overdone and you could always so "no, gracias" if you had it under control. Food was good (buffet style) and snacks after dives and at 5:00 pm were great. Cooked to order eggs every morning with pancakes or French toast to go with it. Hot chocolate or tea offered after every day. The best part: Your own numbered hot towel wrapped around you when you were ready after taking off the wet stuff. It was delightful.
What we learned: This is a group from our local dive shop and we had been on a liveaboard with all of them at some point in the past. When it seemed our dream, an expensive dream, was lost, we took turns bucking each other up and worked with the dive guides to change the dives to be wonderful. It's easy to fall into the "I paid all this for THIS", but it helps when the group works some group psychology to realize, the ocean makes its own rules, and there is really cool stuff down there no matter what.
Rob
La Nina had a big impact on this trip. Water temps were 5-7 degrees colder than usual for the "wet season" (Dec-June) which is supposed to have warmer water temps, better vis and calmer seas than the "dry" season, but no whale sharks. Viz was also quite limited. All of us were really looking forward to the "wall of hammerheads" in Wolf and Darwin and only got silhouettes of some hammers. Milllions may have been back there, but we couldn't see them. Seas weren't bad, but it took a few days for folks to adjust to the diving we were presented with rather than the diving we hoped for. That's life with the ocean, eh?
We had arranged for the boat to do a different itinerary than normal for the wet season. We went down to see the Mola and the marine iguanas. Only a shadow of a Mola but the marine iguanas were a true highlight of the trip. What a blast to watch these creatures eat, move about and swim.
We all ended happy about the trip because of two things. We layered up with everything we had to be as warm as possible. For the central islands and the Marine Iguanas, I wore a 7mm, a long sleeved sharkskin, 3mm hooded vest, a short sleeve lavacore and a beanie and a second 2 mm hood on top of the hooded vest. At Wolf and Darwin, I did not wear extra hoods and no second undergarment. Temps as follows: The Central Islands 69-72F, Wolf and Darwin 74-75F, Marine Iguanas 60F. Second, at Darwin we realized that turning around from watching what was suppose to be a parade of sharks allowed us to see the top of the reef where there were huge schools of amazing fish. Biggest school of Mexican goatfish I ever saw. Also, one or two hammers would come across the top of the reef and be close and pretty clear. So, for or second half of the second day and the third day up there (stayed two days at Darwin instead of one and a half because it was warmer and clearer than Wolf) we'd spend 10 minutes looking out to the grey then move up to swim with and see wonderful fish life and better hammer viewing. Also, great and close up views one or two hammers and huge, almost disorienting schools of fish on the accents to the safety stop. On one accent 4 hammers drifted within 10 feet of me and on another a large school of eagle rays swam with us. We learned one big lesson: turn around and see what's behind you...it could be better than anything you were supposed to be watching. The dive guides agreed and we really enjoyed the last day and a half at Darwin.
The boat is really nice. The dining tables are in one big salon with couches and a bar area with waist to ceiling windows for great viewing and light. Rooms have plenty of space and the same waist to ceiling windows across the whole wall. Dive deck is spacious and the top deck has lounge chairs and a jacuzzi that a few people used. We ate at long tables on the top deck one day. A bit noisy and rocky but our group was quite pleased with the boat. The crew was amazing. They were all on the dive deck to help you dress and undress the many layers we had on. It was like being in a shoe store as they would be at your feet if they thought you needed help with socks or booties and as you disembarked from the panga it was like a gauntlet with folks unzipping and starting to get your wet suit off. It wasn't creepy or overdone and you could always so "no, gracias" if you had it under control. Food was good (buffet style) and snacks after dives and at 5:00 pm were great. Cooked to order eggs every morning with pancakes or French toast to go with it. Hot chocolate or tea offered after every day. The best part: Your own numbered hot towel wrapped around you when you were ready after taking off the wet stuff. It was delightful.
What we learned: This is a group from our local dive shop and we had been on a liveaboard with all of them at some point in the past. When it seemed our dream, an expensive dream, was lost, we took turns bucking each other up and worked with the dive guides to change the dives to be wonderful. It's easy to fall into the "I paid all this for THIS", but it helps when the group works some group psychology to realize, the ocean makes its own rules, and there is really cool stuff down there no matter what.
Rob
