Galapagos or Cocos?

[ScubaSky]

I am trying to decide where my big trip will be next year.
I have narrowed it down to Galapagos or Coco's (Want to dive with Hammer Head Sharks, Whale Sharks, Mantas, etc...)
those of you who have been to both, which would you most like to go back to?

 

[cyklon_300]

These being my two all-time best dive destinations...

The topside wildlife attractions in Galapagos are excellent...birds, seals, marine iguanas, etc. The diving at Wolf and Darwin was big animal action at its finest...a SINGLE dive produced 75 hammerheads, a huge squadron of eagle rays, and a 40+' whale shark.

Ecuador is really an interesting country, too...we spent two days exploring Quito and the surrounding areas. I liked the people immensely.

Cocos has a special sense of remoteness (not that Galapagos was a 'local' dive...). The island is primordial-looking with waterfalls and clouds of mist...being uninhabited (except for park rangers) adds something to the allure, too.

We were treated to witnessing a baitball feeding frenzy that was spectacular...seabirds dive bombing a giant school of green jacks from above, tuna, sharks, and dolphins ripping through it from below...it was a NatGeo moment for sure.

I don't know which I'd go to see first, but for a repeat visit I'd probably choose Cocos.

 

[ScubaSky]

That Helps. Even though I was leaning a little toward Galapagos?
What time of year were you there?
and what time of year has the best potential for marine life sightings?

 

[DocVikingo]

As your inquiry seems more appropriate to the Travel/Locations section, specifically the Central & South America forum, I have taken the liberty of moving it here in hopes it will receive broader response.

Best regards.

DocVikingo

 

[Diversauras]

My son and I did COCOs in Feb this year and I loved it but would recommend the Galapagos because almost everyone else on the boat had been to the Galapagos before and said there was more of everything, especially BIG sharks...

 

[docmartin]

a lot of it is the luck of the draw. in general both locations are great but you can have more or less spectacular weeks at any one of them. here are a couple of thoughts that have not been mentioned:
1. night dives with the whitetips at cocos are great and not offered in the galapagos.
2. you can see bait balls in both locations so that's more a matter of luck.
3. the water is warmer at cocos.
4. the hammerheads in the galapagos seem to be less shy.
5. if you want to see a whale shark the odds in the galapagos are much better during the season with very consistent sightings at darwin.

 

[ScubaSky]

Thanks for your replys everyone!

I Love night diving and the White tip night dive sounds very interesting, But so do the friendly BIG animals of Galapagos. My Primary goal is to see A Whale Shark and schooling Hammerheads would be a big plus.

I might just have to flip a coin and cross my fingers?
It sounds like either way I win!

 

[sdwho]

We were in Galapagos end of May/beginning of June 02. We saw a school of eagle rays and loads of hammerheads and when we got to Darwin we had a number of whale shark encounters. The dive staff told us that they had not had any whale shark encounters for the previous four months. I've subsequently heard from divers who went to galapagos in July/August that they have seen as many as a dozen whale sharks on a diver (the most we ever saw was two, 30 minutes apart).

So it sounds like mid summer is the best time for whale sharks.

Seth

 

[docmartin]

if whale sharks are your main interest you must go to galapagos. at cocos you'd have to be very lucky to see one whereas in the galapagos between june and november you'd have to be very unlucky not to see at least one (usually you will see several).
check out the following link posted by a fellow scubaboarder about his trip to galapagos. fantastic photography and whale sharks galore.
http://www.echeng.com/travel/ecuador/skydancer/

 

[Zeina]

docmartin once bubbled...
in the galapagos between june and november you'd have to be very unlucky not to see at least one

I'd narrow that down to July to October.
We were there in November last year, saw no whale sharks, and learned from the crew that no whale shark had been seen during the previous 3-4 weeks.