I recently returned from a 7-day liveaboard on Galapagos Master and want to share my experience. I booked through Bluewater Travel and got a discount of around 50%.
Ecuador requires a negative COVID PCR test taken no more than 10 days before entry, and Galapagos requires a test no more than 96 hours before arrival. Bluewater had a hotel/testing deal for $400 where you stay for 2 nights at the Guayaquil Sheraton and a private lab comes to the hotel to test you, so this is what I did. (There were also options for Quito, but at the time of booking, testing took longer there.) I completed one test at home to meet the 10-day requirement, and another test at home before I left (within the 96-hour timeframe) to be 100% sure I met the 96-hour requirement. The lab at the hotel returned my results within 24 hours. I was also issued a "safe passage" document by Master Liveaboards which is required to enter Galapagos.
Flights were a bit of an issue. I originally found a great deal for under $400 roundtrip from the US to Guayaquil on American. Unfortunately, AA cancelled my return flights a few weeks beforehand. I rebooked on United, but United also cancelled one leg of my return flight and moved me to a crazy flight which would have required an overnight stay in Bogota, Colombia. I ended up switching my return flight to a JetBlue flight. Also, my flights from Guayaquil to San Cristobal, Galapagos were shifted up a day by Avianca (Sunday to Sunday instead of Monday to Monday). I had to frantically rebook on Lantam to be able to make it as originally planned, but it all worked out.
The boat holds 16 people, but only 8 were signed up for this trip. It was really nice to have so much space on the boat and a private room. I had the most basic level room, and even so it was one of the largest I've seen on a liveaboard. Bathrooms were spacious too.
The airport in San Cristobal is located less than 5 minutes from the dock, and we boarded as soon as we arrived. We had lunch and a briefing, then started with a quick check-out dive in the bay where we were anchored.
The next day started with a land tour of North Seymour Island. A guide from the National Park led the tour. Highlights were blue-footed boobies, frigate birds, land and marine iguanas, and sea lions. After the tour and lunch, our next dive was at Baltra, where we saw some blue striped nudibranchs. After this dive, we departed for the far north islands of Darwin and Wolf. The crossing started immediately after lunch and lasted until the early morning hours the next day.
The next 2 days were at Darwin's Arch. Water temps here were 77-78 F, which was very comfortable. We had some amazing encounters here, including 2 whale sharks, lots of hammerheads, Galapagos sharks, turtles, tuna, and large schools of fish. On day one, only one other boat was there, and the second day we were the only boat there. We did 4 dives per day here.
The next morning we arrived at Wolf, which was a little colder at around 72 degrees. We did 4 dives here. Highlights were more Galapagos sharks, blacktip sharks, eagle rays, and dolphins. We had a huge pod of dolphins following the boat on the surface.
The next day we headed back south to Punta Vicente Roca to look for mola molas. We found one on the second dive! Other highlights were bullhead sharks, sea lions, nudibranchs, a Pacific seahorse, and more turtles. It was pretty cold here -- my computer said 59 degrees at one point. The third dive on this day was at Cabo Douglas to see the marine iguanas, which was awesome. I also saw penguins, fur seals, and a group of at least 14 green sea turtles. Truly a memorable dive!
The last dive day was at Cousin's Rock, which was around 62 degrees. There was a sea lion and a few bait balls, but this definitely wasn't my favorite dive. My favorite part of this day was our visit to Santa Cruz island, where we visited the Giant Tortoise Breeding Center. This tour was led by the same guide who did the first day's land tour, which was nice.
Bluewater Travel was very helpful pre-trip in navigating the COVID requirements. The crew of the Galapagos Master was fantastic. Our guide, Juan Carlos, was excellent and gave nightly briefings/presentations on not only the dives themselves, but also information about history and the environment of the area. The crew was always willing to help on the dive deck.
Overall, this was an incredible trip and I'm so glad I got to go! I would highly recommend.
Ecuador requires a negative COVID PCR test taken no more than 10 days before entry, and Galapagos requires a test no more than 96 hours before arrival. Bluewater had a hotel/testing deal for $400 where you stay for 2 nights at the Guayaquil Sheraton and a private lab comes to the hotel to test you, so this is what I did. (There were also options for Quito, but at the time of booking, testing took longer there.) I completed one test at home to meet the 10-day requirement, and another test at home before I left (within the 96-hour timeframe) to be 100% sure I met the 96-hour requirement. The lab at the hotel returned my results within 24 hours. I was also issued a "safe passage" document by Master Liveaboards which is required to enter Galapagos.
Flights were a bit of an issue. I originally found a great deal for under $400 roundtrip from the US to Guayaquil on American. Unfortunately, AA cancelled my return flights a few weeks beforehand. I rebooked on United, but United also cancelled one leg of my return flight and moved me to a crazy flight which would have required an overnight stay in Bogota, Colombia. I ended up switching my return flight to a JetBlue flight. Also, my flights from Guayaquil to San Cristobal, Galapagos were shifted up a day by Avianca (Sunday to Sunday instead of Monday to Monday). I had to frantically rebook on Lantam to be able to make it as originally planned, but it all worked out.
The boat holds 16 people, but only 8 were signed up for this trip. It was really nice to have so much space on the boat and a private room. I had the most basic level room, and even so it was one of the largest I've seen on a liveaboard. Bathrooms were spacious too.
The airport in San Cristobal is located less than 5 minutes from the dock, and we boarded as soon as we arrived. We had lunch and a briefing, then started with a quick check-out dive in the bay where we were anchored.
The next day started with a land tour of North Seymour Island. A guide from the National Park led the tour. Highlights were blue-footed boobies, frigate birds, land and marine iguanas, and sea lions. After the tour and lunch, our next dive was at Baltra, where we saw some blue striped nudibranchs. After this dive, we departed for the far north islands of Darwin and Wolf. The crossing started immediately after lunch and lasted until the early morning hours the next day.
The next 2 days were at Darwin's Arch. Water temps here were 77-78 F, which was very comfortable. We had some amazing encounters here, including 2 whale sharks, lots of hammerheads, Galapagos sharks, turtles, tuna, and large schools of fish. On day one, only one other boat was there, and the second day we were the only boat there. We did 4 dives per day here.
The next morning we arrived at Wolf, which was a little colder at around 72 degrees. We did 4 dives here. Highlights were more Galapagos sharks, blacktip sharks, eagle rays, and dolphins. We had a huge pod of dolphins following the boat on the surface.
The next day we headed back south to Punta Vicente Roca to look for mola molas. We found one on the second dive! Other highlights were bullhead sharks, sea lions, nudibranchs, a Pacific seahorse, and more turtles. It was pretty cold here -- my computer said 59 degrees at one point. The third dive on this day was at Cabo Douglas to see the marine iguanas, which was awesome. I also saw penguins, fur seals, and a group of at least 14 green sea turtles. Truly a memorable dive!
The last dive day was at Cousin's Rock, which was around 62 degrees. There was a sea lion and a few bait balls, but this definitely wasn't my favorite dive. My favorite part of this day was our visit to Santa Cruz island, where we visited the Giant Tortoise Breeding Center. This tour was led by the same guide who did the first day's land tour, which was nice.
Bluewater Travel was very helpful pre-trip in navigating the COVID requirements. The crew of the Galapagos Master was fantastic. Our guide, Juan Carlos, was excellent and gave nightly briefings/presentations on not only the dives themselves, but also information about history and the environment of the area. The crew was always willing to help on the dive deck.
Overall, this was an incredible trip and I'm so glad I got to go! I would highly recommend.
