Globetravelgirl
Registered
Just got back and have fallen in love with Scuba Iguana on Santa Cruz Island, just as Roatan Man "Doc" reports! (Thanks for all of the tips Doc!) I stayed at Finch Bay Resort on Santa Cruz, and had paid Scuba Iguana in advance by bank transfer. When I arrived and dropped off my bags, I found my dive master, Claudia, in the lobby of the hotel who had a boat at the hotel dock waiting for me-- "whenever I was ready".
Scuba Iguana staff are very safe, and I particularly recommend Claudia and Jose as dive masters. I have less than 30 dives logged, so I couldn't go to Darwin or Wolf (which are too far north anyway), but had beautiful dives on Santa Cruz at Academy Bay (both night and day dives), North Seymour and Gordon Rock. The briefings prior to diving were the best I have experienced. I can't say enough great things about the team at Scuba Iguana. Many times we had extra staff, b/c junior dive masters were in training. The extra staff was particularly great on the night dive. We didn't see any whale sharks, but saw everything else- up close and personal.
I was traveling with a non-diver, so after my diving fix, we got on a Yacht called the M/V Santa Cruz. That was pretty great too for land tours. (The Santa Cruz staff were pretty good too, as I had a dental emergency and they set me up with an Ecuadorian Dentista on San Cristobal.)
On land we saw Marine iguanas, Land iguanas, many Galapagos Sea Lions with nursing pups, Fur Seals, some of Darwin's finches, many Yellow warblers, the American Oyster Catcher, Blue-footed Booby, Red-footed Booby, Nazca Booby, Frigates on display, Frigate nests with babes, Giant Land Tortoise, Swallow-tailed Gull, Great Blue Heron, Night Heron, Peregrine Falcon, Brown Pelican, Sally-lightfoot Crab, and many other shorebirds. Sadly, I missed the Waved Albatross and the Flightless Cormorant b/c our cruise was only four days, and the ship was headed to those islands when we disembarked and headed to Machu Picchu. As a biologist at heart, this just kills me to have missed any of the endemic species.
We stopped at 2 islands per day, and did a lot of snorkeling which was awesome. One of the trips was an advanced deep water snorkle. I got great shots on my dives, but great shots on the snorkles too. Galapagos sharks, White-tipped sharks, Galapagos sea turtles, Galapagos penguins, Galapagos sea lions, and the elusive Fur seal (misnomer-- there are no seals in the Galapagos) all swam up close and playfully with me. I actually had to push away a bit, b/c another snorkeler on the trip before ours, got bitten b/c he forgot that sea lions are still wild animals... This was definately a highlight for me! Even though my primary quest was for hammerheads...
The only negative I have to report, is that my friend and I both contracted cutaneous Leishmoniasis. We prepared better than most with non- required vaccinations, lots of sun and bug screen and really careful hygiene. We were not expecting sand flys (vector for my Protozoan parasite), on the beach during the day in the Galapagos. We got a few bites, but thought nothing of it. Three weeks later, maculo-papular lesions on the skin erupted.
Now we wait for ulceration and progression to mucosal and/or visceral forms. The really bad news is that at that point it is 70% fatal. The treatment is severe too-- Amphotericin B or Antimony! My immune system is intact, however my friend took a lot of Prednisone in Machu Picchu for altitude sickness, due to a Sulfa/ Diamox allergy. My advice is wear sun and bug screen at all times, even when it's not dusk and even when not in Peru! (We were told Ecuador was no problem...)
Got great pics and had a great time. It was definately the trip of a lifetime. Hope this helps some of you making similar plans!
Cindy
Scuba Iguana staff are very safe, and I particularly recommend Claudia and Jose as dive masters. I have less than 30 dives logged, so I couldn't go to Darwin or Wolf (which are too far north anyway), but had beautiful dives on Santa Cruz at Academy Bay (both night and day dives), North Seymour and Gordon Rock. The briefings prior to diving were the best I have experienced. I can't say enough great things about the team at Scuba Iguana. Many times we had extra staff, b/c junior dive masters were in training. The extra staff was particularly great on the night dive. We didn't see any whale sharks, but saw everything else- up close and personal.
I was traveling with a non-diver, so after my diving fix, we got on a Yacht called the M/V Santa Cruz. That was pretty great too for land tours. (The Santa Cruz staff were pretty good too, as I had a dental emergency and they set me up with an Ecuadorian Dentista on San Cristobal.)
On land we saw Marine iguanas, Land iguanas, many Galapagos Sea Lions with nursing pups, Fur Seals, some of Darwin's finches, many Yellow warblers, the American Oyster Catcher, Blue-footed Booby, Red-footed Booby, Nazca Booby, Frigates on display, Frigate nests with babes, Giant Land Tortoise, Swallow-tailed Gull, Great Blue Heron, Night Heron, Peregrine Falcon, Brown Pelican, Sally-lightfoot Crab, and many other shorebirds. Sadly, I missed the Waved Albatross and the Flightless Cormorant b/c our cruise was only four days, and the ship was headed to those islands when we disembarked and headed to Machu Picchu. As a biologist at heart, this just kills me to have missed any of the endemic species.
We stopped at 2 islands per day, and did a lot of snorkeling which was awesome. One of the trips was an advanced deep water snorkle. I got great shots on my dives, but great shots on the snorkles too. Galapagos sharks, White-tipped sharks, Galapagos sea turtles, Galapagos penguins, Galapagos sea lions, and the elusive Fur seal (misnomer-- there are no seals in the Galapagos) all swam up close and playfully with me. I actually had to push away a bit, b/c another snorkeler on the trip before ours, got bitten b/c he forgot that sea lions are still wild animals... This was definately a highlight for me! Even though my primary quest was for hammerheads...
The only negative I have to report, is that my friend and I both contracted cutaneous Leishmoniasis. We prepared better than most with non- required vaccinations, lots of sun and bug screen and really careful hygiene. We were not expecting sand flys (vector for my Protozoan parasite), on the beach during the day in the Galapagos. We got a few bites, but thought nothing of it. Three weeks later, maculo-papular lesions on the skin erupted.
Now we wait for ulceration and progression to mucosal and/or visceral forms. The really bad news is that at that point it is 70% fatal. The treatment is severe too-- Amphotericin B or Antimony! My immune system is intact, however my friend took a lot of Prednisone in Machu Picchu for altitude sickness, due to a Sulfa/ Diamox allergy. My advice is wear sun and bug screen at all times, even when it's not dusk and even when not in Peru! (We were told Ecuador was no problem...)
Got great pics and had a great time. It was definately the trip of a lifetime. Hope this helps some of you making similar plans!
Cindy
