Landbased dive operator Galapagos (Santa Cruz) w/ Nitrox

[Dorit]

Ok, so we're back from our dive vacation to Galapagos.

All in all, we had a great vacation. We're not easy to put out. But I have to say, that we were very disappointed with Nautidiving.

So since I started this thread months ago, I'd like to conclude it with a warning to everybody against choosing Nautidiving for your landbased diving.
I definitly wish that we'd booked with Scuba Iguana instead as many of you also recommended. From what we heard out there, they have a really good reputation, and therefore also don't have the same problems with filling a boat and late cancelling as Nautidiving had.
So here's our warning: We can NOT recommend you to book with Nautidiving. Don't book in advance. And don't book with them to do Nitrox diving!

Especially if you only have a short time, then definitly don't book with them. You risk that they cancel so late the night before (or even on the same day) so you don't have a chance to find another reputable company to take you diving.

All in all Nautidiving severely disappointed us because it handled our business very unprofessionally (not caring that we'd prepaid alot of money to them).

Also their handling of Nitrox diving was really unprofessional, irresponsible and – almost - scary. Never was the Nitrox analyzer on the boat, so we could personally analyze our tanks.
And worse, one of the first days they started to analyze all tanks for all our booked dives more - that is more than a week in advance.
Also, the analyzing was done sloppily without writing the percentage on each tank. And on the boat one day another nitrox diver hadn’t even had his tanks analyzed, so I wonder who got the unanalyzed tanks, since no names or percentages were on any tanks?

Also, we were very unhappy that we two times were send with another company - on the very first day without being told this before we sat on the boat!
Actually this nearly ruined our whole vacation because it was a very disreputable diving company who took us into a washing machine at Gordons Rocks - my worst dives ever (and I’ve done nearly a hundred!)

I could go on and on - about personal gear being forgotten in the dive center and not being on the boat, dive site being changed from Gordon Rocks to Seymour after they’d confirmed to us the day before that it would be Gordon Rocks, by husband being lost on a messy dive with 7 divers where dive briefing/plan was suddenly changed after descent (imagine what this does to someone who tends to hyperventilate and already is uncomfortable diving with dive operator!), taking a diver with only 6 dives to Gordon Rocks, returning us to shore and almost cancelling one day because boat had no permit(?), and cancelling very late on the last chance I had of diving so I didn’t get a chance to find another diving company (and by the way, NO explanation at all for this!) etc etc.

I don't know how Scuba Iguana handles their business, but from what we've experienced landbased diving on Galapagos is by far as professional as for instance Red Sea in Egypt. So maybe we'd just expected to much. But wouldn't you - when you pay 3-4 times more for diving than you do in Egypt? (+ travel expenses)

Well, over and out!
/Dorit

 

[ocbeachbum]

I am so sorry that the trip didn't work out as you had hoped. Iguana did change sites on day on me, but it was discussed and voted on before we left the shop (the viz had been terrible there the day before). I hope you at least got the chance to explore the islands somewhat on your unplanned non-diving days. There is certainly enough to do around Puerto Ayora to keep you busy, though it's obviously inferior to diving.

You said your husband was "lost" for a period of time. How did they handle S&R (if it was needed) and was there any kind of debrief/recovery summary so the other divers knew what went down? As to your point about taking a diver with 6 dives (presumably his first unsupervised OW) to Gordon, I am surprised HE didn't call it after getting down there. It's a washing machine most of the time from what I heard, though when I dove it it was manageable. I can't speak to the nitrox aspect of their Op, but it certainly doesn't sound good. Also, not familiar with red sea dive Ops reputations, but I guess I can surmise from your comparison that they're about as efficient as everything else in Egypt.

Thanks for coming back and posting end results.

 

[sinduda]

Wow Dorit...sorry to hear about your bad experiences and appreciate you sharing. I'm the opposite of you in that I'm disappointed when Gordon Rocks isn't a washing machine. The stronger the currents, the more hammerheads I usually see. I am shocked that any dive shop would take someone with only 6 dives to Gordon Rocks. I would appreciate knowing who that was...pm me if that's more comfortable.

I am the manager of a dive program in the Galapagos through Red Mangrove Galapagos Lodges. We just had our debut "Dive Triangle", a land-based, island hopping program. Our experience was so the opposite, I'm glad to report. Even though I was 'working', it was the best trip of my life! And just today I was on the phone with someone coming down for an upcoming Dive Triangle who wanted to add a nitrox dive. Nautidiving is, as far as I know, the only source for that land based in Puerto Ayora. So now, I think I would give this a level of attention I might not have before. Thank you for that.

I do find that sloppiness on any level, be it foul ups in equipment, maintanence of equipment or boats or even an inadequate lunch cooler does drive me a bit bonkers. In the Galapagos, sometimes direction and double checking can overcome a lot.

Having said that, I had to rule out quite a few shops for several reasons. 1) I am a diver and a demanding one where everything is concerned. 2) We are not a cheap stay in the Galapagos, so our clients expect better. So, having scoured the scene, I do understand how sloppy it can get. I myself ended up with an ear injury as the result of frustration when out diving in January with someone very sloppy. My fault, but it would not have happened if I had been out with professionals I don't think. I did write an epic journal of our Dive Triangle and have a gallery of 64 photos. All under diving at our blog: galapagoslodges.com

 

[Dorit]

Well, when we were at Gordon Rocks and it was a washing machine the viz was really bad and we didn't see anything. Not a single hammerhead or anything else. Only small schools of fish.
So as I see it, strong currents are great if you get to see alot, but not any fun, if your dive master makes you fight the current for no reason, and you get no payoff - I mean get to see something awesome.
By the way - my husband wasn't lost like totally lost. We we're a big group of 9 divers (including some with very little experience - eg only 6 dives!), and when crossing into the blue I got cought up in other divers bobbles, and lost sight of him. And when finally appearing out of all the bobbles with the rest of the group, he was nowhere to be seen.
And I'm not sure the dive master realized that one was missing. I tried to sign him, but he didn't look like he was missing any divers. And when we got up, my husband was sitting in the boat, and had just surfaced by himself (after some hyperventilation and panicking because of being alone in strong currents pulling him down!).
Well, I was relieved to see him safe, but still it didn't seem the dive master realized he'd been lost or that anything had happened. SO definitly no debriefing.
Well, fortunately nothing happened. This time! (Except for another expensive diving day wasted for him - he was quite shocked so he didn't want to do the second dive that day)
By the way, there really is no reason to pay extra for nitrox tanks, when you don't get to do longer dives - at Nautidiving I most of the time surfaced with half a tank of air and plenty of possible bottom time left. Since the divemaster dived with normal air we only got a max. of approximately 45 minuttes bottom time...

 

[Doc]

I don't know how Scuba Iguana handles their business, but from what we've experienced landbased diving on Galapagos .... So maybe we'd just expected to much. But wouldn't you - when you pay 3-4 times more for diving than you do in Egypt? (+ travel expenses)

Your travel expenses do indeed add-up when you travel, for what is from Denmark, dragging yourself half-way around the world. For North Americans, the Galapagos draw has always been that it is relatively close, nearby and up until lately- not all that well visited.

It's gotten to be our overpriced little-bit-further-away Cocos / Sea of Cortez. Really, it's reputation far exceeds its value, when viewed strictly in a diving context.

To draw a comparison.... American snow skiers are drawn magnetically to ski in Europe- trips to Innsbruck are an instant sell out. The skiing there is really third rate compared to many other Austrian destinations- but this is the place that we have heard about for so many years. The similarity for the Galapogos continues in that land based trips there do offer some excellent diversions and reasons to not "just dive", much as the city of Inssbruck does for skiers.

As to advice here on SB, you can take it or strike-off on your own previously chosen decision as many do. A lot of posters come here, having already made their choices, possibly looking for validation. It is a human trait. You had two very qualified recommendations for Scuba Iguana, then within a few days of the original post, selected one that no-one (by that juncture) here would vouch for.

Again, for land based diving, even the extended BT's that Scuba Iguana supports, the use of nitrox is simply not required.

Many people place a similar huge premium on the availablity of nitrox, the actual need for it is usually not a concern. Yet you were ready to bypass all the relevant and required safety checks... for what? Hyperventilation issues aside, this Galapogos thing is serious diving with requirements of advanced diving skills. It would be assumed that you would refuse to use a nitrox tank that you had not checked yourself.

I hope you took some time to enjoy visiting the natural offerings that land based diving allowed you to enjoy. That turtle reserves, the art galleries, the Darwin station, the lava tubes, the restaurants?

Even if your dive charter selection was not good, how did you like the rest of what land based travel there has to offer?

 

[5continentBo]

I couldn't agree more. We went with Macarron and he is a class act. I have never encountered such a professional dive shop. He has nearly 10,000 dives and is great for divers who are confident and relaxed. No one new to diving should attempt the Galapagos (rough water, sharks, etc), but if you are a good diver go to the Galapagos and go with Maca -- you'll have a ton of fun, get a great dive experience, and save money over SCUBA Iguana (whom we found to be REALLY snotty).

If you go with Maca -- ask Christian to show you his maps. He's sketched, from memory, every dive site's terrain and can show you every nook and cranny you dived. What a bonus!

 

[nautidiving]

We are very sorry that Dorit and her husband did not enjoy their experience and were unable to resolve issues while they were still here with us but need to correct a few of the impressions created by these postings:


1) Dorit and her husband booked daily diving, and this was provided for each and every day as pre booked, indeed if our boat was unable to go out we arranged in adequate time other diving options for them with another dive boat trying to ensure no repetition of sites (as requested by them). On 23rd of May their last day of booked diving we did in fact have a trip out to Gordon Rocks with both Dorit and her husband on board. We have no records of a refund being requested for no provision of services.


2) While we regret that 2 items of specific personal dive gear, were left in the dive centre, but when this amounts to a special mouth piece for a regulator and personal strap clips for fins it is usually taken as a personal responsibility as they can easily be changed between equipment and as small items are easily lost or misplaced. Please note here that we normally rent out equipment separately but in Dorit’s case we offered them the use of our equipment free of Charge.


3) Nitrox, when our own boat is out our NITROX analyzer is on board, but we do insist that all passengers take their own readings the night prior and mark up their own tanks, name, mix and max depth. What Nitrox provides us with is greater time at depth for lower levels of nitrogen not unfortunately conservation of gas in the tank. It is usual for our National Park Guides/Dive Masters to use NITROX but all of our guides are light enough on air to make a 60 minute multilevel dive, so if dives were short (and 45 minutes seems fairly average to me) it was because the whole group were ready to end their dives.

4) Finally I would like to point out these guests did not raise any issues about NITROX while with us, what seemed to upset them was that our Yacht Nautilus did not go out with just the two of them on board. It is also a fact that these guests received in addition to free rental equipment reduced price NITROX. It is an unfortunate truth that when guests seek cut rate services they are often the very same people who then threaten to publish their complaints unless refunds are given.


Nautidiving has been operating dive boats for 25 years now and in that time it is one of the few companies that have not had any serious problems during or as a result of dives. We are also one of the few companies that have recently been granted National Park permission to operate in the future, offering Tour de Bahia and Diving 1, after having completely met new National Park standards.


Roland Johnson
Nautidiving SA.
Charles Darwin Av
Pelican Bay, Puerto Ayora,
Isla Santa Cruz, Galapagos.
nautidiving@gps.latinmedia.com.ec