kwesler
Contributor
Anyone have any info on this new boat, The Deep Blue? I am looking at the July 4 trip...
Ken
Ken
new boat-Deep Blue Galapagos info
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Hi. I just went from galapagos, i dove with mistral (quasarnautica). the guide, (who was excellent) told me that he will work for the deep blue, next year.
I can sen you the e mail of this person if you pm me. Regards.
I can sen you the e mail of this person if you pm me. Regards.
pentucket80
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kwesler:
Hi Ken, I'm thinking of diving Galapagos w/ Deep Blue. Would be curious to hear how your trip went.
Greg
boydski
Contributor
pentucket80:
Eric Cheng has made a couple of trips to the Galapagos on the Deep Blue. Check out is excellent Trip Report and photography. He has some information on the boat as well.
We just returned from the Galapagos this weekend (Aggressor II), and the Whale Sharks are cruising at Darwin's Arch.
I have been on the Aggressor on 3 occasions and this last trip was on the Deep Blue - for those interested in a comparison ...
The Deep Blue works out about $700 - $800 cheaper than the Aggressor and I think about 5-600 cheaper than the Sky Dancer. Right now the Deep Blue sells you a package that includes airfare from mainland Equador to the Galapagos and the 2 nights hotel stay that you`ll need in Equador.
So why is it cheaper and is the Aggressor worth the extra ? .. well in short - I would go on the Deep Blue again if a group of people I liked were planning a trip - but if I had the choice I`d rather go on the Aggressor
To expand on that ...
This was the 5th dive trip the Deep Blue had run - the crew were still somewhat green on how to deal with cameras - although they did try very hard - you could see my gangly dual strobed / ULS armed Nikonos was not something they had dealt with before and it often ended up in the panga twisted ( but not damaged ) - not a BIG deal - but it did not inspire confidence. They process improved by the end of the week after I showed the crew a few times where best to hold it. Dispite the claims of the dive guides the crew never really figured out who`s fins were whos or who caamera was whos !!
The camera rinse tank consisted of 12 inches of brown murk. I was told this was water that was taken on at San Cristobel - I noticed later that day that the same murk was coming out of the showers and bathroom taps - The camera rinse tank also seemed to be the general pool of washing the boat water - I saw the crew dipping brooms in there to wash the boat - so it was pretty disgusting by the end of the week. The crew also do not give the camers a good rinse - they quickly swish them in the murk and put them on the table. There ARE showers on the dive deck - I would recommended using these for rinsing cameras.
The dive guides are very knowledgable but they failed to take care of relatively inexperienced diver that was on the trip and toward the end of the week one got so drunk he was unable to get up the next morning to make to dive and so the days plans were switch the do land tours first - again we didn`t miss any dives through it and it wasn`t a massive deal - It just didn`t sit well with me.
Other examples of the lack of professionalism include a crew member putting on a porn DVD while I was in the lounge in the afternoon and 3 or 4 random friends of the dive guide sleeping in the lounge on the last night.
The boat is advertised as being a year old - it appears older - some of the door handles are broken - my cabin door had a split thro which day light was visable + the reading lights were loose. The lounge sofas smelled very musty and were all damp to sit on - one corner of the lounge smelled heavily of something like WD40 the whole trip = I never figured out what it was. It`s unclear if the damp was from people sitting in the lounge with wet gear on or from water leaking in thro the windows. But the general smell for me made it an unpleasent place to sit. The lounge area is MUCH bigger than the Aggressor but it also means that you lose the cosy feel of the Aggressor lounge - you have to practically shout at the person accross from you ! The dining area is larger also - again there is seeminly no restriction on sitting in here with wet clothes on and as the first dives were always before breakfast people were always sitting in here with damp clothes.
The sleeping area of the cabins are more or less equivalent in size to the Aggressor - the bathrooms are bigger. The boat is advertised as having A/C through-out - which is does - they even have all the dials and buttons in each cabin which do absolutly NOTHING - best I can tell is the A/C is centrally controlled which ment it was on full in the early evening when you are trying to rewarm after a days diving and seemed to go off at 3am - just when you need it !
The towels in the cabin are rather cheap and don`t really dry you much but each person gets a bath robe and there are hair dryers in the rooms. All the upstairs cabins developed quite a stink from the heads at the start of the trip - it seemed to clear later in the week - but then we kept the door open most of the time !
The after dive towels are taken upstairs and dryed on a line and brought back down - by the end of the week they had some interesting aromas. I would had preferred if each person was issues a towel if they were going to do that ! The after dive snacks were OK - but often ran out before everyone got something - the hot chocolate always ran out before everyone got a cup.
My biggest gripe with the boat was the battle to get water - the only water available was a large plastic jug sitting in the bar - that was always warm or a small bottle left in the cabin .. sometimes .. also warm. There were no plasitc cups - just small glasses so you had to stand around the bar and get several refills to get properly rehydrated, There were few other soft drinks - just some cans of coke. The fridge it seems was reservered for keeping beer cold ! There was not water easily available to take on the land walks
The food was OK - certainly nowhere close to Aggressor standards - I and a few other folks eat no seafood at all - this the boat knew about - but seemed unprepared for - there was little choice - we had ( horrible ) Tofu on 2 days and boiled chicken pieces on 3 days for dinner. I strongly suggest you tell them far in advance if you have any food requirements and take some snacks of your own - I didn`t starve but I could have eaten more on some occasions !
There is zero carpeting anywhere in the boat - that give the common areas a cold feeling - also - as everyone walks thro in bare wet feet - it gets very slippery - especially the stairs to the downstairs cabins. Also the cabins get slippery when you get out the shower.
The boat has a air compressor - at the start of the week the fills were definatly a bit rough - a slight oily taste and several people with bad headaches after the dive - I mented this and I was told they would change the filters - I don`t know of this happened - the air never tasted good ( but it was better ) + the headaches didn`t come back ! There is no Nitrox on the boat - although there is a book with a long explaination of how they have been screwed by the system supplier - sorry to hear that - but they still don`t have Nitrox !
The boat is fast - and felt pretty good even on the rough crossing back from Darwin - it was pretty stable - more hand holds are needed in the bathrooms and some way of jamming the drawers shuts !
This is just my personal take on the boat - pick your poison as they say !
The Deep Blue works out about $700 - $800 cheaper than the Aggressor and I think about 5-600 cheaper than the Sky Dancer. Right now the Deep Blue sells you a package that includes airfare from mainland Equador to the Galapagos and the 2 nights hotel stay that you`ll need in Equador.
So why is it cheaper and is the Aggressor worth the extra ? .. well in short - I would go on the Deep Blue again if a group of people I liked were planning a trip - but if I had the choice I`d rather go on the Aggressor
To expand on that ...
This was the 5th dive trip the Deep Blue had run - the crew were still somewhat green on how to deal with cameras - although they did try very hard - you could see my gangly dual strobed / ULS armed Nikonos was not something they had dealt with before and it often ended up in the panga twisted ( but not damaged ) - not a BIG deal - but it did not inspire confidence. They process improved by the end of the week after I showed the crew a few times where best to hold it. Dispite the claims of the dive guides the crew never really figured out who`s fins were whos or who caamera was whos !!
The camera rinse tank consisted of 12 inches of brown murk. I was told this was water that was taken on at San Cristobel - I noticed later that day that the same murk was coming out of the showers and bathroom taps - The camera rinse tank also seemed to be the general pool of washing the boat water - I saw the crew dipping brooms in there to wash the boat - so it was pretty disgusting by the end of the week. The crew also do not give the camers a good rinse - they quickly swish them in the murk and put them on the table. There ARE showers on the dive deck - I would recommended using these for rinsing cameras.
The dive guides are very knowledgable but they failed to take care of relatively inexperienced diver that was on the trip and toward the end of the week one got so drunk he was unable to get up the next morning to make to dive and so the days plans were switch the do land tours first - again we didn`t miss any dives through it and it wasn`t a massive deal - It just didn`t sit well with me.
Other examples of the lack of professionalism include a crew member putting on a porn DVD while I was in the lounge in the afternoon and 3 or 4 random friends of the dive guide sleeping in the lounge on the last night.
The boat is advertised as being a year old - it appears older - some of the door handles are broken - my cabin door had a split thro which day light was visable + the reading lights were loose. The lounge sofas smelled very musty and were all damp to sit on - one corner of the lounge smelled heavily of something like WD40 the whole trip = I never figured out what it was. It`s unclear if the damp was from people sitting in the lounge with wet gear on or from water leaking in thro the windows. But the general smell for me made it an unpleasent place to sit. The lounge area is MUCH bigger than the Aggressor but it also means that you lose the cosy feel of the Aggressor lounge - you have to practically shout at the person accross from you ! The dining area is larger also - again there is seeminly no restriction on sitting in here with wet clothes on and as the first dives were always before breakfast people were always sitting in here with damp clothes.
The sleeping area of the cabins are more or less equivalent in size to the Aggressor - the bathrooms are bigger. The boat is advertised as having A/C through-out - which is does - they even have all the dials and buttons in each cabin which do absolutly NOTHING - best I can tell is the A/C is centrally controlled which ment it was on full in the early evening when you are trying to rewarm after a days diving and seemed to go off at 3am - just when you need it !
The towels in the cabin are rather cheap and don`t really dry you much but each person gets a bath robe and there are hair dryers in the rooms. All the upstairs cabins developed quite a stink from the heads at the start of the trip - it seemed to clear later in the week - but then we kept the door open most of the time !
The after dive towels are taken upstairs and dryed on a line and brought back down - by the end of the week they had some interesting aromas. I would had preferred if each person was issues a towel if they were going to do that ! The after dive snacks were OK - but often ran out before everyone got something - the hot chocolate always ran out before everyone got a cup.
My biggest gripe with the boat was the battle to get water - the only water available was a large plastic jug sitting in the bar - that was always warm or a small bottle left in the cabin .. sometimes .. also warm. There were no plasitc cups - just small glasses so you had to stand around the bar and get several refills to get properly rehydrated, There were few other soft drinks - just some cans of coke. The fridge it seems was reservered for keeping beer cold ! There was not water easily available to take on the land walks
The food was OK - certainly nowhere close to Aggressor standards - I and a few other folks eat no seafood at all - this the boat knew about - but seemed unprepared for - there was little choice - we had ( horrible ) Tofu on 2 days and boiled chicken pieces on 3 days for dinner. I strongly suggest you tell them far in advance if you have any food requirements and take some snacks of your own - I didn`t starve but I could have eaten more on some occasions !
There is zero carpeting anywhere in the boat - that give the common areas a cold feeling - also - as everyone walks thro in bare wet feet - it gets very slippery - especially the stairs to the downstairs cabins. Also the cabins get slippery when you get out the shower.
The boat has a air compressor - at the start of the week the fills were definatly a bit rough - a slight oily taste and several people with bad headaches after the dive - I mented this and I was told they would change the filters - I don`t know of this happened - the air never tasted good ( but it was better ) + the headaches didn`t come back ! There is no Nitrox on the boat - although there is a book with a long explaination of how they have been screwed by the system supplier - sorry to hear that - but they still don`t have Nitrox !
The boat is fast - and felt pretty good even on the rough crossing back from Darwin - it was pretty stable - more hand holds are needed in the bathrooms and some way of jamming the drawers shuts !
This is just my personal take on the boat - pick your poison as they say !
Zeina
Contributor
Great info there Sealkie!! (some of this stuff is not very appealing :11: )
Thanks for the review :05:
Thanks for the review :05:
OP
kwesler
Contributor
What follows is a long trip report on 7/5-7/12 aboard the Deep Blue. I have omtted the technical details of the dive, opting instead to offer a flavor of what the trip is like:
Galapagos Diary
Monday 7/5/04 Guayaquil, Ecuador 7am
Flew into Simon Bolivar airport midnight last night, after 90 minute flight delay in Miami due to thunderstorms, and an additional hour's delay due to a gate change and no ground crew. After finally taking off, flight was uneventful. We watched the numerous fireworks displays over Florida as we flew out. It is amazing how tiny they looked-like tiny colored blossoms over a glittering garden of city lights. Simon Bolivar airport reminded me of Cozumel, or St. Martin etc. Right through customs, and got our bags fairly quickly. We were tired and pessimistic from the delayed flight-but everything went very well. We were picked right up and the door of the airport, whisked 10 minutes along the 1am barren streets to the Grand Hotel, and checked right in. they had our names and we did not even need the vouchers emailed to us in advance. I put a room service breakfast card on the door, took a quick shower and went right to sleep. Woke up this monring to the knocking of room service at 6:25am (ordered for 6:30) the wakeup call was just as prompt. I am sipping STRONG coffee from a chipped cup as I write. I didn't think to bring a bottle of water, so I am out of luck on that front, but no big deal, as we leave for the airport and the Galapagos at 8:15am
It is the evening. We flew into the islands and arrived 10:15am local. We were met by Antonio and Juan Carlos at the airport after passing through customs and paying the park entrance fee, we traveled by bus to the pier, where we took a "panga" spanish for "open boat" to the Deep Blue. After introductions, we went to our assigned quarters. We are in cabin 5, on the top deck. The cabin is small, decently clean, with two small, hard bunks with drawers underneath them. The head is actually larger than we expected, with a full size stall shower, small sink and oilet, which unfortunatlelt, cannot take toilet paper. The solution to that is a trashcan next to the toilet. The boat has a spacious dive deck, where we each have a spot with two tanks and a cubby. We set up our gear, unpacked and went down for a briefing. We then did a checkout dive on Isla Lobs. Giant stride entry off the back of the boat-the only time we will not be using the pangas, and then 40 mins in 18 FSW. We were surrounded by playful sea lions, who swooped around us, biting playfully at our fins and gear. A current developed at the end of the dive, but finning against it was no problem for anyone in shape. After the dive, we jumped back in the pangas for a shore excursion to look at the sea lions. We then returned to the boat. I showered, then a bunch of us went to shore in San Cristobal for souvenirs and a beer, returning at sunset for a drink and intros to the crew. I could not catch all the names-they came to fast. There is the Captain, who comes from a seafaring family, hShip's engineer, cook and assistant, Carlos, who runs the dining room, Boyo,who along with two others are general crew, and our two dive masters, Antonio Mariano and Juan Carolos. A decent dinner of a white fish followed, then a briefing for tomorrow. We will be getting up at 5:30am for an early dive at North Seymour island..
Tuesday, July 6th, Seymour Norte
Had a rough night-did not sleep much, Spent most of he night reading on deck. Got up at 5am and watched the sun come up, before the 6:20am dive briefing. We geared up and got in the pangas for a five minute trip to the site. Backrolled into the water as a group, as negative as possible due to current. We rode the current along the rocks Saw numerous white tip sharks, who were remarkably unafraid of us, swimming around and between the divers int he group. Nudibranch, wrasse, bleni, angel fish-a lot of ife. The sea floor was spotted with starfish and sea stars as well. A sea lion joined us for part of the dive. We surfaced at the end after a 4 minute stop at 15'. Getting in the panga was interesting in the 2-4' seas.We returned to the boat and had breakfast-eggs and such, then jumped right back on the pangas after 30 minutes for a land excursion. We wandered down a 1.5 mile trail, with blue footed boobies, frigates, sea lions, marine and land iguanas The male and female boobies each sit on the nest, always keeping their backs to the sun. The result is a circle of guano, with the nest in the middle with the chicks. The frigates, referered to as klepto-parasitic, live by stealing from other birds. The male as a large red pouch on his neck.
We returned to the boat, geared up and did anotther dive-same plan as before, Same animals, but we came upon 4 white tip sharks in a group on the bottom. After the dive, A rather inedible lunch, then we were free to laze about while we navigate to Darwin Island . It is now 8:40, and wuill be crossing the equator soon. We will be two days on Darwin, then one on Wolf. We expect to see hammerheads and whale sharks, but need to be careful of sometimes violent downcurrents. Wake up is 6am, brief at 6:20 then in the water,
Wednesday, July 7. Got a good nights sleep and awoke to alarm at 5am. Had coffee and watched the sun come up. We were delayed leaving Seymour Norte, so we did not arrive at Darwin until close to 8:00am, instead of the planned 7am. We had two dive plans, the choice depending on which way the current, which was 2-3 kts, was running. We ended up dropping on the N side of Darwin's Arch, and drifted S to an area on the dive site, Darwin's Rock, known as "The Theater"-it is ledge at about 65' with good handholds. Surrounded by hammerhead sharks, who came within 10-15' of us . We watched the hammerheads the whole time, and hoped for a whale shark, but none had arrived by the time I ran low on air. Bill and I did our ascent with almost everyone else. The last two divers in the water saw a whale shark on their safety stop.
Dive #2 same site same plan. Again, numerous hammerhaeds, and a Galapagos shark joined us. The hammers were getting cleaned by barber fish. The sharks are wounded in the mating process, and the wounds develop parasites. They come to this location to be cleaned. About halfway through, a 50' whale shark appeared, and we swam into the blue to meet it. It began a dive, and we followed as deep as 110' before giving up the chase. A breathtaking sight! We came back to the boat for lunch, and I am writing this before our next dive. We are hoping to do 4 today...people are TIRED!It is now the evening of the 7th. The third and fourth dive the current was extremely strong-4-5 kts according to Juan Carlos (DM). We dropped on the boulder field and pulled ourselves hand over hand to the edge of the plateau and hung on for dear life. It was worth it, as huge schools of hammer heads went by, We then let the current carry us into the blue. As we hung in the water column, a 40' whale shark swam by right below us. A once in a lifetime dive! Bill was down with the hammerheads, about 10' below, when the hammerheads scattered and the whale shark appeared right between Bill's legs, passing beneath him, 10' below.
We returned to the boat after our safety stop and ascent for a 60 minute SI The fourth dive was as tough as the third, with the same ripping current. Same plan as before-pulling ourselves hand over hand along the rocks against the current until we could look over the edge of the plateau. WE watched a sea turtle fight currrent before it gave up and was carried away. We then let go and were swept into the blue where we were carried in the middle of the water column, blue water all around us, until our ascent.
We returned to the boat for a quick dinner. It is now 8:45. Bill is already asleep, and I will be turning out the light when I am done this log. tomorrow, Antonio wants to beat the other boats to Darwin's Arch, so we plan to dive at 6am-wake up at 5:15. The plan is then to snorkel with the sea lions, lunch, dive, dive then snorkel again.
Galapagos Diary
Monday 7/5/04 Guayaquil, Ecuador 7am
Flew into Simon Bolivar airport midnight last night, after 90 minute flight delay in Miami due to thunderstorms, and an additional hour's delay due to a gate change and no ground crew. After finally taking off, flight was uneventful. We watched the numerous fireworks displays over Florida as we flew out. It is amazing how tiny they looked-like tiny colored blossoms over a glittering garden of city lights. Simon Bolivar airport reminded me of Cozumel, or St. Martin etc. Right through customs, and got our bags fairly quickly. We were tired and pessimistic from the delayed flight-but everything went very well. We were picked right up and the door of the airport, whisked 10 minutes along the 1am barren streets to the Grand Hotel, and checked right in. they had our names and we did not even need the vouchers emailed to us in advance. I put a room service breakfast card on the door, took a quick shower and went right to sleep. Woke up this monring to the knocking of room service at 6:25am (ordered for 6:30) the wakeup call was just as prompt. I am sipping STRONG coffee from a chipped cup as I write. I didn't think to bring a bottle of water, so I am out of luck on that front, but no big deal, as we leave for the airport and the Galapagos at 8:15am
It is the evening. We flew into the islands and arrived 10:15am local. We were met by Antonio and Juan Carlos at the airport after passing through customs and paying the park entrance fee, we traveled by bus to the pier, where we took a "panga" spanish for "open boat" to the Deep Blue. After introductions, we went to our assigned quarters. We are in cabin 5, on the top deck. The cabin is small, decently clean, with two small, hard bunks with drawers underneath them. The head is actually larger than we expected, with a full size stall shower, small sink and oilet, which unfortunatlelt, cannot take toilet paper. The solution to that is a trashcan next to the toilet. The boat has a spacious dive deck, where we each have a spot with two tanks and a cubby. We set up our gear, unpacked and went down for a briefing. We then did a checkout dive on Isla Lobs. Giant stride entry off the back of the boat-the only time we will not be using the pangas, and then 40 mins in 18 FSW. We were surrounded by playful sea lions, who swooped around us, biting playfully at our fins and gear. A current developed at the end of the dive, but finning against it was no problem for anyone in shape. After the dive, we jumped back in the pangas for a shore excursion to look at the sea lions. We then returned to the boat. I showered, then a bunch of us went to shore in San Cristobal for souvenirs and a beer, returning at sunset for a drink and intros to the crew. I could not catch all the names-they came to fast. There is the Captain, who comes from a seafaring family, hShip's engineer, cook and assistant, Carlos, who runs the dining room, Boyo,who along with two others are general crew, and our two dive masters, Antonio Mariano and Juan Carolos. A decent dinner of a white fish followed, then a briefing for tomorrow. We will be getting up at 5:30am for an early dive at North Seymour island..
Tuesday, July 6th, Seymour Norte
Had a rough night-did not sleep much, Spent most of he night reading on deck. Got up at 5am and watched the sun come up, before the 6:20am dive briefing. We geared up and got in the pangas for a five minute trip to the site. Backrolled into the water as a group, as negative as possible due to current. We rode the current along the rocks Saw numerous white tip sharks, who were remarkably unafraid of us, swimming around and between the divers int he group. Nudibranch, wrasse, bleni, angel fish-a lot of ife. The sea floor was spotted with starfish and sea stars as well. A sea lion joined us for part of the dive. We surfaced at the end after a 4 minute stop at 15'. Getting in the panga was interesting in the 2-4' seas.We returned to the boat and had breakfast-eggs and such, then jumped right back on the pangas after 30 minutes for a land excursion. We wandered down a 1.5 mile trail, with blue footed boobies, frigates, sea lions, marine and land iguanas The male and female boobies each sit on the nest, always keeping their backs to the sun. The result is a circle of guano, with the nest in the middle with the chicks. The frigates, referered to as klepto-parasitic, live by stealing from other birds. The male as a large red pouch on his neck.
We returned to the boat, geared up and did anotther dive-same plan as before, Same animals, but we came upon 4 white tip sharks in a group on the bottom. After the dive, A rather inedible lunch, then we were free to laze about while we navigate to Darwin Island . It is now 8:40, and wuill be crossing the equator soon. We will be two days on Darwin, then one on Wolf. We expect to see hammerheads and whale sharks, but need to be careful of sometimes violent downcurrents. Wake up is 6am, brief at 6:20 then in the water,
Wednesday, July 7. Got a good nights sleep and awoke to alarm at 5am. Had coffee and watched the sun come up. We were delayed leaving Seymour Norte, so we did not arrive at Darwin until close to 8:00am, instead of the planned 7am. We had two dive plans, the choice depending on which way the current, which was 2-3 kts, was running. We ended up dropping on the N side of Darwin's Arch, and drifted S to an area on the dive site, Darwin's Rock, known as "The Theater"-it is ledge at about 65' with good handholds. Surrounded by hammerhead sharks, who came within 10-15' of us . We watched the hammerheads the whole time, and hoped for a whale shark, but none had arrived by the time I ran low on air. Bill and I did our ascent with almost everyone else. The last two divers in the water saw a whale shark on their safety stop.
Dive #2 same site same plan. Again, numerous hammerhaeds, and a Galapagos shark joined us. The hammers were getting cleaned by barber fish. The sharks are wounded in the mating process, and the wounds develop parasites. They come to this location to be cleaned. About halfway through, a 50' whale shark appeared, and we swam into the blue to meet it. It began a dive, and we followed as deep as 110' before giving up the chase. A breathtaking sight! We came back to the boat for lunch, and I am writing this before our next dive. We are hoping to do 4 today...people are TIRED!It is now the evening of the 7th. The third and fourth dive the current was extremely strong-4-5 kts according to Juan Carlos (DM). We dropped on the boulder field and pulled ourselves hand over hand to the edge of the plateau and hung on for dear life. It was worth it, as huge schools of hammer heads went by, We then let the current carry us into the blue. As we hung in the water column, a 40' whale shark swam by right below us. A once in a lifetime dive! Bill was down with the hammerheads, about 10' below, when the hammerheads scattered and the whale shark appeared right between Bill's legs, passing beneath him, 10' below.
We returned to the boat after our safety stop and ascent for a 60 minute SI The fourth dive was as tough as the third, with the same ripping current. Same plan as before-pulling ourselves hand over hand along the rocks against the current until we could look over the edge of the plateau. WE watched a sea turtle fight currrent before it gave up and was carried away. We then let go and were swept into the blue where we were carried in the middle of the water column, blue water all around us, until our ascent.
We returned to the boat for a quick dinner. It is now 8:45. Bill is already asleep, and I will be turning out the light when I am done this log. tomorrow, Antonio wants to beat the other boats to Darwin's Arch, so we plan to dive at 6am-wake up at 5:15. The plan is then to snorkel with the sea lions, lunch, dive, dive then snorkel again.
OP
kwesler
Contributor
Galapagos trip report continued
Thursday, July 8. Just after breakfast. Got up at 4:30 in order to have some time before 5:15 wake up call. Relaxed with coffee on deck-enjoyed the rare privacy and quiet. After wake up call, suited up and we were in the water by 6:40. Same as b4, on the plateua. Water was clearer, as is usual in early morning. Watched the hammers, then a whale shark-small-30' or so, cruised past right in front of me-I fillmed the whole thing. Amazing!!! Watched the hammers some more, then drifted out into the blue. Current was relatively mild-1-2 kts. After less than a minute at about 70', another whale shark passed directly over our heads. It was silhoustted against the sun. Not a bad way to start the day. We finished up with a safety stop, and returned to the panga, then the Deep Blue for breakfast. We dive again in another 35 minutes.
It is now 6:15pm. The second dive was another beauty! Current had increased, but not too bad.We hung onto the rocks and watched hammers come right at us. I was at the end of the line to the north. A whale shark appeared out of the gloom to my left (North) and swam by right in front of me. REally amazing. We then let the current carry us out into the blue, watching the schools of hammers below us. On our safety stop, a dolphin swam around Bill and I. After returning to the Deep Blue on the panga, we offloaded the tanks, grabbed our snorkels and headed about 100' off the boat where there is a sea lion group. We swam with them a bit, until the male starting barking at us-warning us to leave, which we did.Did dive three then settled down with a glass of wine and a book for the past two hours. Night is falling now, Tomorrow we are off to Wolf Island.
It is now after dinner. We navigate to Wolf tonight, and plan a 6:30 am dive, then breakfast, another dive, lunch, and then a third, before we sail south again. On a down note, intestinal distress has affected three of the group.Cipro seems to have cleared it up for those who had the drug.
The weather has been great, the dives fascinating, and except for a strong bilge odor, the boat has been just fine. Bill calls the food "summer camp cooking" and he is probably right, but it is filling and we are all so hungry we don't care.
Friday, July 9th 4:00pm
We have weighed anchor and sailed from Wolf Island. Bill and I were awakened at 3am by the violent rocking of the boat, as we made the passage from Darwin. Our cabin door latch was broken, and the door swung open and slammed shut repeatedly. Bill finally tied ti shut with the cord from a hair drier. I of course was up, and went down to the galley for coffee at 4am. The rest of the boat awakend between 5 and 6am. We did an early dive on Wolf. The water was quite rough, with 5-7 foot waves which tossed us mercilessly in the panga. The dive was great. We clung to the rocks against the current and watched hammerheadsand Galapagos sharks cruise by. We even saw a sea turtle as well.
Getting back aboard the panga was an interesting experience, but we managed. We returned to the boat for breakfast and a rest before the next dive, which was similiar. We then ate lunch, and dove again. Thje viz had gone bad however, so we just did a long slow drift at about 60'. Bill and I passed notes to each other as we drifted, and managed to spend most of the dive laughing. I have hung my dry suit undies out to air, as my neck seal has sretched out, and they are getting wet every dive. The stench is really quite remarkable! I am going to read a bit now, before dinner.
8:20pm
After a virtually inedible meal, I had a rather exciting trip to the top deck to retrieve my dry suit undies. I am going to turn in now. We are not diving until after breakfast, so it is going to be an easy morning. We are going to Cousins .
Saturday, 7/10 6pm
We had another rough passage last night. Bill, Simeon and several others were seasick all day from the tossing of the night before. It was an easy day fortunately...I woke up on my own around 6am, and went down (staggered down truthfully) to the galley for coffee. The rest of our band of adventurers woke up at various times before the 8am briefing. We had breakfast then went diving on Cousin's Rock, the remains of a volcano crater at 9am. A very easy dive...virtually no current, and the eroded lip of the volcano goes from 70 feet, where we started, to 15', so it is a built in safety stop at the end, instead of floating in the blue at 15' in a heavy current. We were able to end the dive looking at the numerous star fish, sea lions, turtles, and corals. The whole dive was beautirful. We even saw a seahorse. I played with a sea lion for a while, She and I did summersaults and spins and turns. She seemed delighted to have someone to play with. The water was very cold-67 degrees-so Bill and I were the only comfortable ones in our drysuits. We are so tired that getting in the pangas at the end was a real challenge.
We came back to the boat for a surface interval, then did another dive that mirrored the first. We then had lunch and did a land excursion on Bartolome. This island is uninhabited, although there is a small colony of penguins and sea lions on it. It is relatively new-20,000 years old, and is basically a large hunk of pumice in the Pacific. The remains of the volcanic cones are quite obvious. We hiked to the topy of the island. The view was spectacular-a vast moonlike sea of ash.
We are now navigating to Puerto Ayora. There are even fouler smells than usual coming from the galley. Bill has already decided to forgo dinner, and the rest of us have been giving each other appaled looks each time the wind brings the smelll our way!
It is now 8:30pm, close to bedtime._
Sunday, July 11
An unfortunate last day of a great adventure. I woke up at 5am violently ill. I caught whatever has been going around the boat. It is now 9:55am and it seems to be slacking off a bit. I took immodium, Cipro and emetrol immediately, but they have had no effect. We all believe it is viral, based on the symptoms, and in these cramped quarters, it was unlikely any of us would avoid it. At least I didi not get it in th enext few days...while the motion and odors of the shoip are a far cry from the comforts of home, I at least do not have to deal with all the travel the NEXT three days entail!
As I write, I am missing the final dive of the trip...it is into a submerged volcano crater, and I was really looking forward to it. Laxst night we had a lecture on the geologic formation of the Galapagos.. Feeling too sick to continue...more later
It is now 7:30 in the evening our last night aboard Deep Blue. My stomach finally started behaving around 3pm, but I unfortunately spent the last day on my back...ah well.
We had a farewell toast, shook hands, distributed tips, and now the rest of the passengers are sitting down to dinner. I will be reading in our cabin...
Tomorrow, breakfast is at 7am, then we are off the boat and begin the stages of returning home. Tomorrow to Guayaquil, then Tuesday to Miami, and finally home on Wednesday.
This trip has been everything I hoped for. No one who has not done these kinds of dives can hope to understand the feeling of sailing into the blue ocean, riding a 4 kt current, through a school of hammerheads, and then looking down to see a hwale shark gliding majesticaLLY by. Or diving with sea lions-playing with them as they nibble on your fins. These are truly the "Enchanted Islands" as they were originally named..
Thursday, July 8. Just after breakfast. Got up at 4:30 in order to have some time before 5:15 wake up call. Relaxed with coffee on deck-enjoyed the rare privacy and quiet. After wake up call, suited up and we were in the water by 6:40. Same as b4, on the plateua. Water was clearer, as is usual in early morning. Watched the hammers, then a whale shark-small-30' or so, cruised past right in front of me-I fillmed the whole thing. Amazing!!! Watched the hammers some more, then drifted out into the blue. Current was relatively mild-1-2 kts. After less than a minute at about 70', another whale shark passed directly over our heads. It was silhoustted against the sun. Not a bad way to start the day. We finished up with a safety stop, and returned to the panga, then the Deep Blue for breakfast. We dive again in another 35 minutes.
It is now 6:15pm. The second dive was another beauty! Current had increased, but not too bad.We hung onto the rocks and watched hammers come right at us. I was at the end of the line to the north. A whale shark appeared out of the gloom to my left (North) and swam by right in front of me. REally amazing. We then let the current carry us out into the blue, watching the schools of hammers below us. On our safety stop, a dolphin swam around Bill and I. After returning to the Deep Blue on the panga, we offloaded the tanks, grabbed our snorkels and headed about 100' off the boat where there is a sea lion group. We swam with them a bit, until the male starting barking at us-warning us to leave, which we did.Did dive three then settled down with a glass of wine and a book for the past two hours. Night is falling now, Tomorrow we are off to Wolf Island.
It is now after dinner. We navigate to Wolf tonight, and plan a 6:30 am dive, then breakfast, another dive, lunch, and then a third, before we sail south again. On a down note, intestinal distress has affected three of the group.Cipro seems to have cleared it up for those who had the drug.
The weather has been great, the dives fascinating, and except for a strong bilge odor, the boat has been just fine. Bill calls the food "summer camp cooking" and he is probably right, but it is filling and we are all so hungry we don't care.
Friday, July 9th 4:00pm
We have weighed anchor and sailed from Wolf Island. Bill and I were awakened at 3am by the violent rocking of the boat, as we made the passage from Darwin. Our cabin door latch was broken, and the door swung open and slammed shut repeatedly. Bill finally tied ti shut with the cord from a hair drier. I of course was up, and went down to the galley for coffee at 4am. The rest of the boat awakend between 5 and 6am. We did an early dive on Wolf. The water was quite rough, with 5-7 foot waves which tossed us mercilessly in the panga. The dive was great. We clung to the rocks against the current and watched hammerheadsand Galapagos sharks cruise by. We even saw a sea turtle as well.
Getting back aboard the panga was an interesting experience, but we managed. We returned to the boat for breakfast and a rest before the next dive, which was similiar. We then ate lunch, and dove again. Thje viz had gone bad however, so we just did a long slow drift at about 60'. Bill and I passed notes to each other as we drifted, and managed to spend most of the dive laughing. I have hung my dry suit undies out to air, as my neck seal has sretched out, and they are getting wet every dive. The stench is really quite remarkable! I am going to read a bit now, before dinner.
8:20pm
After a virtually inedible meal, I had a rather exciting trip to the top deck to retrieve my dry suit undies. I am going to turn in now. We are not diving until after breakfast, so it is going to be an easy morning. We are going to Cousins .
Saturday, 7/10 6pm
We had another rough passage last night. Bill, Simeon and several others were seasick all day from the tossing of the night before. It was an easy day fortunately...I woke up on my own around 6am, and went down (staggered down truthfully) to the galley for coffee. The rest of our band of adventurers woke up at various times before the 8am briefing. We had breakfast then went diving on Cousin's Rock, the remains of a volcano crater at 9am. A very easy dive...virtually no current, and the eroded lip of the volcano goes from 70 feet, where we started, to 15', so it is a built in safety stop at the end, instead of floating in the blue at 15' in a heavy current. We were able to end the dive looking at the numerous star fish, sea lions, turtles, and corals. The whole dive was beautirful. We even saw a seahorse. I played with a sea lion for a while, She and I did summersaults and spins and turns. She seemed delighted to have someone to play with. The water was very cold-67 degrees-so Bill and I were the only comfortable ones in our drysuits. We are so tired that getting in the pangas at the end was a real challenge.
We came back to the boat for a surface interval, then did another dive that mirrored the first. We then had lunch and did a land excursion on Bartolome. This island is uninhabited, although there is a small colony of penguins and sea lions on it. It is relatively new-20,000 years old, and is basically a large hunk of pumice in the Pacific. The remains of the volcanic cones are quite obvious. We hiked to the topy of the island. The view was spectacular-a vast moonlike sea of ash.
We are now navigating to Puerto Ayora. There are even fouler smells than usual coming from the galley. Bill has already decided to forgo dinner, and the rest of us have been giving each other appaled looks each time the wind brings the smelll our way!
It is now 8:30pm, close to bedtime._
Sunday, July 11
An unfortunate last day of a great adventure. I woke up at 5am violently ill. I caught whatever has been going around the boat. It is now 9:55am and it seems to be slacking off a bit. I took immodium, Cipro and emetrol immediately, but they have had no effect. We all believe it is viral, based on the symptoms, and in these cramped quarters, it was unlikely any of us would avoid it. At least I didi not get it in th enext few days...while the motion and odors of the shoip are a far cry from the comforts of home, I at least do not have to deal with all the travel the NEXT three days entail!
As I write, I am missing the final dive of the trip...it is into a submerged volcano crater, and I was really looking forward to it. Laxst night we had a lecture on the geologic formation of the Galapagos.. Feeling too sick to continue...more later
It is now 7:30 in the evening our last night aboard Deep Blue. My stomach finally started behaving around 3pm, but I unfortunately spent the last day on my back...ah well.
We had a farewell toast, shook hands, distributed tips, and now the rest of the passengers are sitting down to dinner. I will be reading in our cabin...
Tomorrow, breakfast is at 7am, then we are off the boat and begin the stages of returning home. Tomorrow to Guayaquil, then Tuesday to Miami, and finally home on Wednesday.
This trip has been everything I hoped for. No one who has not done these kinds of dives can hope to understand the feeling of sailing into the blue ocean, riding a 4 kt current, through a school of hammerheads, and then looking down to see a hwale shark gliding majesticaLLY by. Or diving with sea lions-playing with them as they nibble on your fins. These are truly the "Enchanted Islands" as they were originally named..
OP
kwesler
Contributor
Galapagos trip report final post
7/13-Grand Hotel, Guayaquil
It is 5:55am and I waiting for my breakfast. The room still sways under my feet despite being of the boat since 8:30am yesterday. My stomach still could not handle food yesterdasy morning, after another very rough crossing that woke us all up around 12:30 am. Bill and I dozed on and off in our cabin until 5am. We then finished packing, and just hung around the salon until we disembarked at 8:30. We took a walk around the town with Derek and Laurie until the bus came at 9:45 to take us to the airport. The trip, including being met at Simon Bolivar in Guayaquil was uneventful. When I got to the hotel room, I took a nap and awoke very hungry after 48 hours without eating. I've clearly lost weight this trip! I met Bill, our 4 Japanese friends, Bob and Holly Renegar, Brett, and Simeon in the lobby at 6:30, and we walked to a spanish restauratn the Derek and Laurie had recommended. Those two were off to Peru from the airport, so we had said our goodbyes earlier. It was a fantastic meal, despite the fact we wpoke only rudimentary spanish (and Japanese) and he waiters speaking spanish. We ordered a dozen diferent tapas dishes for the table and feasted, along with consuming 5 bottles of red wine. I then had a dish of paella, for which I had a craving all day.
We were there from 7-10 and had just a terrific time. It was a great end Io the trip. I talked rock and roll with Ishi, and diving and cooking with Simeon.
My room service coffee and danish should be here any minute, then it is off to the airport for the next leg of the journey home.
7:23am Miami
I am awaiting breakfast, and this will be the last entry. The physical discomforts of the trip sare of course fading. What I am left with is pride that I took on a challenge successfully, wonder and the things I have seen, and a deeper then ever feeling that there is a world out there that has existed before us, now exists alongside us, of which we are blithely ignorant, and which will, unless in our folly we destroy, continue to the very ends of time. We only experience it by hiking the Appalachian Trail, or climbing a mountain, or diving to the challenging depths. Most of us are uncomfortable with its very existence, because it reminds us that we are a part of this world, not its masters. We have the power to destroy its wonders, but never to control them.
To summarize: The Deep Blue is extremely well kept and well run in every area except food, which really is a problem-little or no snacks, they charge for soft drinks (and only seem to have regular Coke) and the meals are half bad and half completely inedible. Howver, the diving is fantastic, the organization of the trip is extraordinary-we were literally guided every step from baggage claim on arrival in Guayaquil to getting back on the plane at Guayaquil at the end.
The guides on the boat-Juan Carlos and Antonio Mariano, are terrific-Antonio is truly amazing-I would put up with anything to dive with him in the lead again.
If you are looking to do a DIVE TRIP then I strongle recommend this one. They design challenging dives for good divers. The boat is excellent, and I suspect they will deal with the food issues. Bilge odors are par for the course, I think, and the little other inconveniences like doorknobs falling off (mentioned above) and uncotrolled air conditioning are small prices to pay for the great diving. We saw divers from another prominent company, and their DMs kept them out of the blue, so they didn't see half the whale sharks we did!
Other stuff:
Most dives went right to NDLs and gas limits. You surfaced with your buddy when you reached a limiting factor and got on board the panga. With a few early thumbers, most of us ended each dive after 40-50 mins
Depths were generally in the 60-90 foot range. Avg depths tended to be on the shallow end.
Water temps were mid-60s (Cousings Rock) to mid-70s (Darwin). My buddy and I were the only dry divers on board-everyone else was comfortable in heavy wet suits and hoods on all but the 4 (out of 14) dives.
My cost all in was about $4,000 for the boat, tips, air from Philadelphia/Miami/Guayaquil and the few meals not included. I also overnighted in Miami each way.
Itinerary:
Day 1-Fly from Philadelphia to Miami
Day 2-Miami to Guayaquil-land late night and overnight
Day 3-Guayaquil to Galapagos-check out dive and land visit Isla Lobos
Day 4-Dive and land visit Seymour Norte
Day 5 & 6-Darwin
Day 7-Wolf
Day 8-Cousins Rock dives-land visit Bartolome
Day 9-Darwin Research station land visit after morning dive to volcanic crater
Day 10-Disembark 8am and fly to Guayaquil-overnight
Day 11-Guayaquil to Miami
Day 12 Miami to Philadelphia.
Ken
7/13-Grand Hotel, Guayaquil
It is 5:55am and I waiting for my breakfast. The room still sways under my feet despite being of the boat since 8:30am yesterday. My stomach still could not handle food yesterdasy morning, after another very rough crossing that woke us all up around 12:30 am. Bill and I dozed on and off in our cabin until 5am. We then finished packing, and just hung around the salon until we disembarked at 8:30. We took a walk around the town with Derek and Laurie until the bus came at 9:45 to take us to the airport. The trip, including being met at Simon Bolivar in Guayaquil was uneventful. When I got to the hotel room, I took a nap and awoke very hungry after 48 hours without eating. I've clearly lost weight this trip! I met Bill, our 4 Japanese friends, Bob and Holly Renegar, Brett, and Simeon in the lobby at 6:30, and we walked to a spanish restauratn the Derek and Laurie had recommended. Those two were off to Peru from the airport, so we had said our goodbyes earlier. It was a fantastic meal, despite the fact we wpoke only rudimentary spanish (and Japanese) and he waiters speaking spanish. We ordered a dozen diferent tapas dishes for the table and feasted, along with consuming 5 bottles of red wine. I then had a dish of paella, for which I had a craving all day.
We were there from 7-10 and had just a terrific time. It was a great end Io the trip. I talked rock and roll with Ishi, and diving and cooking with Simeon.
My room service coffee and danish should be here any minute, then it is off to the airport for the next leg of the journey home.
7:23am Miami
I am awaiting breakfast, and this will be the last entry. The physical discomforts of the trip sare of course fading. What I am left with is pride that I took on a challenge successfully, wonder and the things I have seen, and a deeper then ever feeling that there is a world out there that has existed before us, now exists alongside us, of which we are blithely ignorant, and which will, unless in our folly we destroy, continue to the very ends of time. We only experience it by hiking the Appalachian Trail, or climbing a mountain, or diving to the challenging depths. Most of us are uncomfortable with its very existence, because it reminds us that we are a part of this world, not its masters. We have the power to destroy its wonders, but never to control them.
To summarize: The Deep Blue is extremely well kept and well run in every area except food, which really is a problem-little or no snacks, they charge for soft drinks (and only seem to have regular Coke) and the meals are half bad and half completely inedible. Howver, the diving is fantastic, the organization of the trip is extraordinary-we were literally guided every step from baggage claim on arrival in Guayaquil to getting back on the plane at Guayaquil at the end.
The guides on the boat-Juan Carlos and Antonio Mariano, are terrific-Antonio is truly amazing-I would put up with anything to dive with him in the lead again.
If you are looking to do a DIVE TRIP then I strongle recommend this one. They design challenging dives for good divers. The boat is excellent, and I suspect they will deal with the food issues. Bilge odors are par for the course, I think, and the little other inconveniences like doorknobs falling off (mentioned above) and uncotrolled air conditioning are small prices to pay for the great diving. We saw divers from another prominent company, and their DMs kept them out of the blue, so they didn't see half the whale sharks we did!
Other stuff:
Most dives went right to NDLs and gas limits. You surfaced with your buddy when you reached a limiting factor and got on board the panga. With a few early thumbers, most of us ended each dive after 40-50 mins
Depths were generally in the 60-90 foot range. Avg depths tended to be on the shallow end.
Water temps were mid-60s (Cousings Rock) to mid-70s (Darwin). My buddy and I were the only dry divers on board-everyone else was comfortable in heavy wet suits and hoods on all but the 4 (out of 14) dives.
My cost all in was about $4,000 for the boat, tips, air from Philadelphia/Miami/Guayaquil and the few meals not included. I also overnighted in Miami each way.
Itinerary:
Day 1-Fly from Philadelphia to Miami
Day 2-Miami to Guayaquil-land late night and overnight
Day 3-Guayaquil to Galapagos-check out dive and land visit Isla Lobos
Day 4-Dive and land visit Seymour Norte
Day 5 & 6-Darwin
Day 7-Wolf
Day 8-Cousins Rock dives-land visit Bartolome
Day 9-Darwin Research station land visit after morning dive to volcanic crater
Day 10-Disembark 8am and fly to Guayaquil-overnight
Day 11-Guayaquil to Miami
Day 12 Miami to Philadelphia.
Ken
charmygirl
Contributor
Great report. Doesn't sound like the "Deep Blue" is up my alley even though I was considering it. I will wait until they fix the food issues.
K
K
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