Pro's And Con's Between Galapagos, Socorro, Coco Or Malpelo

[Freewillow]

Hello,

I wanted to put this subject in the travel destination but I cannot find a suitable place. If a moderator wants to move it, fair with me.

If one of you has been to at least two of these places, know for diving with a huge amount of pelagic and in particular, large schools of hammersharks, please speak up.

I am interested to know what is positive and less positive about these 4 places in order to take a decision for one of them. We are both 66 years old, quite experienced divers, but we do believe that we do not have too many years ahead of us, in order to fulfill this dream.

Thank you

 

[jjwebster]

I see you are based in Europe, are you aware you can see schools of Hammerheads in Egypt?

Not quite as abundant as you would see in as the places listed in your thread title, but easier to travel to and probably cheaper.

But to contribute to your questions, I did meet one diver who had done Galapagos and Socorro, he preferred Socorro. He said the diving was comparable but Socorro was cheaper.

 

[hutchinson12]

I have done a Liveaboard in the Galapagos and Cocos both with the Aggressor.

Galapagos:
I visited the Galapagos in January, the temperature averaged around 20 degrees. Most people were in either 7mm wetsuits or semi-dry suits. Wolf and Darwin were outstanding, we had schools of up to 300 hammerheads up close on a couple of the dives. We also had a school of Mobula rays (the dive guide said he had never seen anything like that... 500+) We had a few Mantas and Eagle Rays as well as Galapagos shark. We may have been lucky as I spoke to somebody who also went to the Galapagos and they saw nothing.
There was lots of surge and current. The other diving was mostly average other then a couple of stand out dives with the marine iguanas and sea lions. The Red Lipped Bat fish were also very cool. I would say 50% of the diving was the best i have ever done and 50% was forgettable.
I wasn't very impressed with the Aggressor, the organisation wasn't great and they didn't have all the equipment (wetsuits/ torches/cameras) that the guests had requested. We also lost a dive at Wolf which could have been avoided.. very annoying. I've heard better things about the Hunter.
I think there are restrictions on how many dives you can have at Wolf & Darwin but try and find a Liveaboard who offer the most dives at these places. There are some interesting islands you can visit before or after to see the wildlife.

Cocos:
The beauty about Cocos was the temperature was around 28 degrees for the whole trip (September) The crossing is long and can be quite rough but we didn't have it too bad. The diving was quite similar to Wolf & Darwin with the hammerhead schools but not quite as close up and not quite as many. We saw hammerheads on most dives and we also saw a couple of Whale sharks.. also dolphins. There was something quite special about Cocos island, I would love to go back as we were told we didn't see it at it's best. There were divers on board who did the trip every year and they said they had seen schools of 300+ hammerheads along with lots of Whalesharks & Orca's!
The Aggressor was good, the staff were great. Rooms a little dated but its a boat built for the crossing! Again, heard good things about Hunter.
We also visited Monteverde, Manuel Antonio and Arenal which were all excellent.

I don't think you can go wrong with either of these places, I loved both places and would do both trips again in an instant but I think I preferred cocos because you were not restricted to the hammerhead dives and also the temperature was much better then the Galapagos.

Be careful with El Nino if you are booking this trip soon... do some research to see what effects this has had.

I would love to visit Malpelo and Socorro so looking forward to see some reviews on these places!!

 

[BDSC]

I have dove Cocos twice and the Socorros once. The single most exciting dive I've ever done was a recent trip to Cocos where we watched sharks, dolphins, and tuna pound a baitball for several minutes.

The overall best dive trip I have taken in my 25 years of diving was to the Socorro Islands. We had numerous encounters with sharks, whale sharks, mantas, and dolphins. The dolphin encounters were unlike anything I have ever seen. They would swim right up to you and check you out. I mean like two feet away from you. Simply amazing. We went to the Socorros trip in early November. The water was warm and it's your best chance to see whale sharks.

Highly recommend either of these destinations but like someone said, the Socorro trip will probably cost less.

 

[BDSC]

We are both 66 years old, quite experienced divers, but we do believe that we do not have too many years ahead of us, in order to fulfill this dream.Thank you

I give you another 15 to 20 years of good diving my friend. Do them all!!!!!!

 

[ronscuba]

I have dove Cocos twice and the Socorros once. The single most exciting dive I've ever done was a recent trip to Cocos where we watched sharks, dolphins, and tuna pound a baitball for several minutes.

The overall best dive trip I have taken in my 25 years of diving was to the Socorro Islands. We had numerous encounters with sharks, whale sharks, mantas, and dolphins. The dolphin encounters were unlike anything I have ever seen. They would swim right up to you and check you out. I mean like two feet away from you. Simply amazing. We went to the Socorros trip in early November. The water was warm and it's your best chance to see whale sharks.

Highly recommend either of these destinations but like someone said, the Socorro trip will probably cost less.

Sounds great. What were the temps you had in Soccorro, what year did you go and what boat ? Would love to hear more details.

 

[BDSC]

I went in November of 2014 on the Rocio Del Mar. It was the first trip of the season. Water temps were 80 to 82 if I remember right. I booked the boat two years in advance to get the very first trip as I had read that the water is the warmest and you have your best chance at seeing whale sharks. We did!

The boat and crew are great and the food is excellent. I'm in the process of trying to book it now for the first trip of the 2019 season as you have to book that far in advance to get the entire boat!

 

[ronscuba]

I went in November of 2014 on the Rocio Del Mar. It was the first trip of the season. Water temps were 80 to 82 if I remember right. I booked the boat two years in advance to get the very first trip as I had read that the water is the warmest and you have your best chance at seeing whale sharks. We did!

The boat and crew are great and the food is excellent. I'm in the process of trying to book it now for the first trip of the 2019 season as you have to book that far in advance to get the entire boat!

Thanks, good to know.

You also posted good experiences on that boat for Midriff Islands as well. Have to add both destinations to my list.