Hi all, we are headed to Galapagos in July for a naturalist cruise. However we will be arriving a few days early to get in some land-based diving. Any recommendations whether Puerto Ayora or Baquerizo has better variety of sites for land-based diving? Our cruise already visits Puerto Ayora on one of its days, so I'm leaning towards staying in Puerto Baquerizo on our own for the dives. We're both advanced and experienced divers but honestly would rather dive comfortable/easier spots, no need for big surge spots. Thanks!
Puerto Ayora or Puerto Baquerizo for Galapagos land-based diving?
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cephalopod2
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Hi cwan,
I have dove land-based from San Cristobal (Puerto Baquerizo Moreno), Santa Cruz (Puerto Ayora) and Isabela before/after liveaboard trips. I have also dove the Santa Cruz sites by liveaboard back when that was still possible.
San Cristobal has more limited dive site options compared to Santa Cruz. Most people argue the best land-based Galapagos diving is at Gordon's Rocks (good for hammerheads but runs hot and cold) which runs out of Santa Cruz. There's only one great dive spot out of San Cristobal, Leon Dormido/Kicker Rock, which I loved, and there are at least two dive sites there, so it might be possible to dive it for more than one day if that's what you want to do (you may be repeating sites).
As for conditions, I haven't had serious current at Kicker Rock. For temps I had 70 F one trip and another trip high 50s, both trips in Dec.
The worst current/surge/low vis combo I experienced on sites you can dive land-based was at Gordon's Rocks. I haven't seen serious current at any other Santa Cruz site.
Given what you said you're looking for, the other factor you may want to consider is how much time a two tank trip takes. San Cristobal you can be back by midday. When I dove Santa Cruz land-based it was a full day just for two 55 min dives because we were driving across the island twice every day to and from the boats, plus more time spent commuting to the shop in the morning, waiting for everyone to get ready, etc. One summary of a Santa Cruz schedule is here.
If you dive any other sites out of San Cristobel besides Kicker Rock I'd love to hear about them.
Hope you have a fantastic trip.
I have dove land-based from San Cristobal (Puerto Baquerizo Moreno), Santa Cruz (Puerto Ayora) and Isabela before/after liveaboard trips. I have also dove the Santa Cruz sites by liveaboard back when that was still possible.
San Cristobal has more limited dive site options compared to Santa Cruz. Most people argue the best land-based Galapagos diving is at Gordon's Rocks (good for hammerheads but runs hot and cold) which runs out of Santa Cruz. There's only one great dive spot out of San Cristobal, Leon Dormido/Kicker Rock, which I loved, and there are at least two dive sites there, so it might be possible to dive it for more than one day if that's what you want to do (you may be repeating sites).
As for conditions, I haven't had serious current at Kicker Rock. For temps I had 70 F one trip and another trip high 50s, both trips in Dec.
The worst current/surge/low vis combo I experienced on sites you can dive land-based was at Gordon's Rocks. I haven't seen serious current at any other Santa Cruz site.
Given what you said you're looking for, the other factor you may want to consider is how much time a two tank trip takes. San Cristobal you can be back by midday. When I dove Santa Cruz land-based it was a full day just for two 55 min dives because we were driving across the island twice every day to and from the boats, plus more time spent commuting to the shop in the morning, waiting for everyone to get ready, etc. One summary of a Santa Cruz schedule is here.
If you dive any other sites out of San Cristobel besides Kicker Rock I'd love to hear about them.
Hope you have a fantastic trip.
Hi NatashaS! Thanks so much for your insight and detailed reply, I really appreciate it. How were the other Santa Cruz dive sites you visited aside from Gordon's Rocks?
How were your live aboard experiences? This time around my husband and I are doing naturalist cruises, rather than dive cruises. The main reason is we kind of got scared away a bit from friends who've gone diving there. They were three separate friends who had their individual trips during different times of the year. They were all experienced and conscientious divers and had been all over the world. One of them did a live aboard and got the bends out at Darwin/Wolf. The others did a few land-based dives and described surges that spanned the length of a house, (I think one was at Gordon Rocks), one aborted and the other just did one dive at Galapagos total and called it quits. So, despite how much I really want to go see the underwater there, I figured land-based diving would be a smaller commitment. Thanks again for your answers!
cephalopod2
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Hi cwan,
Happy to help.
I dove 5 Galapagos liveaboards spanning 4 different companies between 2006 and 2012. I dove classic Santa Cruz sites like Mosquera, Seymour and Gordon's Rocks on 2006 and 2007 liveaboards and on a week of land-based diving in 2007. I dove Kicker Rock land-based (the only way it's possible to dive it) before 2010 and 2012 liveaboards.
I've had some beautiful moments on Santa Cruz sites including frolicking sea lions very close at Mosquera and a school of >19 mustard rays at Gordon's Rocks. But I have to tell you all of those happened to be on dives I did from a liveaboard. Whether that's a complete coincidence or possibly influenced by factors related to the liveaboard dives (more ideal dive times, smaller groups, smaller and more dispersed bubble clouds, divers physically and auditorily more quiet underwater, more experienced guides) I have no way to determine. Whether you're going to enjoy Santa Cruz sites outside of Gordon's Rocks (GR) will partially depend on what you're looking for underwater. Are you OK with lower vis and cooler water? Are you interested in smaller animals, endemics and fish, or are you mostly looking for larger animals (sharks, rays, turtles, seals), etc. There were white tips on my land-based Santa Cruz dives and occasional hammerheads (mostly at GR), but not Galapagos sharks, black tips, or silkies. I actually had a close hammerhead pass at Mosquera one of my land-based dives but I was way way behind the group at that point (hammerheads are not fond of bubbles). I did do some nice snorkelling with sea lions on a land-based surface interval, and have read reports of people who have had great sea lion experiences on naturalist cruises, so that hopefully you will already have covered.
How were my liveaboard experiences? Blow your mind remember for the rest of your life incredible. It's hard to articulate how profoundly beautiful Darwin and Wolf are. Underwater it's not just the breathtaking schools of hammerheads, there's also the pack of large, muscular Galapagos sharks that circle at Wolf, the black tips, porpoises, schooling eagle rays and incredible numbers of fish. One dive there were barracuda literally from seafloor to surface. I've frequently seen larger schools of jacks or other fish and every time I've dove the schooling eagle ray site at Wolf there has been an endless river of creoles. This is not even including the mammoth whale sharks you will likely see in season - far larger than any whale sharks I've seen anywhere else in the world - including pregnant females. A longer list of things it's possible to see is in my earlier post here. Likely the best comparison of land-based and liveaboard shark encounters I've read was a post by DivetheGalapagos (who is based there) here (post #5).
I was really surprised and sorry to hear about your friend who got bent at Darwin/Wolf (D/W). Not sure if s/he managed to figure out contributing causes. I dive a Suunto and always dove Nitrox on my liveaboards. I have always seen time limits on all D/W dives because the group has to dive together and surface together due to conditions (extremely remote, current, low vis, surface silkies). For the most recent 4 liveaboards typically D/W dives were 50-55 minutes, with some dives shorter than that due to lack of NDL or someone in the group running low on air.
As for conditions at Gordon's Rocks, yes there can be surge, very low vis and potentially currents. I think much Galapagos diving is correctly considered more advanced due to the colder water, vis and possibility of current and/or surge (not to mention depths of some GR profiles, blue water ascents, etc). But if this is meaningful to you at all, I have had far worse currents (more ripping and down currents) in e.g. Indonesia than I have had at Gordon's Rocks. The conditions I've experienced at Darwin and Wolf were far better than at GR. Sure there's typically side current there, but you're holding on to rocks, not swimming around.
Santa Cruz land-based diving is IMO quite a big time commitment for two shorter (in my books) dives and I remember not being too warm on the surface intervals even though the boats put down flaps to block the wind. There are many interesting and beautiful day trips out of Santa Cruz competing for people's time. It's also possible people may not be keen on <60 min dive times, larger dive groups and/or less experienced divers compared to other diving they've done.
I do want to make another pitch for diving Kicker Rock (KR). You'll notice my most recent land-based diving has all been there. I don't think people who've dove Darwin and Wolf are the best advisors on land-based Gordon's Rocks because of what we've seen at D/W. With that context, Kicker Rock is my favourite land-based dive in the Galapagos. Last time I dove it we had great vis and saw schooling young Galapagos sharks, eagle rays, a black tip, many turtles, octopodes, nudibranchs, and creoles awaiting cleaning. It's not like any of the other Gal sites I've dove by liveaboard or land-based. The only wrinkle is what to do with your other days after you've dove KR. Is it possible your cruise starts or ends in Santa Cruz or San Cristobal? Depending on how many days you have, that might enable you to dive KR as well as a couple days of Santa Cruz diving without losing time for extra flights. You might want to look up reviews of San Cristobal dive centres and see if you can find any reviews of dive sites other than KR. I've always been told KR is the only good dive there, but that's from people focussing on liveaboard diving. I have sometimes had good experiences at the second tier sites the liveaboards now have to dive in Santa Cruz and San Cristobal at the start of their weeks since all the best close sites have been reserved for the land-based ops. Especially if it's your first diving in the Eastern Pacific and you're interested in fish and invertebrates, there might be enough to keep you happy either at secondary sites or if repeating KR for a second day. You could also ask the dive ops about diving KR two days in a row and see what they respond with.
I hope this helps you.
Happy to help.
I dove 5 Galapagos liveaboards spanning 4 different companies between 2006 and 2012. I dove classic Santa Cruz sites like Mosquera, Seymour and Gordon's Rocks on 2006 and 2007 liveaboards and on a week of land-based diving in 2007. I dove Kicker Rock land-based (the only way it's possible to dive it) before 2010 and 2012 liveaboards.
I've had some beautiful moments on Santa Cruz sites including frolicking sea lions very close at Mosquera and a school of >19 mustard rays at Gordon's Rocks. But I have to tell you all of those happened to be on dives I did from a liveaboard. Whether that's a complete coincidence or possibly influenced by factors related to the liveaboard dives (more ideal dive times, smaller groups, smaller and more dispersed bubble clouds, divers physically and auditorily more quiet underwater, more experienced guides) I have no way to determine. Whether you're going to enjoy Santa Cruz sites outside of Gordon's Rocks (GR) will partially depend on what you're looking for underwater. Are you OK with lower vis and cooler water? Are you interested in smaller animals, endemics and fish, or are you mostly looking for larger animals (sharks, rays, turtles, seals), etc. There were white tips on my land-based Santa Cruz dives and occasional hammerheads (mostly at GR), but not Galapagos sharks, black tips, or silkies. I actually had a close hammerhead pass at Mosquera one of my land-based dives but I was way way behind the group at that point (hammerheads are not fond of bubbles). I did do some nice snorkelling with sea lions on a land-based surface interval, and have read reports of people who have had great sea lion experiences on naturalist cruises, so that hopefully you will already have covered.
How were my liveaboard experiences? Blow your mind remember for the rest of your life incredible. It's hard to articulate how profoundly beautiful Darwin and Wolf are. Underwater it's not just the breathtaking schools of hammerheads, there's also the pack of large, muscular Galapagos sharks that circle at Wolf, the black tips, porpoises, schooling eagle rays and incredible numbers of fish. One dive there were barracuda literally from seafloor to surface. I've frequently seen larger schools of jacks or other fish and every time I've dove the schooling eagle ray site at Wolf there has been an endless river of creoles. This is not even including the mammoth whale sharks you will likely see in season - far larger than any whale sharks I've seen anywhere else in the world - including pregnant females. A longer list of things it's possible to see is in my earlier post here. Likely the best comparison of land-based and liveaboard shark encounters I've read was a post by DivetheGalapagos (who is based there) here (post #5).
I was really surprised and sorry to hear about your friend who got bent at Darwin/Wolf (D/W). Not sure if s/he managed to figure out contributing causes. I dive a Suunto and always dove Nitrox on my liveaboards. I have always seen time limits on all D/W dives because the group has to dive together and surface together due to conditions (extremely remote, current, low vis, surface silkies). For the most recent 4 liveaboards typically D/W dives were 50-55 minutes, with some dives shorter than that due to lack of NDL or someone in the group running low on air.
As for conditions at Gordon's Rocks, yes there can be surge, very low vis and potentially currents. I think much Galapagos diving is correctly considered more advanced due to the colder water, vis and possibility of current and/or surge (not to mention depths of some GR profiles, blue water ascents, etc). But if this is meaningful to you at all, I have had far worse currents (more ripping and down currents) in e.g. Indonesia than I have had at Gordon's Rocks. The conditions I've experienced at Darwin and Wolf were far better than at GR. Sure there's typically side current there, but you're holding on to rocks, not swimming around.
Santa Cruz land-based diving is IMO quite a big time commitment for two shorter (in my books) dives and I remember not being too warm on the surface intervals even though the boats put down flaps to block the wind. There are many interesting and beautiful day trips out of Santa Cruz competing for people's time. It's also possible people may not be keen on <60 min dive times, larger dive groups and/or less experienced divers compared to other diving they've done.
I do want to make another pitch for diving Kicker Rock (KR). You'll notice my most recent land-based diving has all been there. I don't think people who've dove Darwin and Wolf are the best advisors on land-based Gordon's Rocks because of what we've seen at D/W. With that context, Kicker Rock is my favourite land-based dive in the Galapagos. Last time I dove it we had great vis and saw schooling young Galapagos sharks, eagle rays, a black tip, many turtles, octopodes, nudibranchs, and creoles awaiting cleaning. It's not like any of the other Gal sites I've dove by liveaboard or land-based. The only wrinkle is what to do with your other days after you've dove KR. Is it possible your cruise starts or ends in Santa Cruz or San Cristobal? Depending on how many days you have, that might enable you to dive KR as well as a couple days of Santa Cruz diving without losing time for extra flights. You might want to look up reviews of San Cristobal dive centres and see if you can find any reviews of dive sites other than KR. I've always been told KR is the only good dive there, but that's from people focussing on liveaboard diving. I have sometimes had good experiences at the second tier sites the liveaboards now have to dive in Santa Cruz and San Cristobal at the start of their weeks since all the best close sites have been reserved for the land-based ops. Especially if it's your first diving in the Eastern Pacific and you're interested in fish and invertebrates, there might be enough to keep you happy either at secondary sites or if repeating KR for a second day. You could also ask the dive ops about diving KR two days in a row and see what they respond with.
I hope this helps you.
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DiveTheGalapagos
Contributor
Natasha has already covered the topic well. I like Mosquera a lot. Granted, luck is always in play for land based diving, but I've seen the largest number of hammerheads at Mosquera than anywhere else in the central islands. And it's not a difficult dive. While I've seen numbers of sharks at Kicker Rock, they were always at a distance. That has not been the case at Mosquera.
nofinsdiver
Registered
How would the Galapagos liveaboard compare to Similan LA in Thailand in terms of technical level? Have done two LA trips to Similan, would like to know the difference. For this Sept 2018. Thanks!
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