Trip Report Review of Scuba Iguana, land-based dive operation in Galapagos

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D.Co

New
Messages
2
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Location
Charleston, SC
# of dives
200 - 499
After reading many positive reviews of the Scuba Iguana dive operation on Santa Cruz Island in the Galapagos, I was really looking forward to diving with them during my April 2015 trip. I booked four days of two-tank dives without hesitation, even at the heady price of $250 per day.

Unfortunately, my experience with Scuba Iguana was disappointing, disturbing and downright scary.
Scuba Iguana seems like a very well-run dive operation. Their boats are sturdy, accommodating and well-maintained. The 1:4 guide-to-diver ratio is great -- when the guides are paying attention (more on that point later). The boat and dive briefings were thorough (though dive plans often changed from shallow to deep, or macro to open water, depending on conditions and sightings). They offered snacks during surface intervals and hot lunches on the ride back to port. I heard no complaints from divers who rented gear, and the crew rinsed and stored the gear I brought with me between days of diving.

None of that excuses any of the blatant dive safety issues I either witnessed or personally experienced. No one from the dive crew ever asked to see my C-card, and when I offered, they waved it off (trusting, I suppose, that the copy I emailed months earlier was legit and actually from me). No buddy pairs were assigned, just guide groups. Second dives were routinely deeper than first dives. Most alarming, when my console computer flooded the first day and my backup locked out for 24 hours for a deco violation the second day, my dive guide told me it was no problem, and that I could still safely dive the third day! I opted to obey my computer and sit that one out, even though it cost me $250 for the missed dive.

Although Scuba Iguana maintains they dont allow divers with fewer than 30 dives to attempt the challenging conditions at Gordon Rocks, I was in a group with a teenager who clearly was in over her head. She was never assigned as my buddy, but as a rescue diver, I felt compelled to keep an eye on her, asking our dive guide to adjust her weight belt to allow for proper right-hand release after she had looped the free end behind the buckle. During dives, she was unable to maintain buoyancy, kicking up sand, grabbing at coral and knocking urchins off walls. Her vertical attitude subjected her to the notorious currents at Gordon Rocks, and I constantly had to pull her down as she was caught by upwellings. Scuba Iguana requires all divers, regardless of certification level, to undergo a perfunctory skills check on their first dive (something repeat divers have to wait out when new divers get on the boat on subsequent days). Yet this check still did not disqualify this hapless young diver, who I later learned was related somehow to one of the crew.

I also experienced the detrimental effects of something other reviewers have touched on: Scuba Iguana dive guides penchant for shooting video of every dive to sell to divers in a forced pitch back at the office. When I dive somewhere as challenging as the Galapagos, I want my dive guides undivided attention. I want both of his or her hands free in case of emergency. And I dont want my guide to rush to film an animal first before clients get a chance. This last was especially disconcerting when we came upon a group of five white tip sharks nestling on a ledge, a behavior I have longed to see and photograph. My guide, however, swooped in first, got his shots and rattled to alert the rest of us, just in time for us to watch them swim off without getting so much as a single image. Another time I found a large moray eel and signaled the group, only to be practically elbowed aside by the guide, who stuck his camera in the eels face and scared it so far back into its hole I never got a shot. The videos were later pedaled to us for $25 each during a dive logging session back at the office. If a dive shop wants to sell videos, fine, just assign a separate staff member other than the guide to shoot the video.

On several occasions I observed the guides handling the animals. This shouldnt be done anywhere, much less in the Galapagos, where authorities impose a seven-foot rule to avoid human interactions with the unique species there. But I saw guides petting sea lions, luring eels out of hiding, and removing sea urchins to provoke the territorial behavior of damselfish, all for the amusement of other divers.

A few other points to be aware of:

· Scuba Iguanas dive boats have no fresh water buckets to rinse cameras, or even saltwater buckets to keep cameras wet and safe when the boat is moving. Instead, cameras handed up after dives are piled on the seat cushions, there to sit salt crystals and all until you can get back to land one or two hours later and rinse them off

· Weights are available only in multiples of 4 lbs. Woe is he who dives with 10, 14, 15 or 18lbs.!

· If you miss a dive day, even for a deco violation, and they dont have enough divers to take the boat out on the only other day youre able to make up the dive, youre out $250. No refunds.
 
I appreciate your candid and thorough analysis of your experience on the trip. I believe it is often in everyone's best interest for the customer to know what the op. does, and how it does business, so the people who go are happy with what they get, and the people who won't be book elsewhere. Some of the things that concerned you would have concerned me, too.

I'm writing to address some more 'gray' area issues. Things where agreement may not be universal.

1.) Not everyone would agree it's the dive op.s duty to assign or enforce buddy pairings. On a Galapagos trip, I'd think the overwhelming majority of divers would be fairly seasoned adult divers. Some people like for boat staff to formally assign pairings; some may not.

2.) If they already had your C-card e-mailed in and paperwork filled out, that might have been good enough. As for staff assuming what you e-mailed was legit and from you, how far are they obligated to go to stop lying, manipulative people from throwing themselves into Darwin's clutches?

3.) Some alleged safety issues with a dive op. are a concern to most any diver; is emergency oxygen available on board, are air fills reasonably full and the nitrox mix at least close to what it's supposed to be, etc… And some aren't direct threats to reasonable, proper divers. You be sure your c-card & credentials are up to the trip operator's requirements. If you want a buddy, buddy up with somebody.

4.) While a staff's advice that you'd be okay disregarding a dive computer lock-out & diving anyway (the day after the computer locked out, not immediately) isn't something anybody on this forum is likely to agree with, at least you, as a seasoned certified diving adult, were allowed to make your own decision, rather than being dictated to that you could not.

5.) Some people believe dive guides are just that, guides, and not responsible to keep up with the group and act as 'safety divers' ready to intercede in emergencies. Even though at least in some locations that's what staff guides to, amongst other things, what many divers expect, and I agree it's nice to have as a backup measure when it's there. I'm reminded that in California diving, boats often don't put a guide in the water; I mention that as an example that providing a 'hands free in case of emergency' guide is not a universal expectation.

All that said, I appreciated your review, and if I were considering a land-based Galapagos trip, it would be very useful to me. I wouldn't write them off, but I'd consider my options.

Richard.
 
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Reactions: Doc
I'm nodding my head (as the norm) agreeing with drrich2's comments.

As for SCUBA Iguana, I have after many years, settled exclusively on that operation as my go-to choice. We do a number of group trips and have never found fault. Just one man's experience.

I have waited two months to add my follow-up comment just for some time to allow for research. The OP joined on April 20th, made one post, and has not logged-in since.

Telling.
 
Thanks for your reply, Doc. I can see how my inactivity on ScubaBoard.com would lead you to the conclusions you have drawn. However, rest assured that my tenure and frequency on this website do not affect the validity of my concerns.

I've had one bad experience with Scuba Iguana; you've had several good ones. Those are both valid data points that readers of this forum now have in hand when researching a land-based dive op in the Galapagos. However, given the demanding conditions at Gordon Rocks (there have been at least two fatalities there in the past few years), as well as the safety-related nature of my concerns with Scuba Iguana during my dive there, I would urge readers to use caution when weighing the many against the few. After all, there is only one bullet used in Russian roulette, and that is not a game I choose to play when it comes to diving.
 
After reading many positive reviews of the Scuba Iguana dive operation on Santa Cruz Island in the Galapagos, I was really looking forward to diving with them during my April 2015 trip. I booked four days of two-tank dives without hesitation, even at the heady price of $250 per day.

Unfortunately, my experience with Scuba Iguana was disappointing, disturbing and downright scary.
Scuba Iguana seems like a very well-run dive operation. Their boats are sturdy, accommodating and well-maintained. The 1:4 guide-to-diver ratio is great -- when the guides are paying attention (more on that point later). The boat and dive briefings were thorough (though dive plans often changed from shallow to deep, or macro to open water, depending on conditions and sightings). They offered snacks during surface intervals and hot lunches on the ride back to port. I heard no complaints from divers who rented gear, and the crew rinsed and stored the gear I brought with me between days of diving.

None of that excuses any of the blatant dive safety issues I either witnessed or personally experienced. No one from the dive crew ever asked to see my C-card, and when I offered, they waved it off (trusting, I suppose, that the copy I emailed months earlier was legit and actually from me). No buddy pairs were assigned, just guide groups. Second dives were routinely deeper than first dives. Most alarming, when my console computer flooded the first day and my backup locked out for 24 hours for a deco violation the second day, my dive guide told me it was “no problem,” and that I could still safely dive the third day! I opted to obey my computer and sit that one out, even though it cost me $250 for the missed dive.

Although Scuba Iguana maintains they don’t allow divers with fewer than 30 dives to attempt the challenging conditions at Gordon Rocks, I was in a group with a teenager who clearly was in over her head. She was never assigned as my buddy, but as a rescue diver, I felt compelled to keep an eye on her, asking our dive guide to adjust her weight belt to allow for proper right-hand release after she had looped the free end behind the buckle. During dives, she was unable to maintain buoyancy, kicking up sand, grabbing at coral and knocking urchins off walls. Her vertical attitude subjected her to the notorious currents at Gordon Rocks, and I constantly had to pull her down as she was caught by upwellings. Scuba Iguana requires all divers, regardless of certification level, to undergo a perfunctory “skills check” on their first dive (something repeat divers have to wait out when new divers get on the boat on subsequent days). Yet this “check” still did not disqualify this hapless young diver, who I later learned was related somehow to one of the crew.

I also experienced the detrimental effects of something other reviewers have touched on: Scuba Iguana dive guides’ penchant for shooting video of every dive to sell to divers in a forced pitch back at the office. When I dive somewhere as challenging as the Galapagos, I want my dive guide’s undivided attention. I want both of his or her hands free in case of emergency. And I don’t want my guide to rush to film an animal first before clients get a chance. This last was especially disconcerting when we came upon a group of five white tip sharks nestling on a ledge, a behavior I have longed to see and photograph. My guide, however, swooped in first, got his shots and rattled to alert the rest of us, just in time for us to watch them swim off without getting so much as a single image. Another time I found a large moray eel and signaled the group, only to be practically elbowed aside by the guide, who stuck his camera in the eel’s face and scared it so far back into its hole I never got a shot. The videos were later pedaled to us for $25 each during a “dive logging” session back at the office. If a dive shop wants to sell videos, fine, just assign a separate staff member other than the guide to shoot the video.

On several occasions I observed the guides handling the animals. This shouldn’t be done anywhere, much less in the Galapagos, where authorities impose a seven-foot rule to avoid human interactions with the unique species there. But I saw guides petting sea lions, luring eels out of hiding, and removing sea urchins to provoke the territorial behavior of damselfish, all for the “amusement” of other divers.

A few other points to be aware of:

· Scuba Iguana’s dive boats have no fresh water buckets to rinse cameras, or even saltwater buckets to keep cameras wet and safe when the boat is moving. Instead, cameras handed up after dives are piled on the seat cushions, there to sit – salt crystals and all – until you can get back to land one or two hours later and rinse them off

· Weights are available only in multiples of 4 lbs. Woe is he who dives with 10, 14, 15 or 18lbs.!

· If you miss a dive day, even for a deco violation, and they don’t have enough divers to take the boat out on the only other day you’re able to make up the dive, you’re out $250. No refunds.
 
Thank you for the thorough review. My son and I will be in the Galapagos over spring break. There isn't enough time for a live aboard, so we are opting for Scuba Iguana. I will certainly make note of all your concerns. However, one area where I am not clear is protection for their dives. I know it is the "warmest" part of the year there, though not warm by usual standards. Can one get by with a 3mm or 5mm at their sites, or will we have to go with 7?
 
Thank you for the thorough review. My son and I will be in the Galapagos over spring break. There isn't enough time for a live aboard, so we are opting for Scuba Iguana. I will certainly make note of all your concerns. However, one area where I am not clear is protection for their dives. I know it is the "warmest" part of the year there, though not warm by usual standards. Can one get by with a 3mm or 5mm at their sites, or will we have to go with 7?
Wolf and Darwin are the warmest places during the December to June period. As you're doing land-based, you can't get there. We're going in January by live-a-board and recommending to our whole group of 16, wear a 7mm. Based on all I've read and talking to the staff of the live-a-board at DEMA, we expect Wolf and Darwin to be 77-78 degrees and the other sites to be mid to low 70s. That should hold true for your trip. I'm also bringing a 3mm hooded vest and a Ecowear long sleeve shirt just to be safe. It all comes down to your tolerance. Since we're doing 3-4 dives a day, I wouldn't survive without a 7mm...I'm a weanie. Definitely not 3mm water. Just finished a weekend teaching at our quarry in 71 degree water. Had a 7mm and still got a bit chilly on the second dive on Sunday after 35 minutes because I just wore a light beanie, no hood.
Have a blast and don't hurt your enjoyment of the dives by being cold. Drrich has a great review of the Galapagos that covers absolutely everything including temps.
Rob
 
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