We Need Galapagos Opinions
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divedeeepr
Registered
Excellant post by RoatanMan...right on the money and very informative. Getting off the mothership to the zodiak and back into the zodiak is a real adventure, especially in 6-8 foot seas!!! We had one lady fall off the zodiak into the water while attempting to get back into the mothership. And many others who were tossed around quite a bit. You'll have to do this over 40 or 50 times if you are on a live aboard. The Galapagos diving is an adventure but well worth it!
whaleshark09
Guest
I am new to the furum and hope the following suggestions help.
Take the advice about the currents they can be very strong sometimes, the "whale shark season" begins around May and ends around November, but it can move up or down a little bit, even within the peak of the season you get a bad week with few whale sharks and sometimes NO galapagos sharks or hammerheads, it is just luck sometimes.
I had to live through those bad weeks every now and then with the passengers complaining a lot, and even if you searched and searched there were no sharks around.
I worked as a dive-guide for the last 5 years mainly onboard the Aggressor and other boats, and dived the Northern islands year round, if you want to see a whale shark pick the season where you have the best chances.
From December until April-May the water gets warmer and you see just Galapagos and hammerhead sharks, you can also have a bad week with no sharks in this season. It is basically unpredictable when it might change and you get a week with no sharks at all.
The best diving is in Darwin and Wolf, if you can make it to these Islands, try.
Regarding the boats with permits, yes only a few are authorized now, and it will get worst, everytime you read an article about how tourists "destroy paradise" a bureocrat also reads it and some environmental NOGs that need some Projects to present to the Board too, so another "study" gets done and more restrictions arrive, some are good common sense and help to protect the islands, some are just "rubbish" I would prefer to use another word but I do not know if I am allowed in this forum...but remember that some people makes a living from "extinction" not conservation. To get funds you need to use the words that get attention and "extinction", "endangered", "in peril", etc. work very well.
The reason why DAN does not covers insurance on the Galapagos has to do with different viewpoints with the company that operates the private decompression chamber in Santa Cruz, not due to political issues with the government.
Take a signalling strobe in every dive (just take it don't turn it on while diving), a small flashlight in the day dives (just in case you get lost), a "sausage" signaling device you can display while doing your safety stop (it helps the dinghy drivers to locate you as you drift in the middle of the ocean), a mirror, a dive alert, a flag (some boats provide one some do not) if you are not in shape get in shape, (sprinting uphill is similar to swiming like mad after a whale shark, and you will need it, so start sprinting uphill).
Follow the guides instructions usually they are the first to find a whale shark. Ask the boat operator NEVER to anchor while they have divers in the water at Darwin or Wolf, so in case you end up drifting to Tahiti (a long way) they can begin to search for you inmediatly not after the 10-20 minutes it takes to raise the anchor. I am not trying to scare you but people have got lost and never found, even very very experienced divers (most of the time tour leaders or video crazy divers) that dived the Islands a lot got lost for some time before being found....it doesn't feels good.
Hope the advice helps, and enjoy your dives, it can be the best diving of your lifetime if you it the right week.
Take the advice about the currents they can be very strong sometimes, the "whale shark season" begins around May and ends around November, but it can move up or down a little bit, even within the peak of the season you get a bad week with few whale sharks and sometimes NO galapagos sharks or hammerheads, it is just luck sometimes.
I had to live through those bad weeks every now and then with the passengers complaining a lot, and even if you searched and searched there were no sharks around.
I worked as a dive-guide for the last 5 years mainly onboard the Aggressor and other boats, and dived the Northern islands year round, if you want to see a whale shark pick the season where you have the best chances.
From December until April-May the water gets warmer and you see just Galapagos and hammerhead sharks, you can also have a bad week with no sharks in this season. It is basically unpredictable when it might change and you get a week with no sharks at all.
The best diving is in Darwin and Wolf, if you can make it to these Islands, try.
Regarding the boats with permits, yes only a few are authorized now, and it will get worst, everytime you read an article about how tourists "destroy paradise" a bureocrat also reads it and some environmental NOGs that need some Projects to present to the Board too, so another "study" gets done and more restrictions arrive, some are good common sense and help to protect the islands, some are just "rubbish" I would prefer to use another word but I do not know if I am allowed in this forum...but remember that some people makes a living from "extinction" not conservation. To get funds you need to use the words that get attention and "extinction", "endangered", "in peril", etc. work very well.
The reason why DAN does not covers insurance on the Galapagos has to do with different viewpoints with the company that operates the private decompression chamber in Santa Cruz, not due to political issues with the government.
Take a signalling strobe in every dive (just take it don't turn it on while diving), a small flashlight in the day dives (just in case you get lost), a "sausage" signaling device you can display while doing your safety stop (it helps the dinghy drivers to locate you as you drift in the middle of the ocean), a mirror, a dive alert, a flag (some boats provide one some do not) if you are not in shape get in shape, (sprinting uphill is similar to swiming like mad after a whale shark, and you will need it, so start sprinting uphill).
Follow the guides instructions usually they are the first to find a whale shark. Ask the boat operator NEVER to anchor while they have divers in the water at Darwin or Wolf, so in case you end up drifting to Tahiti (a long way) they can begin to search for you inmediatly not after the 10-20 minutes it takes to raise the anchor. I am not trying to scare you but people have got lost and never found, even very very experienced divers (most of the time tour leaders or video crazy divers) that dived the Islands a lot got lost for some time before being found....it doesn't feels good.
Hope the advice helps, and enjoy your dives, it can be the best diving of your lifetime if you it the right week.
Jupiter31
Contributor
Thank you; great post -
(Some paragraphs/spacing will make a long post MUCH easier to read)
(Some paragraphs/spacing will make a long post MUCH easier to read)
I was there in May 08 on Aggressor. We saw 5 whale sharks and lot's of rays, Only a few hammerheads. Water was warmer than normal I was in a 5mm without hood and never even got cool.
I highly recommend Aggressor. They are top notch.
I highly recommend Aggressor. They are top notch.
cowdog77
Contributor
Very informative first-hand post...thanks for taking the time.
Michel Braunstein
Contributor
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Hello Joy,
I've been in the Galapagos in July 2000. It was the perfect season for whale sharks, we saw tens of them. I was on the beautiful Lammer Law and we went up to the northern Wolf and Darwin islands. It was great! Currents? Yes there are a lot and that's the reason why that place is so rich and interesting. You can read my travel story and see pictures here: Seayoo, the worldwide sea lovers community
Have a great time!
Michel
I've been in the Galapagos in July 2000. It was the perfect season for whale sharks, we saw tens of them. I was on the beautiful Lammer Law and we went up to the northern Wolf and Darwin islands. It was great! Currents? Yes there are a lot and that's the reason why that place is so rich and interesting. You can read my travel story and see pictures here: Seayoo, the worldwide sea lovers community
Have a great time!
Michel
TravelingNinja
New
I went with Quasar Expeditions to Wolf and Darwin Islands on the Alta. It was fabulous! Lots of great food, great guides, great diving, and saw lots of giant manta rays and hammerheads. I would recommend them in a heartbeat.
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