Sometimes near the town pier (as opposed to passenger pier), you can watch maybe 500 blue footed boobies doing their kamikaze dive bomb feeding. Take a trip down to Los Tuneles which is such an amazing, amazing place.  It is the stuff of BBC /National Geographic documentaries.  It’s a labyrinth of lava arches inside the breakers with crystal clear water full of huge sea turtles (sometimes man-sized), eagle rays, sea lions, fish, white tipped reef sharks and more. Turtles navigate their own highway from the mangroves to the open sea through Los Tuneles. You can stand on an arch (with 2 active volcanoes in the background) and watch them pass each other on the way from the mangroves to the open sea as if on a highway with lanes clearly designated. The land before time vistas are spectacular!  Pose with penguins for photos if you wish.  At certain times of the year, Los Tuneles is also a blue footed booby nesting ground. We always spot mantas just before entering and almost always get to snorkel with them. Once we had 9 males chasing 1 female. We left them after 30 minutes, but not before I got clipped. Though I am a strong advocate against touching any marine life, they were almost always close enough to touch.  Once as we were about to enter, we stopped to watch 2 eagle rays mating.  And mating turtles are so commonplace you almost begin to take it for granted.

Yes, Los Tuneles is the epitome of Galapagos magic.   Because I love it so much, I do usually rave this much.  I remember a marine biologist once told me he thoroughly expected to be disappointed because of how much I had raved, but instead, he was in awe.  I remember a Brit once saying that he didn’t know which he enjoyed most…diving Darwin and Wolf or visiting Isabela and especially Los Tuneles.  His final summary was, “Let’s just say it would have been a travesty to have missed this.”

In 2010, in an area near Los Tuneles, local dive guides discovered sea horses residing in 1-8 foot deep water, often wrapped around mangrove roots.  It’s amazing to see the giant seahorses of Galapagos in such shallows as they usually are only found around 60 feet in cold water.  But everytime…there they are.  And sometimes you can find huge pregnant males ready to burst.  This area also seems to be a breeding ground, as mangroves usually are for the protection they provide.  I think I have seen the cutest, tiniest baby eagle rays everytime I’ve been there.  There is an area where you can lay down in crystal clear water about 1 foot deep to get shots of resting white tipped reef sharks in the white sand beneath the ledges.  And again, the giant turtles of Isabela!  I remember going over to the deeper side of this area to have our picnic lunch in the shade and counting 22 turtles at once!

On the way back into port, your final stop on this day that tends to offer more marine life sightings that most dive sites in other parts of the world,  the last stop is Las Tintoreras, a small islet just outside port that is almost entirely an AA lava field.  Large marine iguana colonies make their home here.  A canal is usually full of white tipped reef sharks.  Penguins warm themselves in the sun on the same rocks with blue-footed boobies and sea lions breed on the beach side of the islet.  As is true in so many places in Isabela, the views are magnificant.   At this point, to say again, ‘land before time vistas’ would begin to sound trite, but if you visit, you’ll understand.  Ancient volcano cones peaking out of the sea.  Active volcanoes looming above.  Emerald green sea, turquoise shallows, winter green mangrove, blue sky, white clouds and all those alien shaped landscapes.  I remember once reading a very well written article on the Galapagos by a British writer.  He talked about how sure, it was the immediacy of the blue-footed boobies, marine iguanas and other unique wildlife in the Galapagos that got you so excited in the moment, but months later, it was the landscapes that lingered in your memory as the biggest highlights.  For divers,  I don’t think anything can top swimming through a few hundred hammerheads to chase a 60 ft. whaleshark, but if we’re talking about land visits in the Galapagos, I’d have to agree.

On Isabela, you can also trek Sierra Negra Volcano, a live volcano that last erupted in 2005 and has the second largest caldera in the world on an active volcano.  If you do, I would highly recommend taking the extra jaunt over to Volcan Chico, a parasitic cone as opposed to separate volcano, where the vistas to the sea are magnificent and the landscape is usually best described as a lunarscape.  Volcan Chico is such a stunning site where you can see steam escaping from fumeroles and feel the heat of the lava beneath you…truly otherwordly.

There’s a fantastic campground, Campo Duro, half way up the slopes of Sierra Negra that is perfect for lunch after a trek.  Everything they serve is from organic fruit and vegetable gardens on the paradisiacal premises. They bake chicken and bread in outdoor lava rock ovens over fire.  They are also a half way house for young tortoises after the Isabela breeding center and before being released back into the wild.  And yes, you can camp there.  I’ve heard they sometimes have unexplained bright light visits in the cleared area where tents are set up during the night.

Nearby are my favorite lava tunnels in the Galapagos, Las Cuevas de Sucre.  I had the privileged of taking a Naturalist Guide with over 20 years experience in the Galapagos there for the first time.  It’s not too difficult to wow visitors, but it did provide a certain thrill to wow someone who knows the Galapagos that well.  These caves have been cleared by the Park, so the relatively quick walk through them is easy and suitable for any age.  I really like that it has no electric lighting as those on Santa Cruz have because then, you get to experience it in a natural state.  Due to sulfur in the rock content,  in parts of the tunnel, the ceilings look like they are lined with gold and where the sulfur is now fossilized, it appears as tiny drops with silver tips.  Incredible!

Within walking distance from Campo Duro is a Park constructed wooden tower, a Mirador, that offers huge views and is especially good at sunset.  If you arrive just before dusk, that seems to be the time of day the Galapagos Hawk prefers to perch from its height to survey dinner possibilities below.  We once had the hawk watch us as we ascended to the platform and remain there without moving which meant photo ops from a distance of roughly 5 feet.  When he did finally fly away, it sure seemed like he merely got bored rather than intimidated by us humans.  At one point, as we ascended the wooden steps, he jumped from one side of the platform to the other in order to have a better look at what we were doing and that was long before he departed.

There’s great snorkeling on your own in Isabela, including turtle cleaning stations where I’ve seen them on their hind legs like a dog begging in order to give the cleaner fish better access.  At one place inside the Park, you can snorkel with swimming marine iguanas, sea lions and schools of Half Beaks which resemble miniature sword fish.  At that bay, maybe 40 feet from the shore exists what I have come to call turtle pastures.  The shallow sea floor is covered in green algae.  As you snorkel over it, you see turtles sleeping or grazing a mere couple of feet beneath you.

The Breeding Center for tortoises is fascinating as Isabela has more species of tortoises than other islands due to treacherously jagged AA lava fields (think ragged and rough iron stalagmites) they could not cross.  At the Breeding Center, you can not only see tiny newborn tortoises, but  also  the only flat back tortoises in the islands…some of which now live at the Breeding Center after being rescued from Cerro Azul’s last eruption and still bear the scars on their shells.  And getting there from town is half the fun as you walk a wooden path above Isabela wetlands full of marine iguanas and shore birds.

In addition to everything else, there’s the Isabela beach that is the stuff of island magazine covers.   The wide, white  sand beach, most of which is inside the National Park, therefore mostly empty and pristine truly has some of the softest sand I’ve ever felt anywhere.  It’s like you’re walking on baby powder in this remote and isolated beach with a backdrop of land-before time vistas and only the unique wildlife of Galapagos to keep you company.  One of my favorite photos from Isabela isn’t necessarily a great photo, but does remind me of a great memory.  The only track on the beach was the squiggle of a marine iguana across the sand and into the sea.  Marine iguanas nest, live and eat through there.

You can get in more diving while there if you wish.  Most only want to take you to Isla Tortuga because it’s easy and close.  You can see hammerheads, mantas, turtles, eagle rays, scorpion fish and more at Isla Tortuga, but much more interesting and equally close (though a bit advanced) is La Viuda.  With groups, we can take you to spots where no one dives and no one fishes, so the marine life acts completely different.  Large schools of yellow tailed surgeon fish will follow you like puppies.  Long-nosed hawkfish are easy to spot.  I’ve seen up to 4 shark species, mantas always circle, huge schools of tropicals, steel pompanos, barracudas and more; large colonies of marine lions and even lots of coral and anemones abound.  This is the only spot I’ve ever dived in the Galapagos where the sea lions come out to hang and are mellow, rather than frenetic.  I have to assume it’s because they are completely unaccustomed to people.  It’s our secret spot and we don’t share the location with anyone, so you’ll have to just travel with us and see for yourself.

And ps…for any birders, Isabela has lots of wetlands chocked full of various shore birds, but for most of visitors, the one everyone enjoys the most are the flamingos.

Sorry to go on, but I absolutely love Isabela.  Did I mention that there are really good restaurants in Isabela?  The central square is lined with restaurants.  Do try the ‘camarones apanados’ at Pepa’s.  Fried and barely breaded shrimp.  It’s not on the menu, so you have to ask for it.  Cesar’s is another of our favorites, though go early so you don’t have to wait long.  Immediately behind Commercial Naboa on the town square is Gabriel’s awning covered food stand which offers delicious fruit batidos…milkshakes.   Ask where to find Restaurant Oasis (prounounced Oh ah sis) if you’re in Puerto Villamil on a Friday night, the only night they make homemade muchinis, a yucca fritter that is so good.  And the last small restaurant in front of the town square has an excellent breakfast for $4.   And again, the food at Campo Duro is so good and the setting so beautiful, it’s worth a trip up to the Highlands just to eat.

Hotels on Isabela begin too cheap to recommend and go up to about $450 per night. There are a couple in the $50-$60 pp per night range that are excellent and on the beach.   Careful… some hotels may charge you $250 per night and put you in a nearby room that you could have paid 50% less with booking through us…for the exact same room.   We primarily work with Casa Sol and Casa de Marita.  Day tours to Los Tuneles or Sierra Negra range from $75-$150 pp. Packages that offers the hotel class of your choice and the tours of your choice are the best way to go.  There are no ATMs on Isabela, so if you don’t take sufficient cash, you could find yourself in a bit of a pickle.

Everyone there knows everyone else which is why all residents will swear there is no crime.  Once we rented bikes, left them leaning against the curb in front of a restaurant while we walked somewhere else and when we returned, one bike was missing.  We looked around to no avail and went over to the police who put us in a truck to begin driving around to look for the bike, again to no avail.  By the time we came back from the search, the bike was leaning against the curb on the other side of the street from where we left it.  Found out later someone mistook it for someone else’s bike, borrowed it for a bit and then returned it….which was exactly what I assumed before leaping to the conclusion someone stole it.

There is so much to do on Isabela and it is virtually the only populated island in the Galapagos where you can do a lot on your own for free.  That’s not to say you don’t have to pay to hit the highlights, but simply that magic in the Galapagos doesn’t always come with a price tag.  And apart from live-aboard diving in Galapagos, you simply can’t experience a more magical topside than Isla Isabela.

So for those of you who want more than just diving, but don’t necessarily want to have to go on back to back dive / Naturalist cruises, we cannot recommend strongly enough a dive cruise followed by an extension of a few days on Isabela.  The combination is certainly a memory you will cherish and carry for the rest of your life.

Isabela photos below.  Click on these links to see a Los Tuneles gallery and  a Sierra Negra gallery.

[View with PicLens]

#3: Diving with hammerhead sharks in the Galapagos

Thrills Of A Lifetime

A jury of the UK’s top explorers, adventurers, and award-winning writers have selected the world’s greatest travel adventure as “staring down into the smouldering eyes of a tiger from the back of an elephant in India’s Kanha National Park.”

For the past two months, travel luminaries including Lonely Planet founder Tony Wheeler, explorer Benedict Allen, and broadcaster Simon Calder have been assessing the most intense adventures on the planet. And the chance of getting close to a tiger in the wild – while such a possibility exists – was judged to be even more thrilling than skiing down a live volcano on the Japanese island of Hokkaido or diving with hammerhead sharks in the Galapagos.

Simon Calder said: “Whatever tribulations the economy may deliver, the British spirit of adventure is alive and well. Travelers are turning their backs on the beach and going to extremes to satisfy a craving for adrenalin-fuelled experiences.”

TOP 10 ADVENTURES

1. Tiger tracking on elephants, Kanha National Park, India
“You’ll never get so close to a tiger in the wild.” – Bryn Thomas

2. Skiing on Asahidake, Hokkaido, Japan
“Asahidake is the island’s highest mountain and sends out a stream of smoke from its vents. Hokkaido enjoys eight meters of snow a year, and the powder is some of the most consistently excellent in the world.” – Perry Wilson

3. Diving with hammerhead sharks in the Galapagos
“With basic scuba skills you can safely dive with these fabulous, iconic sharks – in the company of so many of them that you lose count.” – Paul Rose

4. Encounter with mountain gorillas in Rwanda
“Nothing rivals a close-up with our closest relatives. It is at altitude, in a rainforest, with no paths. The trek can take five hours. Worth it – massively, emotionally – and it helps this poor, war-ravaged country.” – Paul Goldstein

5. Inca Trail to Machu Picchu in Peru
“Popular though this three-day trek is, nothing can prepare you for the awesome first sight of the ‘lost’ city of the Incas as you round the trail on the last day, seeing it perched high above the Urumaba with the mist swirling around it.” – Bryn Thomas.

6. Larapinta Trail in Australia’s Northern Territory.
“Classic outback country: dry, dramatic, lots of wildlife … the ‘dry’ component would normally make it unwalkable until the establishment of regular water tanks made it one of Australia’s best hikes.” – Tony Wheeler

7. Trans-Siberian Railway, Russia
“The greatest rail adventure of them all. I’d suggest the weekly Moscow-Mongolia-Beijing train. Its six nights and over 5,000 miles across Siberia, the Gobi Desert, and through the Great Wall for as little as GBP410. You can even start your trip at St. Pancras.” – Mark Smith

8. Hot-air ballooning over the Serengeti of Tanzania
“Even if there are no migrating herds, just to pass over the African savannah in silence is something you will never forget.” – Benedict Allen

9. Hiking the Grand Tsingy Circuit, Madagascar
“Tsingy are grotesque pinnacles and spikes of limestone creating the world’s most exotic rock garden. Rare succulents shelter in the gullies that visitors cross using boardwalks, ladders, and bridges. An extraordinary experience on an extraordinary island.” – Hilary Bradt

10. The wildlife of the Pantanal, Brazil
“Check out giant otters, caimans, jaguars, green iguanas, and more.” – Tim Fryer

The list was drawn up on behalf of Adventure Travel Live, which takes place in London from January 29-31.

The judges were: Hilary Bradt (adventure guide and publisher); Paul Goldstein (tour leader and award-winning photographer); Benedict Allen (explorer and television presenter); Tim Fryer (land product manager, STA Travel); Mark Smith (award-winning rail expert); Tony Wheeler (Lonely Planet founder); Simon Calder (travel writer and broadcaster); Paul Rose (explorer and adventurer); Perry Wilson (founder, Insure & Go); and Bryn Thomas (guidebook writer and publisher).

Source

Often, I’ve ascended from a dive thinking, “Gee, that was pretty bad,” only to have excited newcomers rave about all the sightings once we were in the boat….same dive, two perspectives. Most of those same newcomers notice themselves that 4 days later, even they are saying, “Sea lions, sharks, rays, eels, turtles…yeah, but what else?” But they will also tell you that every dive they do after the Galapagos is subject to a standard set by the Galapagos.

As the founder of Dive The Galapagos, I can’t speak for the entire team involved in our tours, so in essence, these are my favorite moments of 2009.   You’ll see that the honorable mentions below outnumber the Top 10.  I probably need a Top 50 list to get it all in there.  But…counting down.

NUMBER 10 – GOING INDEPENDENT:

NUMBER 9 – CAUSES TO BELIEVE IN AND AMAZINGLY COOL CLIENTS:

So many of the dog handlers end up taking money out of their own pockets to pay for things like vitamins or medications for the dogs they work with…and the average policeman’s salary is  fairly low, so to say they are not dipping into deep pockets is an understatement. That type of commitment in addition to the job these dogs do is a big reason we so want to help.

NUMBER 8 – MY FIRST EVER WHALE SHARK SIGHTING:

Later in the year, I was privileged to experience 26 more whale shark sightings, all at Darwin and all adults. But nothing beat that first sighting.

See a video clip of what it’s like to chase Mr. Big in the blue at Darwin.

NUMBER 7 – GIANT STINGRAY:

Now, I didn’t measure, but the guy in Floreana had to be have been at least 12-15 feet across. He looked more like a manta size ray than a stingray. No fish tale. He was huge. I just hung above him for awhile looking. On the same dive, I saw the smallest stingray I had ever seen in the Galapagos. He/she couldn’t have been more than 1.5 feet across. The Devil’s Crown (Corona del Diablo) is now off limits to divers.

NUMBER 6 – GIANT MARBLED RAY:

NUMBER 5 – HAMMERHEADS:

One guy with us was a German dive agent who is perhaps the biggest dive snob I’ve ever met…and I say that as a compliment with respect and admiration. He has well over 3000 dives, travels the world and that day, while the rest of us held onto rocks and hung like windsocks in a stiff breeze, he just hung motionless above us like Emma Thompson in “Angels Over America”. I didn’t know which was more intriguing…him hanging there in that current or the hammerheads around us. I later asked him how he did that and he told me that in strong currents, you can usually find a space in the current. I spent the rest of the year trying out that theory. Once at Darwin, I think I understood.

NUMBER 4 – SNORKELING WITH HAMMERHEADS:

Once I’m out of gear and up in the boat, I realized he was not kidding. There are fins everywhere! Without hesitation or thought, I grabbed a snorkel and jumped immediately back in the water. I could lift my head and still see fins everywhere, but was having no luck seeing them through my mask with my face in the water. It took nearly 15 minutes before I had a hammerhead pass me within 6 or 8 feet. By then, 4 of us were snorkeling, not just me.

The thing about this is that, all my life, I felt like prey at the surface. I have never liked swimming in the ocean, only diving. When I’m diving, I feel a part of the environment and always thought man had not been in that environment long enough for marine animals to develop any particular reaction to man beyond the natural reaction of ‘That’s bigger than me.’ I never felt I was a threat nor was threatened when diving, but some primal fear of swimming kept me out of the water.  So,  that the day came when I jumped into a sea full of fins without any trace of fear, I knew I was different. And there just aren’t enough moments in life that so clearly let you know you’ve changed. It was certainly one.

NUMBER 3 – GALAPAGOS SHARKS AT WOLF:

And while it may only be my imagination, they seem to have a personality I’ve never seen in hammerheads or whale sharks or white-tipped reef sharks or black tips or silkies. It’s like they seem smart, determined and you know what they could do but you also trust they won’t. Perhaps that’s mutual respect. Whatever it is, hammerheads remain at the top of my shark loves, but the Galapagos Sharks at Wolf are a close second.

NUMBER 2 – SNORKELING WITH MANTAS:

So on my first independent trip, I asked everyone to get into their wetsuits, have fins and mask nearby and be ready to get in the water as soon as we sighted the mantas. I knew from before that if you waited until you spotted a manta to get suited up, you missed the moment. Sure enough, we spot mantas. Boat stops and we slip in.

It wasn’t just a manta, it was 9 males chasing one poor female and providing us with a spectacular show in the process. For 30 minutes we watched their circling figure eights, sometimes arching your back up out of the sea to avoid them using you as a parasite rub and other times unable to avoid being clipped by their wings. Yes, they were that close! It was astounding to watch this convoy…this conga line…this row of mantas one after another after another after another just passing right before your very eyes. For 30 minutes! This was not a “Wow what a cool sighting just passed us,” this was a sighting that just didn’t go away. We finally left them, still pursuing the now wounded female.

See a short clip of that day.

PS…just before we mingled with the mantas, we had watched several turtles waiting their turn for a mounted female who got away before that could happen…I don’t think I’ve ever been to this particular site without seeing turtles mate and once saw eagle rays mating, but this was a first with the mantas.

NUMBER 1 – HUNDREDS OF HAMMERHEADS:

If I were given 3 wishes to use on anything, but only 3 to use for my entire life, I might very well would have used 1 to have this experience.

As usual, no camera (only way to guarantee great sightings), but here’s a little clip from my little camera that gives you a hint of what it was like.

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

–Snorkeling or diving with juvenile sea lions at Los Tuneles, Plazas, Champion, Mosqueras. They are such ridiculously fluid acrobats under the water. The juveniles love to play with you. If you roll, they roll. If you dive, they dive. They’re like puppies who can’t get enough. (see photo below)

–Red Lipped Batfish at Punto Cormorant. So many you begin to think, “Okay, what else is here, I’ve seen enough.” Nothing quite like laying in the sand face to face with one of these bizarre fish inches away. (see photo below)

–On a live-aboard, I was lamenting the fact that I wished I could just jump in the water to get out of my wetsuit, rather than rushing downstairs in full wetsuit to my cabin for the bathroom after a dive.  Those of you who dive in 7mm understand full well the amount of work that entails.  In a playful moment, the Dive Master (a friend) pushed me in the water to make his point about how strong currents are at Darwin. It was all I could do to hold onto a rope he also kindly tossed before having to be dragged back up onto the dive deck. Humility needed achieved.

–Though very un-PC and something I neither do nor advocate, a DM placed a sea cucumber on my hand to show me how all the tiny little tentacles on the bottom will stick to your hand. That they looked so creepy (in the context of feel) but felt silky smooth like the inside of your cheek was a big surprise. (see photo below)

–Attempting to ‘burn’ the water out of our ears. (see photo below)

–Learning from a DM I work with to always pick up anything that isn’t organic on the bottom of the sea and while Darwin would disapprove, I also enjoy righting upside down sea stars now, too.

–Listening to a ‘conversation’ between a DM and a penguin.

–Watching divers who haven’t been in the water in a long time acclimate, relax and enjoy.

–Seeing the awe in Galapagos diving through divers’ eyes who are there for the first time.

–Being face to face with mantas or having to duck for turtles who don’t seem to mind landing on your head.

–Learning how young sea urchins cover themselves with shells to keep from being eaten by sea stars, and then watching them do it.

–Seeing a young leather bass taking cover in a sea urchin.

–The hobbit-like structure of coral in shoals at Wolf.

–Anytime I get to fly over shoals, by a wall, etc. I love a good ride.

–Last, like dessert, many of the incredible people I was privileged to share the diving with, both Dive Guides and divers. I never knew I could enjoy traveling with strangers as much as I have this year. I learned so much and laughed so much and loved, loved, loved the diving we experienced together. I don’t know if divers, in general, are just my tribe or if Dive The Galapagos just attracts a certain ilk of ‘buena gente’, but whatever it is, it sure was good. I cannot thank you enough. (see photos below)

And below are a few random photos from 2009:

[View with PicLens]

Here’s wishing everyone an amazing 2010. This year, I dream of seeing orcas, mola molas, tons of hammerheads, whale sharks and zero shark finning on the planet!

Galapagos Abundance

Once again, diving in the Galapagos was  declared #1 in 3 different categories in Scuba Diving Magazine’s 2009 annual Readers Choice Survey.

Divers the globe over chose the Galapagos:

#1 in the Pacific for Marine Life
#1 in the Pacific for Health of Marine Environment
#1 in the Pacific for Overall Diving

“What makes the Galapagos a winner for overall diving? Its underwater encounters and unique biodiversity. The Galapagos is home to several dozen endemic species both on land and under water. These islands are volcanic in origin, making them the perfect home full of nutrients and flowing water for sea life and underwater mammals. Don’t be surprised to run into a pod of playing sea lions, green sea turtles or, on the more extreme side, a shark encounter including the biggest in the ocean: the gentle whale shark. These waters aren’t for the beginner diver, so take caution.
Whale sharks, a pod of dolphins, sea lions, a school of hammerheads, a large Galapagos shark, green sea turtles, hundreds of almaco jacks, blue jacks, bacalao, a school of leather bass, Pacific dog snappers, masses of bluestriped chub, yellowfin tuna and blue runners. A lifetime of sightings? Nope. A week’s worth? Try again. How about a single dive? Such is life at many of the dive sites in the Galapagos archipelago.

The conditions can be iffy: The water can be cool and murky, the currents and surge can be unpredictable. But one thing’s for sure: This is truly one of the most exciting advanced dive destinations in the world.”

Source: Scuba Diving Magazine

The Deep Blue is an Ecuadorian family owned 106 ft. dive cruise with 9 cabins (one is a suite) for a maximum of 16 divers in the same league as the Sky Dancer. Their Wolf-Darwin itinerary includes a total of 12 dives and they offer 4 land visits (as long as PNG allows this).

The yacht is fully air-conditioned and features comfortable social areas, sundecks and a bar. For photographers, there is a sizeable rinse tank and camera tables. Unlimited Nitrox is available for an extra charge.

Itinerary: (Monday departures)

Day 1: Arrival. Isla Lobos Check dive. Interpretation Center.
Day 2: AM: N. Seymour 2 dives. PM: N. Seymour land visit.
Day 3: Wolf 4 dives
Day 4: Darwin 4 dives
Day 5: Darwin 4 dives
Day 6: Cabo Marshall 4 dives
Day 7: AM: Cousins Rocks 2 dives. PM: Snorkel Bartolome. Sullivan Bay land visit.
Day 8: Galapaguera land visit. Departure.

Please visit our website for a Deep Blue Gallery and more details.

While any diving in the Galapagos is great diving (and going beyond the obvious benefits of seeing multiple islands from above and below), the under-rated advantage an island-hopping dive trip has over staying put on one island for multiple days of diving is that you end up with the same comradery as a live-aboard. You travel together, you dive together and you often spend your evenings together. This does not happen with the inevitable turnover on daily dive boats.  This shared experience is bonding and the comradery that results adds a quality to the experience that boosts the trip into a whole ‘nother level…as does the ability to check out the spectacular Galapagos wildlife above…and below… 3-4 different islands.

Most who have dived with us agree that their diving is spoiled after this Island Hopping experience.  Diving will never be the same again. Hammerheads, Galapagos Sharks, White-Tipped Reef Sharks, Silkys, seasonal Whale Sharks, Giant Mantas, Schools of various Rays – Eagle Rays, Stingrays, Golden Rays, Mobulas, an abundance of schooling fish of all sizes from small Cardinal Fish to Jacks or Barracudas, Large fields of Garden Eels, Green Morays, Fine-Spotted Eels, Tiger Snake Eels, Seahorses, Nudibranches, Sea Cucumbers, Octopus and, of course, Sea Turtles and Sea Lions on pretty much every dive.  Add to that diving endemic birds like Blue-Footed Boobies,  the only Marine Iguana on the planet and of course, Galapagos Penguins and it’s easy to see how it might just spoil your diving forever!  Check out our Galapagos Photo Gallery of wildlife above and below.

Our 7 Day / 6 Night Galapagos Island Hopping Dive Program offers great diving from 3 islands: Santa Cruz, Isabela and Floreana.  SPACES AVAILABLE NOVEMBER!!

If you are 6-8 divers, our Galapagos Island Hopping Dive Trip is perfect for you.  We can depart anytime you want, customize where you want to go and it won’t cost any more than our normal departures.  Imagine it…your own private dive charter in the Galapagos at prices too low to believe!

Our Galapagos Island Hopping Dive Program is not just a dive trip…it is a private charter in the Galapagos that you are going to remember for the rest of your life! And we’ll let you in on a little secret…charter does not always equal more expensive. We know because we invented Galapagos Island Hopping Dive trips.  With us, divers have a choice of Galapagos accommodations ranging from Premier, Superior and Standard to Economy Class.  You could even rent a posh private villa or sleep in a tent under the stars. It seems most divers fit somewhere in between the two ends of that spectrum, but since where you sleep makes zero difference to how you dive or how much you love diving, we decided to concentrate on putting together a great group of divers and could care less where you sleep at night…in a manner of speaking.  We did select what we believe to be ‘best of class’ in each price range of Galapagos hotels because we want you well rested and raring to go for the day’s diving.

Check out our 7 Day / 6 Night Galapagos Island Hopping Dive Trip.
Check out our selection of Galapagos hotels.

And then get in touch as long as you have no fear of never wanting to dive anywhere else in the world.  Note:  Please don’t leave a comment here, but follow the link and drop us an email.  Thanks!