The most exciting news is that, of the 14 (I think) new permits for dive liveaboards in the Galapagos, the first one is now in the water!  The Humboldt Explorer got off to a slightly rocky start due to engine problems, but when will a new boat ever go into the water without some growing pains?  The important thing is that she is the first of the new dive permits to begin operation. 

Now, let’s backtrack for a moment. After a grueling period of accepting project applications for new liveaboards, the winners were named.  Almost immediately, a group that consisted on paper of fishermen, sued the National Park claiming the process of awarding the permits was both illegal and corrupt.  This case has lingered on for over a year and a decision is expected any day now from the Supreme Court.  If the Supreme Court upholds the permits, then things will move forward as they are tentatively proceeding now.  If, on the other hand, the Supreme Court decides in favor of the fishermen, well, the Park will need to open a new round of solitications and award permits all over again.

When people inside the Galapagos try to explain to people outside the Galapagos that it’s complicated or tricky, this is just one example of what they mean.  The Galapagos is perhaps the most regulated part of the planet that isn’t under some regime rule.  And with good reason.  As is often said, if we can’t save the Galapagos, then there’s no hope for anywhere on the planet.

Hard to imagine a negative outcome after so many invested years and so much money simply in the process of applying for a permit, but you never know.  One small example of what was one small part of the process was providing notarized copies of years worth of zarpes.  A zarpe is the document a boat receives every time it sails out of port…permission from the Capitania to depart, as it were.  Now if you are a daily dive operator, that means you get a zarpe every day of the week.  You can imagine the expense of notarizing a few thousand zarpes.  One person with a permit said that he was going to put all the documentation in his boat to see if it would sink the boat.

Another thing is that the Park intends to drastically regulate where any liveaboards can dive from 2011 on.  All cruises in the Galapagos are being regulated to 15 day itineraries. Cruise operators are free to break up this 15 days however they wish to -7/8; 5/5/5; 10/5, etc. Think of Day 1 as the same as Day 15 in that the boat is in a port to drop off passengers, refuel and pick up new passengers.  This is being done for the sustainable good of the sites being visited, whether the site is a land visit or dive site.

For Naturalist cruises, this means they cannot visit the same site twice during that 15 day itinerary.  For Naturalist cruises, this can mean a morning visit and an afternoon visit.  For dive cruises, it’s usually just drop off, refuel, pick up and check dive.  For dive cruises, the Park is using a study to determine how many groups per day will be allowed at any given dive site and how many groups at the same time at any given dive site. As of this writing, the intent is to limit dive cruises to 2 days at Darwin and 2 days at Wolf per 15 days.  They are also trying to restrict the number of dives per day at each location.  And as has been rumored for the better part of 2 years, it seems the Park will begin to enforce the ‘no non-land accessible land visits’ for dive cruises.  It seems those who do these now do plan to defend their current rights to make land visits.

So this is where my opinion comes in.  I have discussed this with various scientists, dive guides, etc.  No one so far offers me much in the way of argument that sufficiently alters my opinion.  Granted, we all know the old cliche about opinions, nevertheless…

There are about a handful of known sites left in the world where hammerheads school in numbers and the northern islands of Darwin and Wolf are two such sites.  In my opinion, the only thing that keeps the aleteros (shark finners) out is that the divers are there. There is one station at Wolf, a boat anchored in the bay called the Tiburon Martillo, a ‘floating base’. This was absent for the last 8 months while it went into dry dock for repairs.  There is no one patrolling Darwin, 3 hours away which is better known for larger hammerhead populations.  So if the divers aren’t there, no one is there to stop the massacre.

I don’t doubt for a moment that the presence of dive boats wards off illegal fishing. Just two weeks ago, I was at a site in the central islands rarely dived any more due to distance/expense for local operators.  Due to congestion, I couldn’t dive.  And while our divers were down, 3 illegal fishing boats came to fish.  That we, a sole boat, were there did not defer them for a moment.  Me yelling did nothing.  They just continued dropping their buoys about 30 feet away from the rock. When I grabbed a camera and started taking photos of their boats which they knew I could use to identify them, well that seemed to be much more effective than nicely asking or acting like a crazy gringa yelling.  With that, they covered their faces so they weren’t personally identifiable.  And when they realized I was changing into a wetsuit (with the intention of cutting and confiscating their buoys), they played me.  I was torn between getting photos of each boat and cutting bouys.  I opted for the photo which meant leaving the first bouy to get close enough to the other boats providing a window of opportunity for the first boat to return to gather their bouy.

Then, they waited at a distance for us to leave.  During the surface interval, I asked the captain to merely circle the island.  We would not be visible on the other side of the island and I was prepared to go into the water if they had their bouys out when we came back around.  Instead, miraculously another local dive boat showed up and with two boats there, the 3 fishing boats finally gave up and left.

Same theory applies on a much grander scale at Wolf and Darwin.  Count on Costa Rican aleteros finning to their heart’s content on days when no one is there.  And for the last few years, there have been lots of days when no one was there.  To me, logic says the diminished shark population most likely has more to do with open season from aleteros than divers in the water with sharks.  No one debates that in the central islands, so why the same logic is not  applied to an unpatrolled site like Darwin is beyond me.

So I say diving is the best protection the Darwin hammerhead population has against populations diminishing, not the enemy.  Divers who dive our northern islands are all advanced divers.  No one is allowed to act irresponsibly nor do most advanced divers want to abuse the wildlife.  Yes, way too many seem to have some twisted desire to touch whale sharks, but most boats wisely have a policy of “Touch the whale shark and your diving is over for the rest of the trip.”

Having said all that, I do agree wholeheartedly that how many boats are allowed to dive either Darwin or Wolf at the same time indeed should be limited to no more than 2.  And those 2 need to stagger their dive times so no more than 1 boat has divers in the water at the same time.  Granted, I say that more because I think it provides a far richer experience for the diver.  I have been at Darwin and Cabo Marshall with 32 divers in the water.  It’s no fun.  You can’t figure out who’s shaking their noise maker and to have 16 divers ascend on top of you is the last thing I, as a diver, want when I’m in a location as remote as these sites are in Galapagos.  In terms of site sustainability, you still have 32 divers in the water on any given day.  But we don’t have reefs to protect. And few are anything more than sideline spectators to the hammerheads.  Yes, bubbles scare them, but I would imagine that if they were that scared or susceptible to altered behavior due to bubbles on the sidelines of their arena, they would have altered their behavior years ago.  It’s not like diving there just started in the last couple of years. Time has passed and they’re still there.

I am also of the opinion that it is touching animals and interacting in a physical manner (feeding, touching, chasing, finning, fishing) that is more likely to alter their behavior than watching from a respectful distance.  I’m no scientist, just a diver, but that’s my opinion and if someone can share data that alters my opinion, I’m all ears.

Now, to further speak out in setting where no one speaks out, I find it amazing the liveaboards don’t contribute more towards local research and sustainability.  And I’m not limiting that to dive cruises.  Of the money that is generated by tourism in the Galapagos, studies show that only 15% stays in the Galapagos.  That there is not a per person fee that goes directly to research and sustainability is inconceivable in my opinion.

Let’s take a look at only the liveaboards.  With only the 5.5 boats now operational, let’s take a low capacity rate of 10 divers per departure.  10 divers x 5 boats x 12 months equals 600 divers per year.  Plus the seasonal departure of another 160 divers, you have conservatively 760 divers per year on liveaboards.  If every person was charged a $100 conservation fee, that’s $76,000 per year.  If every liveaboard offered space to scientists when they had available space, that would help even further.  I find it astounding that even today, no one knows where the whale sharks migrate to when they leave Darwin.  Astounding.  I think that the price of Galapagos liveaboards is so expensive, the operators themselves should be donating this rather than increasing the costs to guests since, although it is very costly to operate in the Galapagos, it’s abundantly clear it’s also very profitable.

One thing that I recently learned that I find relatively amazing is that, on the island best known for either shark finning or aiding and abetting those who do, it would only take the creation of 9 jobs…9 economic alternatives…to end shark finning.  Is there some reason these aleteros can’t transition to other jobs like counting baby shark populations, patrolling the coastal waterways as Park guards, etc?  The only answer is funding for training, for resources, etc.  And on a side note, I find one paradox intriquing.  There seem to be plenty of baby black tips in the mangroves and a scarcity of adults whereas there seem to be plenty of adult hammerheads and a scarcity of babies.

Every new permit includes a sustainability project commitment.  Every new permit holder is a fisherman.  Every new liveaboard must be owned (on paper) by that fishermen.  There’s been a long history of no regulations around those with cupos renting  to those who will pay them the most for the lease.  Under new regulations, that is now grounds for losing your permit.

One of the goals for sustainability has been to transistion fishermen to tourism.  It’s virtually the only economic alternative there is, but no one is offering enough training so these fishermen know anything about tourism.  So much of the culture thinks only in terms of what they can make immediately.  Understandable since they have lead a life that was day to day up until now.  And now, long term vision through education is lacking.  Imagine giving construction contracts for skyscrapers to homeless people as a way to get them off the street in New York City and it’s not a far stretch in terms of an analogy.  A better analogy might be a gun or needle exchange programs since exchanging fishing permits for points towards winning a ‘tur navegable de buceo” permit was a primary way for fishermen to win points.  And those with the highest points won the permits.  Intentions are admirable, but there’s a cliche about that, too.

The good news is that the onus is actually now on the liveaboards themselves to hire and train locals, in a regulatory fashion.  Too many operators up until now bring people from the mainland where trained talent is more common than in the islands themselves.  Tightening up on that will both reduce immigration and direct more income to the local economy as opposed to the 85% that never reaches the Galapagos.  So things are certainly changing relative to how it’s been.  It seems the intentions are good, so we can only hope the results play out for the common good of both the environment and the population. And of course, each operator should more proactively do their part to contribute to a positive outcome.

I think sometimes it’s better to come from the outside rather than be bogged down by full knowledge of all the politics that more often than not, clog the wheel rather than grease it.  Doesn’t always make life smoother to voice an opinion when a code of silence is all but law, but some of us are just wired that way, much to our own discomfort.

Whale Shark Galapagos

Well, at least in the north at Darwin.  People always want to know what the conditions are like in the north and current reports are not so easy to come by.  So we thought we would begin offering reports here.  Granted, once you leave the central islands on the trip up to Darwin and Wolf, there’s no cell signal which means our reports are limited to once a week.

Week:  July 12, 2010:

• Water is still unseasonably cold:  20 at Wolf and 25 at Darwin.  Reported 18 air/ water temps at N. Seymour.
  
• 12 large whale shark sightings at Darwin, including a pregnant female.
  
• Reported ‘thousands’ of hammerheads
  
• Cabo Marshall  without viz, maybe 2 meters.  Too green from algae.

In the central islands, cold water temps (18-20) with thermoclines as low as 15.  Lots of hammerheads and Mantas at Gordon Rocks.

August 2010:

I was out in the islands for most of the month.  Water temperature in the central islands is 16-18 C on average with dreadful visibility in green chunky water.  Air temps were also chillier than normal with 18-19 C being the norm in the evenings.  Many days without sunshine in the garua season making viz even more difficult.  We don’t know whether the wildlife is there and you just can’t see it or if activity is diminished.   In any event, for 2 weeks of non-stop diving in the central islands, it was consistently bad everywhere.   Yes, some sharks, mantas, lots of rays, baitballs, plenty of turtles and large schools of barracudas still visible…which just goes to show you how spoiled we are when that equals lame.

Up at Darwin and Wolf,  the month offered very mixed reports.  It swung from thousands of hammerheads and a dozen whalesharks at Darwin to 20 hammerheads and 1 whaleshark at Darwin.  Last week (Aug. 16-23) , I had very mixed reports from 2 boats in the same week.  Aboard Galapagos Sky,  reports of very few hammerheads and some whalesharks at Darwin with maybe 20 hammerheads and not much else at Wolf.  Dive Guide from Humboldt Explorer reported thousands of hammerheads at Wolf (not Darwin) along with a pod of 20 Orcas caressing the pangas.  Everyone reports bad visibility and cold water.

What I’ve been saying since late May / early June is finally official:  La Nina is here post El Nino…which accounts for the unseasonably cold water, but no one seems to know for sure why such horrible visibility.  Best guess is major upwelling events being dispersed throughout the islands.  Best viz I’ve heard of all month was 40 ft (12 mts) at Darwin.  Most places are under 20 ft (5 mts) viz.  Typically, diminished visibility equals more wildlife due to the nutrient rich water, but when viz is 10 – 15 ft, even if there’s a school of 500 hammerheads nearby, you can’t necessarily see them.   Official reports expect La Nina to continue for the next 2-3 months at least.

Aug. 23-30.  Reports of thousands of hammerheads at Darwin, barely a dive when they weren’t in sight.  Whale sharks, Mantas at Cabo Marshall.  Water temp at Darwin 24C  and a mere 15C at Cousins causing several to bail on Dive 2.  In other words, your standard week diving the Galapagos on a liveaboard.

Aug 31 – Sept 6.  Reports are the same…cold water (15-24C), bad viz, but an abundance of marine life, ie good sightings.

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

Perhaps at some point in the distant past, there were banks of hundreds of hammerheads to be seen in the central islands, but no more.  At Darwin, during the season, whale sharks are not a maybe while in the central islands, it is possible to see them, but it remains a maybe.  Now most head up there for Mr. Big, but me?  I’m in it for the hammerheads.  Can’t get enough of those primitive creatures.  I really love the huge Galapagos sharks at Wolf, too.  They are not timid like they seem to be in the central islands, perhaps due to there being larger numbers.  And I love it when you find both hammerheads and Galapagos sharks in one school…especially if it’s a school you swim through while chasing a 50+ foot long whale shark.

So allow me to be the one who doesn’t use marketing speak when discussing diving in the Galapagos and say point blank…diving Wolf and Darwin is better than diving in the central islands.  Most would think that as someone who does chartered island hopping dive tours, this is akin to sacrilige. Hey, the truth is the truth.  Having said that, diving in the central islands only falls short to just about the best diving on the planet.  So to me, that means our island hopping dive tours are still superior to about 99% of diving on the planet.  In other words, island hopping dive tours in the Galapagos are amazing and live-aboards are miraculous.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of the options?  I thought I would compile a list of pros and cons for both.

Both live-aboards and island hopping dive tours offer:

-Diving in the Galapagos which isn’t world renowned for nothing.
-The comradery of diving with the same group of people.

Advantages:

–Marine Life.  Only live-aboards can reach the remote dive sites of Darwin and Wolf. Last time I was up (Nov. 9-16) 17 whale shark sightings and hundreds of hammerheads as well as the black tips, Galapagos sharks, silkys, mantas, eagle rays, turtles, huge schools of fish, etc.
–Easy diving as it’s only about diving.  You wake up, have coffee and dive.  Eat breakfast and dive.  Dive before lunch, have lunch and dive.  No two hour rides in a small boat in a rough sea or with a loud engine.  You can converse with others at any time. Dive, relax, eat, dive, relax, eat, sleep, dive…
–Virutally no wardrobe required.  Anyone who packs more than a small duffle bag (apart from dive gear) just overpacked.  Shoes are not even necessary onboard at all.
–Personal radio beacons for extra safety precautions.

Disadvantages:

–Too little topside Galapagos.  And that is going to only grow more true as the Park denies permits for any land-based activity whatsoever for the live-aboards.  Most visitors to the Galapagos come there for the endemic Galapagos wild life and you just do not get anything approaching the same exposure to that wildlife as you would during an island hopping tour.
–Being on one small boat all week can be a problem for those who get seasick or like privacy or hate sharing a cabin.  Taking a shower, eating, or sleeping while in a rough sea is no fun at all.
–If one person gets on the boat with a cold or illness, more than likely everyone has it by the end of the week.
–Incredibly expensive. In 2010, prices begin at $3700.
–No communications with the outside world are possible.  Now that’s either a deal breaker or a blessing, depending on your perspective.
–Remote location equals no access in the event of a serious problem…like injury or illness.  Boats are not equipped for any kind of medical assistance beyond oxygen and that which anyone should have in a first aid kit.
–While I enjoy diving from a panga, many don’t as it can be rough sometimes in full gear.
–Rapid descents in strong currents can be a problem for some, especially with ear problems.
–Some people onboard are people you can’t easily get away from.
–Being in a remote location and having maybe 32 divers at the same site.  Even 16 divers is too many.

Advantages:

–Great diving perhaps second only to Darwin which is just about the best dive site on the planet.
–Access to marine life not accessible from live-aboards, like the penguins or snorkeling with 10 giant mantas so close they clip you.
–Access to things that are as topside magical as some dive sites are marine magical like trekking Volcan Sierra Negra and visiting Los Tuneles.
–Options for dinner.  And great ones, too! Try Angermeyer Point on Santa Cruz; 2 Delfines and the Wooden House on Isabela.
–Internet and cell phone access. Again, this may be considered either a pro or a con depending on your perspective.
–Large sleeping quarters with beautiful ocean views you don’t have to share unless you want to.
–Access to doctors or pharmacies should the need arise.
–Flexibility to change dive sites or plans. Flexibility to jump in and snorkel if you pass dolphins or mantas, etc.
–Learning more about the people who live in the Galapagos, their history and culture.
–Access to shopping.
–No diving from Pangas necessary.
–Could be diving with a few as six divers and no one else in site (pun intended)
–At least 50% less than a live-aboard.

Disadvantages:

–No access to Darwin or Wolf.
–Bumpier and louder boat rides.
–Limited space on smaller boats which is where you are most of the day.
–Must pack and transport luggage more than once when island hopping.
–No piping hot lunches (though very good food) or hot chocolate between dives.

Feel free to add to the lists by commenting on this article.  No matter what, it’s all great diving in the Galapagos.

There’s not a whole lot of joy at either of these sites for the intermediate or advanced diver, but there are two other sites you should know about that fall under the Academy Bay generality:  El Bajo and Punto Nunez Cliffs.

El Bajo is a submerged platform that has mini-walls and a ton of marine life.  Large schools of reef fish, rays, white-tipped reef sharks and sea turtles are some of the possible sightings at El Bajo.  Why this site would not be good for beginners is the bizarre surge that creates what I call a cradle effect when you are above the platform.  You literally will be swayed back and forth, back and forth.  I was out with some relatively advanced divers in June who, after a week of diving all over the Galapagos, thought the current and surge was stronger at El Bajo than anywhere else we went.  And I thought that was the strongest I had felt current in the channel at Gordon Rocks out of quite a few dives there, so….

Punto Nunez Cliffs is beyond the Darwin Station side of Puerto Ayora along the…errr… cliffs.  These are lava rock cliffs and under the water are lava tunnels which form wonderful caves to explore, often filled with resting white-tipped reef sharks, rays and other pelagic life.  There, too, you will find plenty of reef fish, turtles, possibly eagle rays and more.

The nicest thing about diving at Academy Bay is that it is the ONLY Santa Cruz dive site where you can dive in either a morning or an afternoon and still have half the day free.  If you want to get your wetsuit wet the minute you arrive,  this is the only place where you can actually get in two dives in one afternoon due to its proximity to Puerto Ayora.  If you’re short on time or short on days and want to maximize your time, these two sites are a good option.

Gordon Rocks:

Sure, there are Eagle Rays, Stingrays, Marbled Rays, Mantas, White-Tipped Reef Sharks, Galapagos Sharks, Jacks, Turtles, Heiroglyphic Hawkfish, Flag Cabrillas, Blennies, Wrasse in various growth stages, Cardinalfish, King Angelfish, Sea Lions, Yellowtail Surgeonfish, King Angelfish, Barracudas, Jack and more…but people remember one thing: Close encounters with Hammerheads. Gordon Rocks is a highlight of any diving experience in the Galapagos.

Gordon Rocks is the remains of a tuff cone located quite close to the northern end of Santa Cruz Island, just offshore from “The Plazas”.   Two large crescent shaped rocks protrude from the water at the north and south rims and one smaller rock visible has a channel and 3 underwater pinnacles below.  Locally, it is known as the ‘washing machine’ due to how crazy the currents and surge can be.  For this reason, it is considered an intermediate to advanced dive site.   It is considered the best dive site from Santa Cruz Island.

Mini Report from June 2009:

Dive 1: We got all suited up near shore and headed over as the currents around Gordon Rocks can be strong and the chop too difficult to do much beyond not fall out of the boat. We entered the ‘washing machine’ about at the center of the western ‘rock’, the more intact piece of the visible crater. We descended rather quickly assisted by a somewhat strong down current and were immediately rewarded with Hammerheads cruising the sandy bottom next to the reef. Being so fascinated by the hammerheads and not paying attention to our dive computers or depth gauges, Macarron had to ring his bell to alert us to the fact that we had descended a bit too far and guided up a ridge where we just held on for awhile watching the hammerhead swim around us and below us. One curious ‘martillo’ ended up about 5 meters or less in front of us. Fantastic experience to view hammerheads so up close and personal. We continued over the reef and crossed the strong current in the channel heading for the pinnacle.  There are a lot of amazing creatures at Gordon Rocks, but hammerheads are a pretty tough act to follow.  You end up so focused on them that you just forget that everywhere you look, especially above, is a well-stocked fish bowl!

Dive 2: More hammerheads, large schools of fish, eagle rays…and did I mention the hammerheads? Dive 3: Again, I sit this out…Miriam and Javier left their camera onboard, so naturally, it was the best dive of the day. They reported sighting about 40 sharks, mostly hammerheads with a couple of white tips and 1 Galapagos Shark.

Post note: Luck of the draw…I dove Gordon Rocks the day after everyone left and waiting for us as we climbed back into the boat was a young whale shark, about 6-7 meters long. Fortunately, we could quickly don our snorkels and jump right back in where I swam about a meter away from him until he decided to speed it up. It’s as hopeless to chase a young whale shark as it is to chase penguins. Too fast.

Dive 1 – Enderby: This is where you will most likely spot whale sharks in the spring months.  Also, Eagle Rays, Stingrays, White-Tipped Reef Sharks, Galapagos Sharks, sometimes Hammerheads and Pilot Whales, Barracuda, Yellowtail Surgeonfish, Juvenile Grunts, Creolefish, Mexican Hogfish, Sea Cucumbers, Blue and Gold Snappers and more.

Dive 2: Champion: Sea lions galore, Sea Turtles, White-Tipped Reef Sharks, Yellowtail Surgeonfish, Longnosed Hawkfish, Sea Stars, Scorpionfish, Mexican hogfish in various growth stages, King Angelfish,  Spinster Wrasse, Guinearfowl Puffer in its bright yellow phase, Flag Cabrilla,  Red Lipped Batfish,  Barracuda,  Black striped Salemas, Panamic horse conch,  Green Morays, Pacific Seahorse, Blue Lobster, Octopus and more.

Thinking there would be a 3rd dive, I sat out on Champion.  When even Michael came up smiling, I knew I had made a mistake.  The juveniles at this time of the year are so very playful and curious and from inside a cave, they made for great photo ops.  Plus, by now it was getting a bit late, the sun was glaring and reports from another boat of poor visibility ahead motivated the group into deciding they were done for today.

To add insult to injury, there I was just cruising on the current twiddling my thumbs while we waited for the divers to ascend when I spotted a huge school of dolphins down at the point.  Because we were expecting the divers up soon, (turns out they came up about 10 minutes later) I did not insist the boat go drop me into that massive pod of Bottlenosed Dolphins.  Another boat in the area with snorklers ended up doing just that and came back screaming with joy and reporting roughly 200 dolphins.

4:30 PM Floreana

I grabbed a photo of Miriam and Javier lounging on the front of the boat as we approached Corona del Diablo.  It’s now about 4 PM, but that glare makes it look almost dark.  Sun aside, I had this thought, “Who doesn’t want to be where they are right now?”

We cruised through Luz del Dia on the way back to port to see the penguins on the rocks.  Macarron began his penguin imitation and they actually responded to him! He can do the same with sea lions.  It’s a bit uncanny.  You can’t really tell if you’re hearing him or the real thing.

By now, we are a bonded group and the energy is amazing.  We laugh, we share, we learn from each other and we support each other.  It’s as though we were family on a private charter together…only without any of the tension that seems to inevitably accompany a family.  The BBQ dinner at Lelia’s house was spectacular as usual.  Of course, when reviewing photos for the day, Miriam was mentioning a frogfish she saw (it jumped) that Michael quickly recognized as the elusive red-lipped batfish and after his moment of , “And you didn’t share?!?” was over, we all laughed at the fact they were seeing something everyone wanted to see and didn’t even realize it.

All of us had water in our ears and tried two local remedies:  1. Sticking a lit cigarette snugly in your ear to draw out the water.  2.  Rolling a piece of newspaper into a long cone that is then lit on fire to draw the water out.   Cigarettes are easier and, for me, seemed more effective. And then there’s the photo ops of all the above.  Yes, by now, there’s a lot of laughter every time we are having a meal together.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

July 2010:  We decided to enter Enderby at the point and head into the deep side…more currents, more surge and more life!  Out of 11 days of diving on this trip, it was the best visibility in the Galapagos.  Lots of turtles, the huge ‘bait ball’ of black-striped salemas, fish galore: king angelfish, Mexican hogfish, butterfly fish, yellow tailed surgeonfish, enormous schools of barracuda and so much more.  We saw so many turtles, several with barnacles.  We saw eagle rays and stingrays.  Enderby is so incredibly beautiful.  It is one of my favorite dive sites in Galapagos.  It’s a pity so few dive there anymore.

Logistics in terms of getting tanks to Floreana is every operator’s nightmare.  There is no compressor on the island, so you either have to bring tanks (and charter boats hate carrying that much weight) or send them there (which equals very expensive tanks).  The only other option is to go for a day trip from Santa Cruz…which means 2 hours each way so usually limits you to 2 dives due to time constraints thanks to the travel.  And local operators are reluctant due to the added expense of gasoline as well as the weight in the boat.  All of that equals very few opportunities to dive Floreana anymore.

We were short on tanks this day as  the boat that was supposed to deliver tanks forgot to leave them the day before.  So I sat out the Champion dive in order for there to be enough tanks to go around.  But everyone was happy, so I guess it was a good dive.  I seem doomed to always sit out Champion.  Will change that by diving there twice in the next few weeks.

For our 3rd dive, we hit Punto Cormorant while you can still dive there.  A year later, Corona del Diablo (The Devil’s Crown) is now off limits for diving.  What I like most about Punto Cormorant is how easy it is to find red-lipped batfish in relatively shallow water.  You can usually find several in the sandy bottom at about 45 feet making for really easy photo ops.  And cruising the nearby shoals are usually some large hammerheads.  I like that combo very much.

North Seymour: Eagle Rays, Manta Rays, Hammerheads, White-Tipped Reef Sharks, Galapagos Shark, Stingrays, Marbled Rays, Tiger Snake Eels, Moray Eels, Garden Eels, Sea Stars, Sea Turtles, Jacks, Blue and Gold Snappers, Flag Cabrilla, Creolefish, King Angelfish, Barracuda, Heiroglyphic Hawkfish, Frogfish, Yellowtail Surgeonfish, Spotfin Burrfish, Scorpionfish, Cardinalfish, Nudibranch and more.

The morning began with everyone truly happy and excited to be participating in this, the first ever Galapagos Island Hopping Dive Charter.   I must admit it’s a wonderful thing to have an idea and turn into reality.   We were up early and out by 7:20 for the 45 minute drive to Itabaca Canal…another 30 minutes and our bottom time was quite disappointing to the experienced diver…calm currents at N. Seymour equaled not as much life and very murky water with not much visibility. Other than sea lions, scorpion fish, white-tipped reef sharks, schools of fish, rays and sea turtles, not much there. LOL. Now there’s a statement you can probably only make in the Galapagos. One of our group so wanted to see a blue-footed booby. There are so many, you quickly begin to take them for granted…and Javier was no exception to that rule.

Such is the Galapagos…these incredibly special treats elsewhere are not uncommon here. Giant sea turtles a meter, or less, away. 6 two meter white-tipped reef sharks a meter away. A school of hammerheads maybe 5 meters away. Swimming beside a whale shark. Schools of grunts, creoles, barracuda, sergeant fish…large bumphead parrots and Mexican hogfish. Walls of Selemas. Watching sea horses awkwardly move from one place to another rather than remain steady with their tail wrapped around something or watching them mate. Tiny saber tooth blennies that will attack any fin you hold out to them. Brightly colored, yellow lipped damsel fish smaller than your hand who will take you on if you encroach on their territory. Tiger Snake eels. Garden Eels. Bright blue nudibranches. Marbled rays, sting rays, eagle rays, garden eels and everywhere the large sea stars in the Galapagos. I will never forget a safety stop where in 3 D below were large schools of fish in circles below me with quite a number of white-tipped reef sharks trolling below them but above a white sandy bottom covered in hundreds of sea stars. And that was a safety stop!

Post Note: Last week when I was diving North Seymour, we had a nice school of eagle rays and 5 mantas!

Our first surface interval was in calm, crystal clear water next to a stunning white beach on the tiny islet, Mosqueras, where sea lions breed, grow and learn through very active play with each other…and snorkelers…in the water. One of our group members was filming the whole time and to say this was perfect for sea lion footage is an understatement.

Mosqueras: Sea Lions, Eagle Rays, Hammerheads, White-Tipped Reef Shark, Mantas, Garden Eels, Snake Eels, Bonitos, Jack, Mackerel, Threebanded Butterflyfish, Sea Turtles, Yellowtail Surgeonfish, Yellow and Blue Striped Snappers, King Angelfish, Parrotfish, Yellowtail Grunt, Peruvian Grunt, Cardinalfish, Galapagos Grunt, Sea Stars and more.

Next we headed around to the non-protected side of Moqueras for Dive 2. Again, really diminished visibility and ‘not much there’, though one highlight for me was a group of 2 eagle rays keeping company with a young manta about the same size. At first, I thought it was coincidence, but no. As I watched them turn and disappear into the blue, they were clearly traveling together. Last time I was at Mosqueras, I watched a school of about 18 hammerheads at eye level from about 15 feet away…luck of the draw.

Post Note: I was diving Mosqueras this month and WOW…in 2 back to back dives over 100 hammerheads.  On the first dive, as I’m descending, I’m trying to get the other divers’ attention because immediately under us were about a dozen hammerheads that it appeared we might descend right through. Great dive and when we were back up at the surface, the marinero (sailor) yells at me to say that there are all sorts of fins ‘circling’ me in the water.  My response was “Where? I want to see!”  I thought he was kidding, but after I had handed my gear up and climbed back into the boat, indeed there were fins everywhere!  I grabbed my snorkel and jumped back in the water.  The divemaster and one other…out of 8…decided to join me.  I must have stayed in about 15-20 minutes and, though I could lift my head out of the water and see all the fins nearby, I was seeing nothing with my face in the water…until a hammerhead swam about 3 feet beside me.  How amazing to see him/her that close, that clearly.

First, I have always said and still say that I feel like prey at the surface.  Granted, by now I’ve grown so accustomed to being in the water with hammerheads that I no longer have even a twinge of hesitation, but after seeing the one fellow so close, I decided maybe I shouldn’t push my luck and headed back to the boat.  I even decided it could be prudent to head over to the divemaster as I had been solo and at least 50 feet away from anyone else…all 3 of us that is.  Still, I have to say that I LOVED that I went snorkeling with hammerheads.

The next day I had hired a private boat and only two of us were diving together.  He says the standard…let’s do Mosqueras first, then N. Seymour.  I’m like…NO.  Let’s do N. Seymour first, Mosqueras second.  I was hoping against hope to essentially follow in my ‘footsteps’ of the day before so I could increase the odds of seeing the same thing.  It was better!

We went down to the sandy spot where the schools of snappers always are at about 45 feet and there beside us were a group of at least 35 hammerheads, sometimes about 15-20 feet away.  They passed by and back again from a different angle…same once more.  So we got to see this group from eye level, above and below us.  There were also groups of 6-8 and 2.  All in all, over 100 hammerheads back to back at Mosqueras!  Ask anyone and they say seeing hammerheads is pretty rare in Mosqueras.  It’s a fairly simple dive where I’ve even seen boats take discovery divers for their first ever immersion.

Daphne Minor: Sea Turtles, Hammerheads, White-Tipped Reef Sharks, Galapagos Sharks, Silky Sharks, Golden Cowrays, Eagle Rays, Galapagos Grunts, Yellowtail Grunts, Creolefish, King Angelfish, Galapagos Ringtail Damselfish, Chamelion Wrasse, Rainbow Wrasse, Barracuda, Streamer Hogfish, Tuna, Parrotfish, Wrasse, Razor Surgeonfish, Panamic Graysby Cabrilla, Cardinalfish, Yellowtail Snapper, Nudibranch, Octopus, Slipper Lobster and Black Coral.

Again, until I have my Pro Ear mask down here, after all my ear problems, I sat out the 3rd dive having limited myself to 2 per day. I have really enjoyed Daphne before. I love the walls with all the crags and coral. I love that if you hold onto a rock with a crevasse, the small territorial damselfish will constantly ‘attack’ you in order to drive you off his/her property. It just amazes me that a fish that small is so willing to take on something 100 times its size. It never hurts even without gloves, so it merely serves to remind you of common courtesy by yelling, “Get away from my home!” The other thing I really love about Daphne is how the current can whip by the wall and provide you with a very nice ride indeed. It’s also nice to sit inside a cave (once you drive the white-tipped reef sharks out) and just watch the blue screen the ocean becomes. Small medusas raining down. Lots of schools of fish. White-tipped reef sharks passing by. Nice living TV.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Update July 2009:  I felt like I had my own private hammerhead heaven for 2 days.  Only one friend and I were out diving.  I had seen so many hammerheads the day before at both N. Seymour and Mosqueras, that we recreated the schedule in hopes of them still being there.  They were.  At Mosqueras, we were treated to a school of at least 35 hammerheads within 25 feet from 3 different angles.  It was great!

I realized that what I knew just stood in my way when I first moved to Panama.  That was summed up in an ‘aha’ moment as I stood looking at the giant marble compass in the Foreign Ministry building.  It pointed directly due east to the Pacific Ocean which just should not, could not be true from the west coast of the Americas.  And when I moved to Ecuador from Panama, I couldn’t get used to how ‘not’ green Ecuador was after how lush and green Panama was.  At first, it did not seem as pretty.  What I knew was in my way.

The same has been true of diving in the Galapagos. It is so different from diving I’ve known in the Caribbean or any other warm water diving. Warm water diving was about a dive skin at the most, but usually just a bathing suit.  It was about colorful fish and colorful reefs and long, clear visibility.   The Galapagos is not the same as the Caribbean and perhaps if it were, it would not be considered one of the top dive destinations in the world.  I keep seeing different positions on various dive charts, and while it’s always in the Top 10, more often than not, it’s in the Top 5 dive sites…that’s in the world folks!  And I’m so thrilled to be learning why.

I was diving out in the Galapagos again last week and this time, por fin!! I got to see a school of hammerheads at close range.  And unlike all those photos from a perspective of above or below them, we were beside them…at eye level.  They were about 15 feet away at the most.  I could not get over how girthy they were.  In all of those above and below shots, hammerheads seem svelte.  Nope.  They are heavyset sharks.  And those eyes on the side of that primitive scalloped head are amazing.  They seem curious about us, but just swam by while we remained motionless as though watching them on TV.  That was Mosqueras where apparently, it is relatively rare to see schools of hammerheads and where before, I had only seen 2 individuals and mistook one for  a Galapagos Shark due to that girthy body.

Galapagos diving has spoiled me quickly.  Yes, of course, there are amazingly colorful fish and even corals.  You have to appreciate the lapis blue nudibranch against a red and mustard yellow background.  Beyond the colors you find diving anywhere, what is so very different in the Galapagos from anywhere else I’ve been is the sheer volume of the schools of fish.  Galapagos grunt in the hundreds.  Barracudas in the hundreds.  Large cushion starfish are so abundant as are eels.  And yes, a school of hammerheads.  We couldn’t quite tell how many were there, probably 18 or so.  Still, how very cool to finally see!  I’ve waited forever to see that.  Hoping to see schools of hammerheads was the only reason I did the live-aboard in the Texas Flower Gardens all those years ago.  Didn’t see a one, but as I documented in my last journal, I will never forget the bioluminescent jelly.

My second dive that day was Daphne Minor.  We descended into deep water with virtually no visibility and a swift current.  It could have been slightly unsettling, though complete trust in my dive master, Macarron, alleviated any concerns.  I just made sure to stay close enough to be able to see someone else’s fins.  Soon enough, the visibility was Galapagos good and marine life was Galapagos abundant.   By now, I had began to take large rays for granted: mantas, sting rays, sartens, eagle rays.  And as I said before, white tipped reef sharks are just big fish to me now.  On this dive, we entered a cave and drove out some resting white tipped sharks.  Once again, we just sat on our knees for awhile as though watching Underwater TV.  It’s really quite cool to just sit there and see what swims by.  On this day, it was ‘raining’ tiny jellies…medusas…the kind with long stringy tentacles that can sting even in this small size.  Apparently, when large, they can kill.  For the first time, for reasons other than temperature, I was glad to be in a wetsuit, even if it was waaayyy too big for me.  The alternative was too small as I had not tried on suits before heading out.  I still struggle a bit with my buoyancy in those thick wetsuits and learned the other day that the water out there is 4-6% more salty than seawater therefore adding to the buoyancy.    One other thing I loved about Dahne Minor was the fantastic current along the western walls.  It had been a long time since I could just glide / ride a current.  It’s like flying.  I could almost just cease to look and simply feel.  God did it feel good.

The Galapagos is the rock star of destinations on this planet.  And diving is their biggest hit -not merely an immediate guilty pleasure that soon fades into obscurity, but rather the timeless type that never grows old and never fails to transport you into some other beautiful world.