October 2007 |
Fantastic experience - even though the water is cooler than my usual dive destinations. Sealions play with divers, dolphins are happy to swim with divers, and lots of hammerheads, whalesharks etc Land tours are also worthwhile to see iguanas, blue footed boobies, frigate birds etc
Date posted: 21-Sep-2008 13:17 by: catsjones |
September 2006 |
Eight day trip on the Galapagos Aggressor II. Santiago, Ricardo and the rest of the staff were amazing. The Galapagos (Wolf and Darwin Isands specifically) are truly the holy grail of diving for those who want to see pelagics in great numbers and close proximity. The Aggressor allows you to do the trip in comfort and luxury (for a dive liveaboard). We will be back.
Date posted: 15-Sep-2006 20:13 by: JarredK |
March 2004 |
On the skydancer for 2 weeks....amazing trip...we have seen everything we wanted to see...even the unexpected...only big player missing was the whaleshark...but large schools of hammerheads were there. Strong current on most of the dives, not for first timers. DM were great and boat staff very nice and efficient. will definitely go back there again.
Date posted: 07-Feb-2006 16:44 by: fastdiver |
January 2006 |
I did a ten day trip on the Peter Hughes boat, Sky Dancer. It was one of the best experiences in my diving career. The boat is top notch. It is comfortable, the crew is fantastic, the food is some of the best anywhere, and the naturalist/divemaster was extremely godd and knowledgeable. The diving was everything I expected. The ten day trip included 5 days at Wolf and Darwin Islands, the show-stoppers of the Galapagos. Hammerheads everywhere, Galapagos shrks up close and personal, sea lions to play with, friendly dolphins, gazillions of fishes, Mantas, eagle rays, cownose rays, more morays than you could count, the list goes on and on. What a fabulous adventure.
Date posted: 07-Feb-2006 05:44 by: Chip |
February 2005 |
travelled on Sky Dancer, excellent liveaboard. Recommend 10day trip to spend more time at wolf and darwin. Literally hundreds of scalloped hammerheads. Many Spotted Eagle, Cowherd rays. Manta's, turtles, sea lions, one whale shark. Cold for tropical waters (avg 23), strong currents giving great drift dives plus several hang on and watch! Not for coral and tropical fish, great for pelagics.
Date posted: 24-Nov-2005 12:19 by: marob |
July 2005 |
We spent a week on the Aggressor I and the boat and crew were great. The diving was fantastic and we plan to go back.
Date posted: 04-Oct-2005 07:29 by: Larry |
February 2005 |
Galapagos is a unique and Fantastic place around the world
Date posted: 01-Sep-2005 00:12 by: Joselyn |
October 2004 |
Saw a few Hammerheads, most stayed out of view. Several other sharks, seals, sea lions, turtles, Eels by the dozens. a few dolphins
Date posted: 02-Jul-2005 21:11 by: BlueWing |
December 2004 |
I visited the Galapagos Islands from 12-16-2004 thru 12-23-2004. On the Aggressor I. The Galapagos Aggressor I is superb! Excellent service, food, accommodations, courtesy of staff etc. Nothing but the best.....well one thing needs to be improved... the Wine, a Bad Chilean blend. Excellent group on Board. We were all from USA except one Swiss couple. We had a great time together. Here is a description of the dives and general information about the Galapagos.
Day One: Landed in San Cristobal, check out dive. Water about 72 degrees, Yikes! (I dive the South Pacific where temps are 82 degrees). Visibility about 15 feet. One seal made a brief appearance. Do not under estimate your weights. You need to be over weighted as you do backward rolls off dinghy’s and straight down.
Day Two: North Seymour. Bad night, rough boat ride to Baltra. COLD water about 72 degrees wore my hood, vest and gloves this time. On the first dive visibility was about 30’ greenish color saw a Seal and not much else. Started to swim against a current, burnt through my air. People who could stay the extra 10 minutes saw a group of White Tips. Sick for the second dive. Everyone said they saw about the same as the first dive.
Day Three: Wolf. This is about a 12-hour (or more) ride from N. Seymour. The waters were not as rough; ride (overnight) was ok. WARM waters about 77 degrees, 60’ visibility and blue. First dive, saw three Hammerheads (made my dive) but not much else. Second dive, this is what I came here for! Wall of Hammerheads a hundred or more, Excellent dive. Third dive same as first. Fourth dive…sick again.
Day Four: Darwin. Finally calm waters, sunny and bright blue waters! First dive, water temp about 77 degrees. No Whale Sharks, they say this is the second year in a row they have not seen whale sharks in December. Saw a couple of Hammerheads, which was about it. Dive two, similar to the first dive but I sat in sandy area and had three Hammerheads that kept circling me and would come within four feet to check me out. Great Dive! Then back to Wolf for two more dives. Dive one at Wolf was only about 40’ visibility not much to see and sick for fourth dive.
Day Five: Cabo Marshall. The one dive at Wolf and these two dives is what I expected to see in the Galapagos. First dive, water about 75 degrees. There was a school of Grunts that must have been in the tens of thousands covering the reef. Looking up you saw a school of Barracuda (about 100) and a Seal swimming through to break them up. Saw Mantas, Seals, Sharks etc. Great Dive! Dive two, not as impressive as dive one but a lots of small schools of fish.
Day Six, Gordon rocks, one dive. This dive was well almost everyone’s least favorite. Cold water maybe 70 degrees. Rough waters, very strong currents and maybe 30 feet visibility. After fighting to get through the surface current, then you dealt with many different currents (some people say it is a washing machine). I could of dealt with the current if there was visibility. Saw three Hammerheads I was at 67 feet they were at about 90. Forget it.... surface.
This diving is not for the beginner. First your dive masters (guides) tell you from the start, they are not baby sitters! You need to hang with you buddy or with the group and make you way to the top when you get low on air. Which is what I prefer as I am an air hog. The only complaint about the diving is a few times we swam against the current and I burned my air. Where i believe we could of have a great drift dive. Very frustrating as most of my dives were 35 to 40 minutes. One Big Thank you to the aggressor dingy drivers is when i would come up early they would take me back to the boat as i would get sea sick sitting in the dingy. By the way all dives are done from a dingy and they find you. You are given a folding dive flag (that goes about 5’ or 6’ high) and a waterproof radiophone. Just in case you end up in Open Water!
Regarding rough waters they can be and are if you have a problem of motion sickness... You will be!
Water temps, I refused to break out my 6.5mm as i do most of my diving in the South Pacific and have not worn anything but a 2-1 mm shorty for 5 years. Well BRING MORE THAN THAT! I brought an 3-2 with a hood and vest. I survived and was just OK with that. But their recommendation is a 5 mm…probably the best bet. Also i read suggestions to bring Kevlar gloves. I never found the rocks sharp more of the opposite slippery except the barnacles, which you do not touch. I suggest bring a reef hook for the strong currents.
Overall I would have to rate the diving as a “C” trip. There were 3 couples on board that had been there before 3, 5 and 10 years ago. One couple said the Land and Marine life were 10 fold during the same week in the years past and there were always Whale Sharks. I had only three dives that I saw what I expected. Maybe they were on Vacation!
Date posted: 11-Jun-2005 05:47 by: Travelnsj |
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