Galapagos Diving and/or Snorkeling

Not skiing, but we finally got a rare deal to Ecuador in late November: 32,000 miles +$99 per person round trip. But as I mentioned elsewhere the Galapagos are overall not a bargain destination. We are doing a one week naturalist cruise but going early for two land based (Santa Cruz) mornings of scuba diving.

Tony Crocker said:

Not skiing, but we finally got a rare deal to Ecuador in late November: 32,000 miles +$99 per person round trip. But as I mentioned elsewhere the Galapagos are overall not a bargain destination. We are doing a one week naturalist cruise but going early for two land based (Santa Cruz) mornings of scuba diving.

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I’m very interested in hearing about this trip

Tony Crocker said:

we finally got a rare deal to Ecuador in late November: 32,000 miles +$99 per person round trip

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Nice score. I assume Delta? Did you get a decent itinerary?

jamesdeluxe said:

Did you get a decent itinerary?

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We have the most efficient itinerary, via partner LATAM with 1.5-2 hour layovers in Lima. However we arrive in Quito at 2AM and both plane changes are the 10PM to midnight ranges.

Cash tickets were slightly cheaper with plane changes in Atlanta or Miami, but with layovers of 7-8 hours. Oddly, the great mileage deal was only available on the Lima itinerary.

jasoncapecod said:

I’m very interested in hearing about this trip

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I've investigated off and on over many years. The hangup is that we are aware of liveaboard scuba cruises, but they spend nearly the entire week at Wolf and Darwin islands, 18 hours by boat north of the larger islands. No one operates a mixed cruise of naturalist and diving destinations; if you want to visit the naturalist sites and also dive Wolf and Darwin, you need to book two separate cruises.

So I came around to the view that the naturalist sites are what are most unique in the Galapagos so that's what we signed up for. You can reduce the price with a 3 -5 day cruise vs. a week or by being land-based with daily excursions, but we believe you want a week on a boat to get to more remote islands with the most diverse wildlife.

After choosing the MV Evolution western itinerary, I investigated whether there was worthwhile scuba diving land based from the islands with arrival/departure airports. Reviews indicated that was true, so we are giving that a shot for two days before the cruise. By all reviews the sea life visible snorkeling on the naturalist cruises is very impressive. Scuba in the Galapagos is more for the big pelagics, notably hammerhead sharks, which we have never seen.

Tony Crocker said:

I've investigated off and on over many years. The hangup is that we are aware of liveaboard scuba cruises, but they spend nearly the entire week at Wolf and Darwin islands, 18 hours by boat north of the larger islands. No one operates a mixed cruise of naturalist and diving destinations; if you want to visit the naturalist sites and also dive Wolf and Darwin, you need to book two separate cruises.

So I came around to the view that the naturalist sites are what are most unique in the Galapagos so that's what we signed up for. You can reduce the price with a 3 -5 day cruise vs. a week or by being land-based with daily excursions, but we believe you want a week on a boat to get to more remote islands with the most diverse wildlife.

After choosing the MV Evolution western itinerary, I investigated whether there was worthwhile scuba diving land based from the islands with arrival/departure airports. Reviews indicated that was true, so we are giving that a shot for two days before the cruise. By all reviews the sea life visible snorkeling on the naturalist cruises is very impressive. Scuba in the Galapagos is more for the big pelagics, notably hammerhead sharks, which we have never seen.

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I don’t dive and not real fan of boats /cruises. Maybe this isn’t the trip for me.
Plenty of hammerheads in Fla and the water is warm

jasoncapecod said:

I don’t dive

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For 99% of visitors to the Galapagos that doesn't even get discussed. You will get more out of it if you like snorkeling though. You are there mainly to see the huge variety of endemic wildlife. That's why we did not prioritize scuba.

jasoncapecod said:

not real fan of boats /cruises

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These are small boats. There are regulations of not more than 16 tourists for each naturalist guide, and I suspect like Antarctica no more than 100 tourists per boat. There are many boats with just 16 passengers. Ours has 32 but three guides. So ambience is nothing like mainstream cruise lines with 1,000+ passengers. As in Antarctica, the small boats and environmental regulations are the reason it's not cheap. The only downside to smaller ships is for people extra sensitive to motion sickness.

jasoncapecod said:

water is warm

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Supposedly water is upper 60's June-November and low 70's Dec.-May. The boats provide shorty wetsuits.

Tony Crocker said:

I've investigated off and on over many years. The hangup is that we are aware of liveaboard scuba cruises, but they spend nearly the entire week at Wolf and Darwin islands, 18 hours by boat north of the larger islands. No one operates a mixed cruise of naturalist and diving destinations; if you want to visit the naturalist sites and also dive Wolf and Darwin, you need to book two separate cruises.

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I have explored the same combination of Galapagos land/sea activities and never found a satisfactory solution.

The live-aboard dive boats that go to Wolf/Darwin are a commitment, with an 8-day minimum. And if you want to do land-based activities (which you likely would), it will require even more time and money, as well as likely airfare between islands or another cruise.

Note: I am amazed that no company/operation would create a tour to visit the remote dive sites and incorporate a few non-diving days with land activities. Or give the option not to dive and see the many areas of interest on the islands. I am not sure that is a bit of a ship 'design' issue: dive boat vs. touring boat.

Reading some reviews of the longer 8-day Scuba Liveaboards, it seems that diving in relatively cool or cold water multiple times a day can be a miserable experience. Additionally, I have never gone on a scuba-only trip lasting more than four days. Nitrogen builds, ears can get clogged, etc.

To see what I am most interested in, schools of Hammerheads, Whale Sharks, Penguins, Ocean Iguanas, Sea Lions, etc., are best visited from May to October. Mantas are less interesting during the inverse season.



So, given the cost and time, I decided that heli/cat-skiing in Alaska/BC/Italy is a better choice.

I did read to cut costs, reach out to operators close to cruise dates to find remaining slots. However, this is not a given.

Friends who have been mostly doing island tours with some scuba days or a naturalist cruise.

ChrisC said:

Penguins, Ocean Iguanas, Sea Lions,

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All easily seen both in and out of the water on the naturalist cruises from what I read.

ChrisC said:

Whale Sharks,

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Most reliable off Yucatan in summer, as we did in 2014. These are daytrips from Cancun or Isla Mujeres, very reasonably priced.

ChrisC said:

Hammerheads

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These are what we haven't seen but have a decent shot on the upcoming scuba daytrip from Santa Cruz to Gordon Rocks.

ChrisC said:

Additionally, I have never gone on a scuba-only trip lasting more than four days.

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I've done three of a week or more:
Bali - Komodo in Aug. 2012 on Mermaid 1
Truk WWII wrecks in Dec. 2014 on Truk Odyssey
Raja Ampat - Solar Eclipse - Ternate in Mar. 2016 on Damai II
We have signed up for Aggressor IV in the Red Sea for the Aug. 2027 Solar Eclipse, much more appealing than being on land in Egypt at 120F.

ChrisC said:

Nitrogen builds, ears can get clogged, etc.

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Nearly everyone on liveaboards is on Nitrox because you are often doing four dives per day. I got earaches in 2012 and 2016 which were relieved within a day by Advil.

diving in relatively cool or cold water multiple times a day can be a miserable experience.

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My other two liveaboards were in the Coral Sea and Cuba, so all 5 were in tropical waters.

Tony Crocker said:

Most reliable off Yucatan in summer, as we did in 2014. These are daytrips from Cancun or Isla Mujeres, very reasonably priced.

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I did snorkel with the Whale Sharks once.

I took a scuba trip based in Playa del Carmen and dived in the immediate Playa area (average), Tulum Cenotes (excellent), and went on a day trip to Cozumel (excellent-did a few days there previously). A great value ($) for excellent diving!

During the same trip, I visited Isla Mujeres to snorkel with whale sharks. I felt there might have been too many boats harassing these poor whales who are just tying to eat some plankton (excellent weather day). And they are faster than one would expect. Essentially, they would let you swim with them as many times as you wanted until everyone got tired. Also, bribed the Mexican police not to write me a speeding ticket.

Tony Crocker said:

Nearly everyone on liveaboards is on Nitrox because you are often doing four dives per day. I got earaches in 2012 and 2016 which were relieved within a day by Advil.

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I received Nitrox Certification in 2018 and Advance Open Water in 2014. Nitrox definitely helps with less nitrogen definitely helps manage scuba-induced sleepiness/haze.

Tony Crocker said:

These are what we haven't seen but have a decent shot on the upcoming daytrip from Santa Cruz to Gordon Rocks.

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I have seen a couple small/medium sized Hammerheads in SoFl/Keys, and the Great Hammerheads/big ones in Bimini. The SoFL ones are mostly mellow just looking for rays and crustaceans. Bimini Great Hammerheads - the dive shop is chumming to an extent - which can provoke shark feeding frenzy behavior.

There are numerous Bull Sharks in SoFL - especially on some of the deep wrecks. They are mean/unpredictable and I am happy to observe from afar.

Lemmon Sharks are quite mellow too - but sizeable.



And I guess there are some mixed land/sea live aboard itineraries that visit Darwin & Wolf - AI generated. Some year...

Summary Table​

ChrisC said:

~2–4 land excursions

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That's generally what I saw researching the dive boats. That doesn't cut it for me in the Galapagos.

ChrisC said:

I received Nitrox Certification in 2018

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I got mine in 2012 immediately before that first Bali - Komodo liveaboard. Somebody told me it was essential for liveaboards.

ChrisC said:

Advance Open Water in 2014

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That was a comedy of errors for me in 2010. I had not dived since late 2006 and I was going to Rangiroa before the July 2010 Tahiti eclipse cruise. In SoCal you typically do two class dives in Catalina and the other two on beach dives at Veterans Park Redondo. No problem in Catalina but in Redondo:
1) May we went to the beach looked at the surf and the instructor said it was too much.
2) June surf was a little lower so we gave it a shot. But one of the students lost a fin getting in the water so we called that one off too.
Now it was too late to finish before the trip. Fortunately the divemasters in Rangiroa were OK with basic Open Water down to 90 feet and in the swift channel current.
3) August I went back to Redondo, did the first dive with no problems. Then I got out of the water and found my dry bag containing my dive log and car keys had been stolen. So the second dive was called off. 6 weeks later I got a call from a divemaster in Lancaster who had found the dive log (with my phone number) and car keys in the sand next to a trash can. The thief only wanted the dry bag!
4) In late October the class divemaster called and said I could get the final checkout with another group he was taking to Catalina, so I did that.

I will have to look at the Ecuador & Galapagos Guidebook again. I always viewed a Galapagos visit as primarily a dive trip with some land-based activities.

However, I can very much understand the perspective that it is a trip to 'The Galapagos' with some diving. There aren't many places like that - or they are categorized that way if the diving quality is only average.

Some places that might fit this category - to a lesser extent - include Hawaii, Thailand, and St. Lucia+Dominica for me, since there were Pitons/mountains to climb, sulfur pools to soak in, rivers to wade in, lots of waterfalls to see, black sand beaches, etc

Most Caribbean/FL locations are a bit uninspired outside of the beach and vibe.

I have sailed in the US Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands, where we typically dive the day before boarding the boat. However, since distances between the various islands are relatively small, dive outfits can bring equipment to you for the day if you are near a dive site —same with the Grenadines.


It appears that some sites in the central Galapagos Islands (as opposed to Darwin/Wolf) allow you to see 90% of everything:


Padi


I will be curious to hear your report.

Because we are in Santa Cruz, Gordon Rocks is top priority.

ChrisC said:

However, I can very much understand the perspective that it is a trip to 'The Galapagos' with some diving. There aren't many places like that

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New Zealand! When Liz and I drive up to Bay of Islands in Nov. 2012 we had read about Poor Knights Islands for scuba. It looked like an uninspiring day, cool, overcast, 7ml wetsuits because water was 62F. But the diving was excellent. The current from Australia may not be warm once it gets to NZ, but it brings diverse sea life and includes stuff you expect only in the tropics, like some unusually large nudibranchs.

Hawaii is the obvious destination of that nature. Big Island is supposed to be best but I was there in 1987, long before certification, did lots of snorkeling then. Only scuba was 4 dives south shore Oahu in 2011. Significant swells are common there but they are prepared for them. The stairs into the water are center pole like a Riblet chair. That allows you to climb into the boat without taking your fins off. Dive sites are marked by pairs of buoys. There is a line between them 15 feet underwater for divers to use for safety stops. Hawaii is very good for turtles; you see lots of them snorkeling as well as diving.

Tony Crocker said:

The current from Australia may not be warm once it gets to NZ, but it brings diverse sea life and includes stuff you expect only in the tropics, like some unusually large nudibranchs.

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I am the worst Macro/Muck diver - I cannot see a thing. I have to really pay attention to the ocean floor; hence, I never got into underwater photography - too much of a distraction.