Any Advice on Galapagos ? some spaces left!

Hi I have a trip to Galapagos on June 22nd to July 1st. I have been told this is peak whale shark season. Any one been during that time of year ? Can you advise on gear, etc for me to take.....I still have 5 spaces left for sale on this trip....it's 4340.00 aboard the agrressor..includes all...any takers or any advice from you experienced whale shark folks let me know. Hal

Hollywoodivers:

Hi I have a trip to Galapagos on June 22nd to July 1st. I have been told this is peak whale shark season. Any one been during that time of year ? Can you advise on gear, etc for me to take.....I still have 5 spaces left for sale on this trip....it's 4340.00 aboard the agrressor..includes all...any takers or any advice from you experienced whale shark folks let me know. Hal

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We went to the Wolf and Darwin June 7-14 of 2003. That is the start of peak Whaleshark season. We only saw a couple of whale sharks from the surface and none underwater, but the divemaster was able to shoot some video of one in the water. We did however see lots of hammerheads.

As for equipment, make sure you have at least a 5mm wetsuit. We had new 7/5mm Henderson suits with hoods and we were plenty warm. The water temps vary greatly depeneding on where you are. It can get as high as in the 70's to as low as the low 60's or maybe it was even in the mid 50's.

Be sure and spend some time in Quito and surrounds.

toddlich:

We went to the Wolf and Darwin June 7-14 of 2003. That is the start of peak Whaleshark season. We only saw a couple of whale sharks from the surface and none underwater, but the divemaster was able to shoot some video of one in the water. We did however see lots of hammerheads.

As for equipment, make sure you have at least a 5mm wetsuit. We had new 7/5mm Henderson suits with hoods and we were plenty warm. The water temps vary greatly depeneding on where you are. It can get as high as in the 70's to as low as the low 60's or maybe it was even in the mid 50's.

Be sure and spend some time in Quito and surrounds.

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Todd...what did you do in and around Quito ? I have some interest in staying in Ecuador a few more days...What should we do ? Thanks for the reply Hal

Hi Hollywoodivers, I am actually from Quito but I currently live in Washington DC. I am jealous of your trip to the Galapagos. I went to the islands when I was just a kid. There are many things to do in Quito. I would recommend in this order:

* La Mitad del Mundo: its a monument located northwest of Quito, right where the equatorial line crosses, so you can actually place one foot on the northern hemisphere and the other on the southern one. They have a great museum and some restaurants.
* Otavalo: its about one hour and half away north from Quito, and you can find good artesanies and great leather jackets for incredible prices.
* I haven't been in Quito lately, but the nightlife is very active, good bars and great restaurants (north of the city)

If you need more info I will be glad to help you out. Just send me a pm.

Good luck with your trip and have fun.

Frog.

Hollywoodivers:

Todd...what did you do in and around Quito ? I have some interest in staying in Ecuador a few more days...What should we do ? Thanks for the reply Hal

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1. Go to the market town of Oavalo ...there are many tours..watch out for pickpockets
and don't take a backpack or wear it on your front
2. Go to Cotopaxi and stop at the Osteria La Cienega for lunch
3. In Quito see the old city...take the tour led by the local police..the booth is in the
city hall
Restaurants we liked: La Ronde, The Magic Bean, La Canoa Manabita (great seafood),La Taraza del Tartaro (good meats)

4. In Quito Museum of the Central National Bank
5. If you love bookstores Quito has one of the best, they have books both in Spanish
and English and a lot of beautiful books about the Galapagos. Libri Mondi

Hi,
Was just in the Galapagos for the past two weeks and had the luck to see a whale shark at Cousin Rock near Santiago. My friend saw 20 hammerheads at Gordon´s Rock as well as a bull shark. Enderby near Floreanna was also good with hammerheads, whitetips and galapagos sharks. Also saw a bat fish there at 29 meters. Another friend went on a regular boat tour and had 150 dolphins surrounding her boat. Take a rope along if you want to play with the sea lions..and watch your fins..they like to nibble sometimes. I did these dives from Pto. Ayora. I would recommend the same for Quito sightseeing. Enjoy your trip. You´re gonna LOVE it!

Hollywoodivers:

Hi I have a trip to Galapagos on June 22nd to July 1st. I have been told this is peak whale shark season. Any one been during that time of year ? Can you advise on gear, etc for me to take.....I still have 5 spaces left for sale on this trip....it's 4340.00 aboard the agrressor..includes all...any takers or any advice from you experienced whale shark folks let me know. Hal

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I led a group on the Aggressor II the last week of July, 2004. We saw 6 whalesharks in 2 days at Darwin. As I was shooting picture of one, I ended up 5' away from a marlin (see photo at my web site link below). We were surrounded pretty much all the time with a huge pod of dolphins - snorkeled with them during surface intervals, but they were very shy.
Visibility was 30-50' most of the trip with some dives worse, some better. Water temp ranged from low of 62F to high of 70F.
I wore 5mm jumpsuit with 5/3 hooded vest and was comfortable until we got back to the dive deck and started peeling it off. It was windy most of the time and the wind whips through the dive deck freezing you as you get your wetsuit off. They give great service handing you warm towels and hot chocolate as you strip off your suit. I have done about 20 liveaboards around the world in 25 years and the Galapagos Aggressor II crew service was the best I have had. Here is my rating on a scale of 10:
Crew: 10
Boat facilities: 8 (salon/dining layout poor, hottub didn't work all the time and it was needed)
Land Tours:10
Food: 10
Weather: 6 (cool, windy and not much sun to warm up between dives)
Diving: so unique, hard to rate, but we saw frogfish, 4-5 seahorses, dolphins above and below water, hammerheads (Darwin), sea lions, lots of eagle rays (Wolf), lots of turtles, schools of silky sharks and large fish (jacks, snapper, etc.), lots of Galapagos sharks (Wolf), several nudibranchs, etc.etc. Diving from pangas, back entrys, getting back on, water temp, currents and vis make this challenging diving for lesser experienced or "wimpy" divers. Be sure your folks know this so they are shocked.
Go to my web site and look at photo gallery. http://www.mtss.net/gallery.asp

We did 5 day extension in Quito. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. Stayed at 5 star Swishotel hotel, had private tour bus and incredible guide, breakfast & lunch, transfers to airport. All for $750. Let me know if you want name of company we used.

They don't like it! Friends of mine were there on the Reina Silvia last Oct and had many encounters. On one of those one member of the group decided to touch one and it "promptly" turned and "left". One guy that was getting some good video found out what it feels like to get slaped by the tale of a whale shark. No one got hurt but the person who touch it became very unpopular and not spoken to for the rest of the trip...

Mmmmmkkkkk. Thanks you guys. I will be taking my 7 mm suit with hood. Was thinking about going dry but nah....I am a california diver so I doubt it will be colder than here in spring conditions....Someone let me know if that's wrong....In Cali we dive in 60 degree water on a regular basis in 7 mm suits with hoods boots gloves etc...
That's what I am gonna take. And fleece Jacket or two to keep warm between dives....Hot tub better be working...I am going to raise hell if it doesn't haha

thanks again to all who replied and the pics were cool too....Later Hal

I have another group scheduled on Aggressor in July, 2007. We were there July 2004 and water temps were 62-70F.
Henderson has a new Hyperstretch / Gold Core Semi Dry suit out and I am going to take that on the next trip. I believe it will be perfect for Galapagos in July.