Galapagos or Cocos Island, doing some pre-trip planning...

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ewaiea

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Location
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I've seen plenty of threads talking about Cocos and Galapagos, but can anyone who has done both put in their two cents. I'm considering an October/November timeframe for a trip and obviously want to do both but cannot decide which to do first.

I understand that the Galapagos Islands are colder during this time of year - which is totally fine with me. I understand Cocos Island can also get cooler waters in the thermoclines but I'm unsure how cold because water temps are always listed in the high 70s/low 80s - yet divers are often seen wearing hoods there.....just something I found kind of curious.

I'd probably be going with Aggressor at either location. My interests parallel what each destination offers - hammer heads, whale sharks, and other pelagics. I am an advanced diver with 12 years of certification under my belt, plenty of dives in rough conditions, and am in reasonably decent shape.

I know Cocos Island gets more rain, and the Galapagos trip has more land tours, but from the footage I've seen, they both look VERY similar underwater. I am wondering if this is true. Any and all information would be helpful.

Thanks and Happy Holidays!
 
.... for a trip and obviously want to do both but cannot decide which to do first.

Flip a coin.
 
I am pretty sure this has been discussed here on SB in the past. I remember people who did both were split on which was best. I asked the same question and so I am remembering what they told me. Some liked Galapagos best because of diversity of dives, as I remember. Others like Cocos best as all the dives had shark encounter potential. Also I think I remember that Galapagos has whale sharks possibilities and Cocos does not.
There are quite a few people here on SB who have done both, hopefully they will chime in.
There are lots of videos on Vimeo and YouTube of both locations....
 
....if you did Galapagos first, then Cocos....would your life suck? probably not..... ...alternately, if you did Cocos first, then Galapagos, would your life suck then ? ...still probably not....
 
....if you did Galapagos first, then Cocos....would your life suck? probably not..... ...alternately, if you did Cocos first, then Galapagos, would your life suck then ? ...still probably not....

Yes, yes, I know......I am asking a rather silly question, but I've learned alot from the folks on this forum and many people are quite descriptive in their answers. I'm most likely going to do Cocos Island due to the slightly lower cost (most Galapagos liveaboards run higher in price), but time will tell.
 
I've not done either but if I was sure I was going to do both, the decision would be simple. Pick the least expensive one available for you travel dates.
 
I did Galapagos in August 2004 on the Agggressor 2 and it was the best trip/ liveaboard trip to date.Whale sharks on every dive for two days at Darwin Island.The food and staff was excellent.After galapagos what else is there?Be prepared for strong currents!!!
 
The passage from mainland Costa Rica to Cocos is about 30+ hours; recommend choosing a ten to twelve day itinerary. Galapagos had the widest range of water temperatures I've ever experienced, even right under the equator (19 to 26deg C). Flip a coin and bring at minimum a 5mil wetsuit with a 2mil hooded vest for either dive destination. . .
 
The GA II was one of the best trips I've ever done. The boat was flawless. The Sky Dancer, OTOH, had some issues. I did the Okeanos Aggressor prior to the 2007 retrofit and it was a heap. Unless you hear good reports about the boat post-2007, you should look into taking one of the Hunters if you go to Cocos.

I preferred Galapagos, so much so that I went back even though the water is a lot murkier, colder, and rougher than the benign conditions we were treated to in Cocos. One big reason, literally, is that I went during whale shark season both times. Whale sharks, IMO, blow anything else away underwater and you're not very likely to see them at Cocos. You might be too late in the season to guarantee sightings at Darwin but you could get lucky.

The land tours are also amazing. You'll probably get a chance to land on Isla Coco and visit the ranger station, but it's hardly like watching the Galapagos creatures do their thing oblivious to the human presence. Also, the land touring is a great way to break up the dives and offgas a bit. Of course if you're 100% solely devoted to the sights beneath the surface, that won't matter and might even annoy you. On my second trip, some of the land sights I had seen before had already "gotten old", whereas whale sharks never do!

Finally, the fish life is more interesting at Galapagos, with lots of endemic species. Cocos is all about sharks. Sure, more types of sharks than you'll see at Galapagos. And lots of marble rays and morays too, plus schools of fish. And the night dive with the feeding white-tips at Manuelita was one of the most amazing dives I've ever done. You'll have to do both during your lifetime. But if there's one place to do first, just in case you can't make the second for whatever reason, I would choose Galapagos.
 
I should clarify, I'm not going to do BOTH trips back to back - and I'm not sure if I'll ever get back to the eastern Pacific, so I'm trying to figure out which trip would be a better investment for that time of year. Most likely Cocos Island will be the choice since it's cheaper. There's no way time and money-wise that I could afford to do both trips. Generally airfare from Hawaii has more options when booking to Philippines or Indonesia - not that I'm complaining mind you. But I appreciate all of your input.

Happy Holidays!
 

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