RoatanMan once bubbled...
Hammerheads are available on demand from the land based op that I mention...
I find that to be surprising, partly because I didn't see a single HH down south, nor did any of our Liveaboard's briefings while down south ever even mention the possibility of HH's.
My question would be that with your 200+ dives in the Galapagos, of those that were 'down south', how many of them had HH sightings? 5%? 10%? 20%? My inclination would be to say that the overall odds are much better up north, so what's the deal? Is there an obscure spot for HH's down south that the locals go to that the Liveaboards don't bother with?
...I just find it amazing that one can travel for such a long time and not take a real look at the wonders of the Galapagos, topside as well. It's just as lacking to think that a cruise ship Galapagos traveler who just does terrestrial tours has seen the island's wonders.
And the "just a Scuba liveaboard traveler" miss a lot too.
My opinion is that the high cost (time+money) to just get there means that any traveller should seriously think about amortizing these fixed costs out by spending more than just one week there.
Insofar as what to do, land-based diving is one option. Another is to take a "normal" cruise...various plans are available.
Personally, I am very glad that we spent a full week onboard one of the land tour liveaboard boats, because their land excursions absolutely blew away the visits that the scuba liveaboard offered, both in the places visited and things seen as well as the quality of the guides.
We always schedule an optional stay in Quito at the Hilton Colon available on both ends of the trip. Beats the hell out of Guayaquil and certainly adds to the fun (and shopping) of the trip.
We had 2 nights on the way down + 1 going back. The general recommendation is a 24+ hour layover to assure checked baggage keeps up with you. The reason for 2 nights on the way down for us was because our flights arrived extremely late (our total layover was only ~26 hours).
And while I'll agree that Quito has more sightseeing than Guayaquil, pragmatically, the gateway city flexibility can save you money. Also, it pragmatically makes little difference where you stay if you're asleep for "all" of it. Also, be aware that Quito is on the Pacific's "Ring of Fire", and the Quito airport has occasionally closed due to airbourne volcanic ash...the last closure that I'm aware of was last November.
Nov/Dec 2002 Airfares:
NJ to Guayquil: $600 pp/RT + Guyaquil to Baltra: $400 pp/RT.
The USA flight was on Continental and should have been $900: I got lucky because of a friend who has family in Ecauador and she insisted calling her travel agent. The deal is that I need to have a 12-month calendar made up for her as a gift this Christmas from the best of my Galapagos photo's.
-hh