Couple Questions about Galapagos

[Premo83]

hi all,

I'm considering going on the humboldt explorer for 11 days on Aug 18th 2016. Mainly I would like to see lots of hammerheads and some whale sharks. I have read different things but mid to end of August shouldn't be a bad time for that right?

I know currents can be strong and you hold on to rocks at times. Does it make sense to use my reef hook considering I do underwater videography?

Are there some recent reports about the humboldt explorer? I have read some mixed reviews. I'm happy as long as it is safe, food is decent and the diving is great.

Thanks already.

 

[DiveTheGalapagos]

You are going at an excellent time of year for marine life...plenty of hammerheads and should be lots of whale shark sightings. Sept & Oct are considered the absolute best time of year and usually sell out about 2 years in advance, so you are in great shape timing wise. The Humboldt is not the fanciest boat nor the plainest, but cabins are comfortable with private heads that have a full shower and individual temp control, the upper deck is wonderful and the food is good and plentiful. Their dive guides are great, too. You'll have a wonderful time.

 

[Premo83]

Thanks for the feedback. Do people use reef hooks diving while diving Galapagos as currents can be pretty strong?

 

[boulderjohn]

My memory is that the rocks to which you are holding are quite large, and you might find it hard to get a good grip with a reef hook. When holding onto rocks, you will be pretty settled in, not flapping in the breeze like a typical reef hook experience.

 

[RJP]

I found much of the "holding onto a rock" diving to be more about "surge" than current, and that simply holding on with a finger or two and "swaying with the breeze" was much less work that holding on for dear life trying not to move at all. This is further why a reef hook won't do you much good because - unlike areas where they are commonly used - you are not trying to fly like a kite against a directional current. The back-and-forth nature of some of these dives would make a reef hook useless as it would keep losing tension when you changed directions.

 

[boulderjohn]

I just want to repeat a point I mentioned earlier. If you have not been diving in the Galapagos, you may not have an accurate image of what it means to be "holding onto a rock" during the dive. When you are doing this in most other places in the world, you are hooking onto something and then allowing your body to float in the current while you are holding on with a hand or a finger or reef hook in order to stay in place. It has been a number of years since I was in the Galapagos, but that is not my memory. I remember instead picking my spot among the barnacle-covered boulders, settling down, and watching a parade of hammerheads pass by. I was not literally holding onto a rock. It is an experience different from anything I have experienced anywhere else.

 

[mike jj]

Premo. I will be on the Humboldt Ex the last week of Aug. 2015. I promise to give you a detailed report when I get back.

Mike

 

[Premo83]

Thanks for the info. considering the circumstances you all mentioned a reef wouldn't be very useful indeed.

---------- Post added April 28th, 2015 at 09:55 PM ----------

Premo. I will be on the Humboldt Ex the last week of Aug. 2015. I promise to give you a detailed report when I get back.

Mike

looking forward to it

 

[DiveTheGalapagos]

Reef hooks are useless, don't bother. Where the currents are strongest during high season (Darwin and Wolf), you can find rocks so nice and large that you can use your legs to secure yourself, have your body almost completely behind a huge rock thus shielding you almost completely from the current. This position will also leave you hands free for shooting. Having said that, do watch where you use your legs, hands and where your fins land.

Moray eels are all over the place and while they aren't aggressive in a scary way, you still don't want to disturb them. Also, divers forget there is any kind of coral at Darwin, in particular, but THERE IS! Drives me crazy to see fins laying on top of coral. I think this needs to be stressed more in dive briefings and it's not even mentioned.

 

[Dom@DiveAdvice]

Sorry to disagree with my distinguished colleagues but bringing along a reef hook is is not useless. You may not get to use it as you would in Palau or Maldives but on the ledge at Darwin you need to hunker down and a reef hook does become useful. For the most part, as Dive the Galapagos mentions, the rocks and boulders are the places you slip into and hide from the current, but don't leave the hook at home as there are times you may wish you had not.

Dominick Macan
Dive Advice Travel
dom@diveadvice.com
www.diveadvice.com
Tel: +33 492 94 02 99 (France)
SKYPE: adventuredom