Galapagos diving in early july

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Matt j

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Messages
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Location
New York
# of dives
50 - 99
Hey everyone,

I plan on diving Galapagos in early July. The question I have is whether to book in advance or is it better to negotiate with dive shops upon arrival? Is there a chance the dive shops will be overbooked?
 
Hey everyone,

I plan on diving Galapagos in early July. The question I have is whether to book in advance or is it better to negotiate with dive shops upon arrival? Is there a chance the dive shops will be overbooked?
Are you planning land based diving in the Galapagos or a Live Aboard dive boat?
 
Land based diving. Thanks again for the help
 
What island, what town?

The answer to that will have a large effect on the answers to your question- some locales can only offer very limited space availability.

(BTW- holy schnikies, an American who knows that live aboard diving is not the only viable option! Good on you!)
 
I will be in Puerto Ayora.
 
That can be a very busy place for day-dive operators. You can always get a spot on a boat if your not terribly selective. The greatest “surface” distinctions that you’ll discern amongst actual shops will be the character of the rental gear. I use the term “actual shops” because there are a few tour operator storefronts that seem to be fronting for boats that take out snorkelers and divers.

There are several actual dive ops in PA that populate the road that stretches from the main dock area (grocery store) that runs all the way to Darwin Research Station. You could walk this span without stopping in 15 minutes, give or take.

I’ve been there a lot, but have now ceased liveaboards because the G offers so much more than “just diving”. I rarely say that about any other dive destination- Egypt Red Sea is another one. My small groups want more than I could offer them on a 7 day LOB offering.

My go-to land based is Scuba Iguana, I like the Red Mangrove (next door) for rooms, now the Galapagos Habitat. They are both located at the far end of the road, just before the Station. SI can offer a wide expanse of dive sites because of their style of boats and their system of driving you to meet up with pre-positioned dive boats- more comfortable to drive vs ride in a boat that far. Neat system, highly trained staff in Naturalist guiding. They do get booked in advance- quality is well known putting it in demand.

Lots of good restaurant choices in that area. Be sure to do both lava tube tours, see the turtles in the highlands, their true environment. One of the benefits of staying right next to the DRStation was that you could easily take a sunset stroll and gawk at the turtle display to see if they moved from your last visit yesterday.
 
We went diving in the Galapagos last June. You will have such a wonderful time! We also did land based, staying in Santa Cruz/Puerto Ayora. We dove with Scuba Iguana for 4 days. I also researched Acadamy Bay Divers and they seemed really good too. Most days our boat had 9-10 divers which was close to max, so I would recommend reserving in advance, especially during June-Aug.

Same as Doc recommended, be sure to see the treasures on land as well as underwater! The Darwin center, the tortoise reserve, lava tubes, etc. All worth it!!!!
 
We went diving in the Galapagos last June. You will have such a wonderful time! We also did land based, staying in Santa Cruz/Puerto Ayora. We dove with Scuba Iguana for 4 days. I also researched Acadamy Bay Divers and they seemed really good too. Most days our boat had 9-10 divers which was close to max, so I would recommend reserving in advance, especially during June-Aug.

Same as Doc recommended, be sure to see the treasures on land as well as underwater! The Darwin center, the tortoise reserve, lava tubes, etc. All worth it!!!!

@MOABCHICK were you able to dive Darwin’s Arch/Darwin Island/Gordon Rocks? Those are on my bucketlist and I thought you had to book a liveaboard to reach them?

Land based diving. Thanks again for the help

@Matt j I'm currently planning for a Galapagos dive trip for summer/fall 2020, but I had assumed liveaboard was the only option to hit the "must see" sites - are you planning to hit up Darwin’s Arch/Darwin Island/Gordon Rocks?
 

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