Galapagos land-based

[SpyrosDives]

Hi All,

We'll be heading to the Galapagos from the 25th of March to the 2nd of April, and would like to do some diving there.

Liveaboards don't seem to work, since there is none that leave on doable dates, so we're looking at land-based.

Any recommendations on what island we should focus on? Or maybe multiple?

For experience reference, we have around 100 dives, mostly tropical diving but also some strong currents. Rescue/Advanced.

Cheers,
Spyros

 

[Scubanoobi]

I'm interested in the responses too as I'm going next summer. We are staying on Santa Cruz my minimal research so far suggests there are a few day trip options for diving, they are pricey and take about 8 hours for what I'm assuming is 2 dives. I'm looking forward to the responses.

 

[Dan]

Puerto Ayora in Santa Cruz is nice place. It has plenty of choice of hotels, dive shops, land & snorkeling tours, dining places, shopping stores, all within walking distance. You can even rent a bicycle to get around faster & wider distance or grab a taxi (pickup truck) for $1 to go anywhere in the city.

They use US$ as their currency. I just go to ATM on one of their local bank to withdraw some money. I feel just like home in Texas. Nice spring weather, but cold water. I dove with 7mm wetsuit.

I posted my diving, snorkeling, land touring on liveaboard & land-based experience in Galápagos here: How is diving in Galapagos in December?

 

[Attonine]

I have an Ecuadorian Scuba buddy. I asked him about the Galapagos before, this is what he sent me.......


“The cheapest way is to so to Santa Cruz iland and take a boat every day and return to Santa Cruz. You will see pinguins, sharks, mantas, sea iguanas, tourtles, molas and sea wolfs. If you want to see shark whales you have to take a 3 day dive tour to the northern ilands. With a lot of luck you can see shark whales and killer whales in the ilands around Santa Cruz. In the land you see giant tourtles and 2 endemic species of iguanas. Each iland has its own species of birds.

I go without an oparator and go to any of the padi clubs. That is the cheap way. But again I have not seen whale sharks. Look up the ones that take you in a boat to the Northern ilands. I knoe there are several, but I do not know any”

Hope this is helpful.

 

[DeepSeaPirate]

I have an Ecuadorian Scuba buddy. I asked him about the Galapagos before, this is what he sent me.......


“The cheapest way is to so to Santa Cruz iland and take a boat every day and return to Santa Cruz. You will see pinguins, sharks, mantas, sea iguanas, tourtles, molas and sea wolfs. If you want to see shark whales you have to take a 3 day dive tour to the northern ilands. With a lot of luck you can see shark whales and killer whales in the ilands around Santa Cruz. In the land you see giant tourtles and 2 endemic species of iguanas. Each iland has its own species of birds.

I go without an oparator and go to any of the padi clubs. That is the cheap way. But again I have not seen whale sharks. Look up the ones that take you in a boat to the Northern ilands. I knoe there are several, but I do not know any”

Hope this is helpful.

So your buddy just catches a ferry to another island then does shore dives?

 

[Attonine]

So your buddy just catches a ferry to another island then does shore dives?

This is all the info he gave me. Whether he’s diving from shore or a rib or whatever I have no idea. What I can tell you is that he’s middle class ecuadorian, so he’s pretty comfortable, but not really in the realms of paying tourist rates for something like diving. I suggest following his lead and contacting some of the PADI operators and trying to get s handle on how the locals do it.

 

[JohnN]

I have an Ecuadorian Scuba buddy. I asked him about the Galapagos before, this is what he sent me.......


“The cheapest way is to so to Santa Cruz iland and take a boat every day and return to Santa Cruz. You will see pinguins, sharks, mantas, sea iguanas, tourtles, molas and sea wolfs. If you want to see shark whales you have to take a 3 day dive tour to the northern ilands. With a lot of luck you can see shark whales and killer whales in the ilands around Santa Cruz. In the land you see giant tourtles and 2 endemic species of iguanas. Each iland has its own species of birds.

I go without an oparator and go to any of the padi clubs. That is the cheap way. But again I have not seen whale sharks. Look up the ones that take you in a boat to the Northern ilands. I knoe there are several, but I do not know any”

Hope this is helpful.

@Attonine could you ask your buddy if he knows of a way to dive Darwin and Wolf without paying the big bucks for a Liveaboard?

 

[Dan]

Don’t hold your breath for it. Wolf & Darwin are just way way out there (about good 300-350 km from Puerto Ayora, Santa Cruz, where the major day-boat dive operators are located, see the map, below), that only Liveaboards are able to reach after cruising for a couple of days.

I was there for 3-days (2 days in Darwin & a day in Wolf) in January last year and did not see any day boats.

Not much of hammerheads either in greenish water. They are very shy fish. I had to hide under rocks & popup from the rock to get a close up picture when one of them hovering above the rock. As soon as my flash lit up, they disappeared in a flash too.

 

[robpco]

Just got back from 6 days on Sant Cruz island. We did two days of diving with Academy bay, North Seymour and Gordon Rocks, two dives each day. Gordon rocks was a good dive. Lots of current, so descend to bottom, grab a rock and watch the show. First dive a mature Manta slowly cruising 15 feet in front of us followed by our closest encounter of the trip with a large hammerhead, swimming circles directly in front, until the dive master/photog scared him away. We saw groups of hammerheads on all of our dives, but the visibility wasn't great. Looks just like the picture posted above.

We set up multiple day trips to see various islands as well, which were equally spectacular. After talking to people that have done a cruise of the islands, we are glad we stayed on one island.