DiveTheGalapagos
Contributor
Will Rogers,
Most won't allow someone as inexperienced as your children onboard unless you are on a boat that can accommodate a private guide and you are willing to hire a private guide. From July until mid Nov, currents can be challenging in Galapagos. It's the roughest time of the year to dive, however, the absolute best time of year for marine life. Yes, schools of hammerheads can be more than you can possibly count. That's also when whale sharks are at Darwin and Wolf. It's astounding diving, but you do need experience to be comfortable in challenging conditions. It does not sound like your children are there at this point.
You could do a couple of daily dives in Santa Cruz. As of now, they don't even have enough experience to dive Gordon Rocks in the central islands. You would do better taking them elsewhere and letting them get more experience under their belts before tackling Galapagos on a liveaboard.
If you are choosing between a land based experience and a naturalist cruise, you'll get more from the naturalist cruise, especially if it's a western itinerary - including Fernandina and the western side of Isabela. Like liveaboards, many of the best land sites are also only accessible from a cruise. Snorkeling is almost always included, but no diving.
3 weeks gives you enough time to explore a lot of Ecuador. The Amazon lodges tend to have specific days they depart on, so you should probably anchor your trip with the Galapagos cruise and from there, sort out the Amazon then fill in from there. You usually fly to the Amazon from Quito, then take a dug out canoe from one of the air strips. Also, google Mindo Cloud Forest, Papallacta Hot Springs, Cotopaxi, Otavalo, Cuenca and Banos or Tena for whitewater rafting. 4 worlds / 1 country isn't the slogan for nothing.
Most won't allow someone as inexperienced as your children onboard unless you are on a boat that can accommodate a private guide and you are willing to hire a private guide. From July until mid Nov, currents can be challenging in Galapagos. It's the roughest time of the year to dive, however, the absolute best time of year for marine life. Yes, schools of hammerheads can be more than you can possibly count. That's also when whale sharks are at Darwin and Wolf. It's astounding diving, but you do need experience to be comfortable in challenging conditions. It does not sound like your children are there at this point.
You could do a couple of daily dives in Santa Cruz. As of now, they don't even have enough experience to dive Gordon Rocks in the central islands. You would do better taking them elsewhere and letting them get more experience under their belts before tackling Galapagos on a liveaboard.
If you are choosing between a land based experience and a naturalist cruise, you'll get more from the naturalist cruise, especially if it's a western itinerary - including Fernandina and the western side of Isabela. Like liveaboards, many of the best land sites are also only accessible from a cruise. Snorkeling is almost always included, but no diving.
3 weeks gives you enough time to explore a lot of Ecuador. The Amazon lodges tend to have specific days they depart on, so you should probably anchor your trip with the Galapagos cruise and from there, sort out the Amazon then fill in from there. You usually fly to the Amazon from Quito, then take a dug out canoe from one of the air strips. Also, google Mindo Cloud Forest, Papallacta Hot Springs, Cotopaxi, Otavalo, Cuenca and Banos or Tena for whitewater rafting. 4 worlds / 1 country isn't the slogan for nothing.
