Am I ready for Galapagos?

[catalogissue]

I'm planning a trip to the Galapagos for August. I'm an open water diver, certified since 2003, and have done somewhere between 40-50 dives in South Africa, Mozambique, Indonesia, throughout the Caribbean and California. I deal well under pressure and don't have issues with motion sickness.

I'm a strong swimmer for my size-- but think 5'1" chick who gets cold easily and seems susceptible to currents.

I'm trying to decide between a liveaboard versus daily dive trips with scuba iguana. Obviously, financially it'd be cheaper to stay on land and it's a bit of a financial stretch for me to do the liveaboard-- but I LOVE diving and this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for me. So I'm willing to splurge.

My question is: exactly how challenging are the dive conditions? Would you recommend Wolf/Darwin based on the little information I've given you about my skill level?

L.

 

[merxlin]

I'm confused by "strong swimmer" and "easily susceptible to currents". That seems to be contrary, although fighting current does rely quite a bit on technique (streamline yourself). Most of the time you will use the current to your advantage or just hang in it. Some of the spots you do need to get down to the dive site against it. You have several months to get your legs in shape- I'd do the liveaboard.

 

[catalogissue]

I'm confused by "strong swimmer" and "easily susceptible to currents". That seems to be contrary, although fighting current does rely quite a bit on technique (streamline yourself). Most of the time you will use the current to your advantage or just hang in it. Some of the spots you do need to get down to the dive site against it. You have several months to get your legs in shape- I'd do the liveaboard.

Sorry, I'll clarify-- I'm cardiovascularly fit, and swim miles recreationally at a local pool. But sometimes, in currents, I feel like being on the smaller side (large surface area, plus the overall lack of muscle associated with being a 100lb chick) means that I'm less effective in currents than the larger folk around me.

Thanks for your quick reply!

 

[merxlin]

On of our group is about your size, not really strong, and was able to handle the currents. Good technique helps a lot.

 

[Dyver]

My dive buddy and I dove the Galapagos last year for the honeymoon. We did a land and scuba package with NatGeo's Red Mangrove Lodge, which didn't involve a live aboard but dozens of boat dives that focused on coral wall dives and some drift diving.
Wife and I are tiny and currents were strong at places such as Four Hermanos and Daphne Major. We were under 30 dives each and conditions were no sweat for what we did. First time in currents too.
If you choose a live aboard like the Galapagos Aggressor I suspect lots of blue water diving and current. Despite missing hammerheads and whalesharks that are further at sea, it's hard not plug land tours for the endemic species on land.

 

[Dom@DiveAdvice]

Not sure that anyone can tell you whether you are ready for Galapagos other than yourself, your dive buddy, or your instructor, but having confidence, being able to swim well, and the ability to multi-task under pressure are strong pluses. Perhaps most important is whether you are aware that you are might be prone to panic in certain situations. Quite frankly you will find strong currents at a number of the land based dive sites in the central islands but a good operator like scuba Iguana will help you build your confidence and monitort your abilities over several days and will only suggest the more challenging dives at that point. The same on a liveaboard - the first days is easy checkout dive on shallow sandy bottom with playful sealions pulling at your fins. 2nd day is a bit more challenging and by the 3rd you are at Wolf or Darwin, where you might as well say you are on your own. You will be with a guide and other divers and currenst can be strong and take you in different directions. Ability to clear your ears easily and make a fast ascent to the relative safety of the boulders is a plus as one can hang around between the boulders be out of the current while you get a feel and gain confidence. Then follow the guide who should now have collecetd his small group of 8 around him. You seldom have to swim against a current except in a few places, but you should always be aware that if you don't feel good, then just abandon the dive and come up and there will be the tender there to pick you up. Hopefully you never have that feeling and the dive proceeds as planned. Diving at Wolf & Darwin does not always mean excessively strong currents, but they can happen and they can change fast and for that reason you should be prepared for them. If you are a photographer, I might coundel you to leave the camer on the boat for the first dive or two - of coursr that means that everything will happen on that dive - but you may need your hands for swimming and holding on to rocks, rather than clutching a camera. All the boats now offer up to 4 dives a day at Darwin + Wolf, plsu a night dive at Wolf, so you will have plenty of time. You may only go to Galapagos once in your life and the diving at Darwin & Wolf is like nowhere else in the world - particularly in August - I would say that if you feel you can, then go for it. Another things to think about is if you feel uncomfortable when there, or the divemaster suggest you might want to miss a dive, then accept his advice and sit one out. Heh, the memory of one or two top dives at Darwin + Wolf will stay with you forever.

 

[ronscuba]

It would also be good to have a clear understanding on what you and your dive buddy will do in certain situations. For example, if you get separated by current, or poor visibility. What will you and you buddy do if a whale shark is spotted. Will you both swim after it ? What if one person is a stronger swimmer ? Will they continue to pursue the whale shark solo ?

 

[willyjohnson]

Just finished a live aboard on the Wolf Buddy this past week. I cannot comment on the conditions you will face in August, but from my point of view the currents weren't too overwhelming and in fact were much less than I expected. This is subject to change of course as the humbolt current comes north to the islands.

The trip was by far the best experience I have ever had scuba diving. The life was spectacular. We saw thousands of hammerhead, hundreds of sea turtles, multiple pods of dolphins, galapagos sharks, manta ray, eagle ray, mobulas, schools of yellow fin tuna, mackerel, jacks, and oh yeah.. a whale shark.

Then add the constantly playful seals/seal ions, swimming iguanas, penguins, and flightless cormorants and we had a fantastic trip.

Since day trips don't go out to the Wolf and Darwin islands, I would recommend a live aboard. There was a petite woman solo on our boat and she was better in the current than I was. Just my 2 cents.

 

[merxlin]

I will say that at one site at Wolfe I believe we had current so strong that a slight bump on my octo caused it to free flow. I will praise the DMs as they usually figure out a way to keep you from having to work into the current.

 

[jake11]

We were there in August and did have some strong currents but nothing super strong. As for being cold,, you will be so pumped at seeing the whale sharks that you will forget all about the cold!!! I would do LOB for sure!!! Have fun.. it was one of the highlights of my diving experiences!!!