RDRINK25
Contributor
Looking to go to either Hamanasi or Galapagos and do a land based Island Hoping Dives. Need advice on which one is going to be more fulfilling. Going over the New Year holiday. Thx for any advice.
Belize or Galapagos?
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CaradonnaWorldwideDive
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It depends on what kind of diving you are expecting... cold/cool water (68-77 in Galapagos) or warm (78-84 in Belize)? What would you most like to see? Sea lions, rays and batfish in Galapagos or Caribbean reef fish and the famous Blue Hole in Belize? Keep in mind that land-based operations in the Galapagos won't get you to Wolf or Darwin Islands, the two very popular (but advanced) dive areas, but that doesn't mean that you won't have amazing dive experiences from land-based resorts. Check out Red Mangrove Lodges which offer island-hopping itineraries in the Galapagos. Alternatively, you can island hop through Belize as well (Ambergris Caye, Lighthouse Reef, Turneffe Island, Glovers) but the holidays may require minimum stays of several nights. If we can answer any more questions please let me know!
OP
RDRINK25
Contributor
Booked with Scuba Iguana and doing 3 days of diving and 3 Island tours Isabela, Seymour and Plazzas. We will be arriving on Santa Cruz and doing the Highlands that day. Anything I should change or edit please let me know.
- Dec 31st/ Day 1: Transfer IN, Santa Cruz High land Tour, accommodation Agnermeyer Water Forn INN check IN.
- Jan 01st /Day 2: Land Tour to Plazas island on Sea Lion boat/ First class x 2
- Jan 02nd/ Day 3: Daily Dive tour / Seymour / Mosquera x 2
- Jan 03rd /Day 4: Daily Dive tour / Cousin / Batolome x 2
- Jan 04th /Day 5: Daily Land Tour with Narel Boat to Seymour x 2
- Jan 05th Day 6: Daily dive tour Beagle/Daphne x 2
- Jan 06th day 7: daily tour to Isabela x 2
- Day 7: Transfer OUT
Go to amazon.com and buy BBC's Galapagos disc. It's maybe 9 bucks, great intro to the islands. Also good for a good muted visual at dinner parties with some Miles Davis on the stereo. If yer gonna pull an 'all-nighter' go with Blue Planet.
diversusan
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We spent two nights on Santa Cruz at Hotel Sol y Mar in May. All accommodation, even the 'nicest' is quite basic: clean and air conditioned with adequate hot water is about all you can say. And we had a nice view of the harbor. The best thing about Sol y Mar is that it's right in the middle of the main strip, Avenue Charles Darwin, which runs from the tortoise breeding center to the new dock, and is lined with restaurants, bars, and shops. We appreciated being able to spend most of our time away from the hotel and strolling around town. We had considered booking at the Angermeyer, but decided against it when we learned that you have to take a water taxi to get from that hotel to the town. If you feel the same, might want to ask them to switch your accommodation...
We did a daytrip to Isabella from Santa Cruz and enjoyed it - it was the one place we had the opportunity to snorkel with penguins.
Isabella has a tortoise breeding center similar to the one on Santa Cruz. We also visited a place near the center of Santa Cruz (in between the airport and the town) where we saw tortoises in the wild.
As I'm sure you know, by doing a land-based stay you will miss out on Wolf and Darwin islands, where you get really amazing diving (hammerheads, whale sharks, dolphins, big schools of rays, etc). So maybe after this initial introduction, a second trip to the Galapagos will soon be in order...
We did a daytrip to Isabella from Santa Cruz and enjoyed it - it was the one place we had the opportunity to snorkel with penguins.
Isabella has a tortoise breeding center similar to the one on Santa Cruz. We also visited a place near the center of Santa Cruz (in between the airport and the town) where we saw tortoises in the wild. As I'm sure you know, by doing a land-based stay you will miss out on Wolf and Darwin islands, where you get really amazing diving (hammerheads, whale sharks, dolphins, big schools of rays, etc). So maybe after this initial introduction, a second trip to the Galapagos will soon be in order...
if you're going to the galapagos you MUST go on a liveaboard, no other way to visit darwin arch and wolf island. 99% of all the great photos and videos you see of diving in galapagos are taken at wolf or darwin. going to the galapagos and not diving darwin and wolf would be a huge mistake and i think not worth the expense of traveling to the galapagos.
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Land based or Liveaboard.... Might depend on really whether you have previously experienced it from both perspectives.
I had done it, leading groups, quite a few times as liveaboard.
After that, land based seems to work better for me, at a 30-40%+ cheaper price, plus, you actually get to see a bit of these islands.
In that the OP has already selected the land based route, and he has selected SCUBA Iguana- the best dive op (IMNSHO), he will see the Galapagos as most North Americans would never even think about it- skipping a liveaboard? What is he thinking?
We North Americans have been so brainwashed by the dive magazines and marketers of liveaboards (they are one in the same), that we can't see the Galapagos the way Europeans do- as a land based opportunity.
Larger numbers of big animals up North to Wolf and Seymour... but can you really embrace that three day round trip on a small boat in high seas? People do it all the time, but they really don't tell that - the horrible part of an otherwise great story of dive travel.
I prefer a 10 day trip, see the islands, see the actual habitats in the highlands, crawl through lava caves, get in two or three dives on any given day, I'm good. You see the Mobula Rays, the Sharks, the Seals, likely all the same stuff that the people spending $$$ on a liveaboard see- but instead, you get to eat dinner at a different restaurant every night, walk through the Parks, enjoy nice airy rooms with dry beds that do not rock.
There are much cheaper locations and more certain ways to see Whale Sharks than making that even a minor focus of such a trip.
Liveaboard or Land Based? It is all a personal choice... if the entrenched marketers allow you to think you have that choice. Like the quote from Scuba Diving Magazine, "Galapagos Liveaboard- Our readers would have it no other way". Well, of course they wouldn't- your advertisers make sure of that. The magazines aren't going to let you know about land based because they simply don't have the money to advertise in our magazines.
Like I said, it is really a factor on whether you have experienced it both ways, having any basis for comparison.
There really isn't a great reason to return to the Galapagos more than once in a dive career. You come and see the four "face card" creatures, if you're lucky (and dive often) you'll see one eat another one. Other than that, you're done. If you haven't taken the time to see the stark natural beauty of the islands- you've missed what is literally the other 50% of the reason to travel here. I don't say that about many other destinations- but the Galpagos is an exception.
I had done it, leading groups, quite a few times as liveaboard.
After that, land based seems to work better for me, at a 30-40%+ cheaper price, plus, you actually get to see a bit of these islands.
In that the OP has already selected the land based route, and he has selected SCUBA Iguana- the best dive op (IMNSHO), he will see the Galapagos as most North Americans would never even think about it- skipping a liveaboard? What is he thinking?
We North Americans have been so brainwashed by the dive magazines and marketers of liveaboards (they are one in the same), that we can't see the Galapagos the way Europeans do- as a land based opportunity.
Larger numbers of big animals up North to Wolf and Seymour... but can you really embrace that three day round trip on a small boat in high seas? People do it all the time, but they really don't tell that - the horrible part of an otherwise great story of dive travel.
I prefer a 10 day trip, see the islands, see the actual habitats in the highlands, crawl through lava caves, get in two or three dives on any given day, I'm good. You see the Mobula Rays, the Sharks, the Seals, likely all the same stuff that the people spending $$$ on a liveaboard see- but instead, you get to eat dinner at a different restaurant every night, walk through the Parks, enjoy nice airy rooms with dry beds that do not rock.
There are much cheaper locations and more certain ways to see Whale Sharks than making that even a minor focus of such a trip.
Liveaboard or Land Based? It is all a personal choice... if the entrenched marketers allow you to think you have that choice. Like the quote from Scuba Diving Magazine, "Galapagos Liveaboard- Our readers would have it no other way". Well, of course they wouldn't- your advertisers make sure of that. The magazines aren't going to let you know about land based because they simply don't have the money to advertise in our magazines.
Like I said, it is really a factor on whether you have experienced it both ways, having any basis for comparison.
There really isn't a great reason to return to the Galapagos more than once in a dive career. You come and see the four "face card" creatures, if you're lucky (and dive often) you'll see one eat another one. Other than that, you're done. If you haven't taken the time to see the stark natural beauty of the islands- you've missed what is literally the other 50% of the reason to travel here. I don't say that about many other destinations- but the Galpagos is an exception.
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