DPVs in the Galapagos

[diversusan]

Hello,

My husband and I will be going on a weeklong liveaboard trip in the Galapagos at the end of this month. The liveaboard offers rentals of Pegasus DPVs to those with a certification. I've never been interested in a DPV before, but thought this might enable me to do more of the dives. (I'm not strong swimming against currents, so this trip is more for DH and I think I may have to sit a number of the dives out).

We will be on land in the Galapagos for a few days before boarding the boat, so I contacted a local dive shop about getting the DPV certification. (I researched it, and it appears to be part of an Adventure Diver certification). The local dive shop told me that DPVs are illegal in the Galapagos Marine Park. I did a bunch of web searches, but can't find a definitive answer as to whether DPVs are or are not allowed.

Anyone on ScubaBoard know the answer?

Many thanks!

 

[ScubaMoMo]

A DPV in the Galapagos? They must be illegal there. You would scare all the stuff you wanna see away with them anyway...

 

[Dom@DiveAdvice]

Hi Susan, I can understand your apprehension about the currents in certain places in Galapagos. There are places around Darwin & Wolf where the current can be very strong. However you can be lucky and find very little current on certain dives. In cases where there are strong currents, in general you would not be trying to swim against them. You can pull yourself across the rocky bottom and/or seek shelter between the boulders. At Darwin's ledge you may find yourself hanging on to a rock facing a swift current, waiting for the dark shadow to appear out of the blue, forewarning you of the approach of a whale shark. At that point one usually swims out into the blue into its path and the current will take you. You no longer have to think about the current at this point as you will be swimming in the blue with little or no bottom or land mass to relate to current - you just go with the flow. The most important thing to remember about the currents is to either seek shelter from them, or go with them. You should never tire yoruslef trying to swim against them. Having said that, there are some spots at Wolf and Darwin where you may need to do some strong finning for a short distance, but if its too tough, then just go with it and they will pick you up. I have once seen a video of DPV being used in Galapagos outside the park but I doubt they are permitted within the park. Best is to ask the boat that is offering them if they are permitted. Have an incredible trip.

 

[diversusan]

Thanks for the advice - fingers crossed!

 

[beaverdivers]

Which boat will you be using?

 

[diversusan]

Buddy Dive. I'm not going to ask them if they're actually authorized to used those DPVs - they don't offer the certification, and I haven't been able to find a place on Santa Cruz that offers the certification, and it's not something I can get here in NYC in the next two weeks, so I will just have to try my best on my own. Dom's post made me feel a little more hopeful - we'll see how it goes!

 

[Arturo]

Dom´s right on the money. The only spot where I remember facing strong currents was Darwin. Wear gloves, grab a good rock and wait for the big shadow (or the hammers) to show up. However, it is a bit early on the season to see the whale shark. Wolf was more of "pinball" diving due to the surge as I recall, Again, gloves are highly recommended and will help you to have a good grip. A reef hook (if you can get one in NY) could prove useful also.

 

[diversusan]

The hammerheads are what we really want to see - we'll take a whale shark for sure, too, but we've seen whale sharks in the Maldives and Mexico already, and we've never seen hammerheads. Very excited about our Galapagos trip - we leave in less than 2 weeks!

 

[Arturo]

Have a good trip and post a report when you come back. Another thing: don´t forget your hoods. You are gonna need those.

 

[Wookie]

@DiverSusan, have you seen this thread? Are you sure you are on a Buddy Boat?