Galapagos conditions

[hmoffatt]

Hi.. I'd like to go diving in Galapagos in October/November this year, maybe liveaboard or maybe island hopping.

I read in some other threads that conditions can be tough with regard to rough seas and currents. Can anyone give more detail? I've done about 85 dives now and will be over 100 by November but nothing in really rough seas/currents.

What'll the water temperature be in that time also?

thanks
Hamish

 

[kennedy]

we were there in Dec 09 - water temps were 72-74 degrees - most dives - I wore a hood the first couple of dives and then dove w/o a hood and wore a 7 mm - I kept flooding my suit because I was too warm - could have likely used a 5 mm and been just fine.

You should search this forum - I did a detailed dive report on our trip - Dec 09 - and I'm sure there are many other reports - the waters are extremely rough, wicked currents and the passing to Wolf and Darwin was a killer - I was sea sick every single night- the diving is fabulous - the conditions are tough - be prepared. Several dives we all crawled over the rocks hand over hand in the current - wicked.

You will love it if you go - just make sure you know what you are getting in to.

 

[Doc]

the conditions are tough - be prepared. Several dives we all crawled over the rocks hand over hand in the current - wicked.

Leather work gloves work well. Leave them behind for the crew. You're not dealing with Coral, it's lava rock and Barnacles. It will slice any expensive dive glove.

"Advanced Diving" takes on may forms, but it all boils down to this: Any condition or situation that you have not previously encountered (and mastered).

Now, you will have multiple new situations...

- Transferring from the liveaboard to an inflatable (or RIB or smaller dive boat)

- Keeping yourself tidy in the inflatable

- Being able to do a backroll on precise command

- Rapid descent~ bing-bang-boom, no thrashing around on the surface in differing currents

- Dealing with lateral currents, understandng how they flow and where you can "hide" amongst the stark walls of Galapa-Rock.

- Being instantly aware of downcurrents and upwellings, knowing how to react and act decisively. This is why it is also known as the Galloping Pogos.

- Being able to maintain your safety stop depth in current

- Shooting your sausage from the 15' stop and just hang there, out of the surface waves, awaiting pickup.

- Being orderly and correct about approaching the inflatable, handing your sausage and then your BC up to the boatsman

- Boarding the inflatable and then getting out of the way quickly

- Foreknowledge of surface rescue signaling, pre-planning (and visualization) of worst case scenarios, including the potential for having to spend many hours adrift on the surface. You will be diving around what are pinnacles of long-ago volcanoes. Land is a long way away if you get swept away from the small islet from where you began your dive.

Any one such stimulus is easily mastered by a competent individual who is progressing well through diving skills mastery. Throw them all at a newer diver all at once, that's a tougher climb.

Because of the ease of physical accessibility of such diving (due to better air connections) and the proliferation of available dive operators, the level of ability of arriving divers has been recognized by the DM's. You will go through a progression of diving situations that they will select to let you get your wings~ they will be there to help you and make decisions based on your performance. Go with what they say.

Pay attention, ask questions.

(When the Hammerheads show up, don't use your tank banger, duck quacker or make any noise. They will flit away.)

 

[jjacobsen22]

"- Being instantly aware of downcurrents and upwellings, knowing how to react and act decisively. This is why it is also known as the Galloping Pogos."

I´m going to galapagos this august, and I am comftable with the situations you describe, but have never experienced a downcurrent. If I suddenly find myself in a downcurrent out there, what would be the best way to handle it ??

Thanks, Jonas

 

[Doc]

These currents are no different than the lateral (or sideways) currents you likely have experienced in previous dives. The added problem presented with these currents that can change your "altitude" (depth) in the water column? They can easily mess up your dive profile, your Nitrogen loading, possibly lung expansion barotrauma and a host of other related DCI issues. Bouncing up and down rapidly is never a good idea.


Search for a lateral (sideways) route of escape. Get away from (or closer to) the rock wall that this flow of water is cascading over- the most common. Water works no differently than air currents over a mountaintop. Ever see a glider working the peaks? It's all about "Laminar Flow"

And/or Kick like mad up-wards, judicious taps of air into your BC.

Roll "Act Decisively" into that cascade of multi-tasking.

Be ready to negate, fine tune, or flat-out reverse these adjustments... at an equally fast decision rate.

"Handling it" is nowhere near as difficult as recognizing it.

Being aware of the situation is the first step, and that is very difficult for most of us at early stages of diving, times when we are so engrossed in the physical act that we are only dimply aware of our surroundings. This is so insidious, that you simply can't understand how much you are missing until years into your dive career.

I utilize several methods to recognize downwelling/upwellings.

The first and most obvious- your change in the water column relative to fixed objects... rocks, wall, wrecks.

Your change in relation to other moving objects might also be a good clue... check your depth gauge... but don't stare at it.

Are the divers up ahead doing something erratically different, something unexpected? How are the fish positioned in the water column? Are they swimming upwards into an invisible waterfall?

Later in diving careers will come the ability to sense other, less obvious signs. Are the bubbles being made around me acting differently? Are the soft Corals and/or Plants moving a certain way? Are you noticing a change in lighting?

You may be able, and you may learn to sense fairly minute variations in depth through your sinuses or with subtle mask squeeze.

In that Galapagos diving is centered around submerged remnants of volcanic cones, each various dive site might have multiple "dive paths" that will be selected by your DM, using his experience and after some quick measurements. Here are four different dives (note the colored dotted lines), all on one site:

At this particular dives site, a long ago volcano eroding away, as you dive through the very center of it, I have had heavy downwelling appear "out of nowhere" any number of times... no nearby wall that would be diverting flow, nothing apparent, just... WHAM! At 60fsw and then at the sand bottom at 100+ if you aren't watching. Not necessarily life threatening in this case, but it will cut your dive awfully short~ forcing you to make a controlled and orderly blue water ascent and be picked up in the center of the crater, versus at the far edge.

Talk to your DM. Learn the hand sign that he may use to advise you of upcoming current issues.

Anyone else have any thoughts?

 

[ACT651755]

My goodness, I'm considering Galapagos next May, but this thread terrifies me!

Dived in some strong currents before and am comfortable with everything mentioned here bar one thing, that's the down-currents. I've never seen one before and the thought of being pulled down to 100m is very intimidating.

 

[DiveTheGalapagos]

I believe he was referring to 100 ft as other depths were in ft, not meters. I've dived Gordon Rocks many many times and only twice has current presented any sort of challenge, albeit it swimming across channels in the pinnacle areas can expose your fitness level. We got caught in a down current once and had too many hammerheads around us to pay close attention. However, there are always rocks around to grab onto and just crawl your way back up. The down currents I've experienced at Gordon Rocks are not harsh. The only harsh currents are when they narrow to head between the pinnacles as you can see from the site drawing above. You must dive below them or they will suck you like a vacuum cleaner in between the pinnacles. Pinnacles are narrow and extend from the floor almost to surface, so 3-5 knots. Still, as long as the briefing covers this, all you do is ride it out into the channel outside the crater which is easy. The problem is when you aren't well briefed and think you're supposed to stop without losing the group. Even that only happened once and yes, it threw my conservative Sunnto into error and will end a dive early.

Sometimes, on the other hand, the surface at Gordon Rocks can be choppy and yet, there's no current below. That has happened for me far more than any real challenging scenarios. It is quite common for people with 30 dives or less to dive there.

The thing with certain sites in the Galapagos is what can happen, not what usually does happen.

Water temps in October are usually about the coldest of the year. If you go on a liveaboard, Darwin and Wolf are further north, receive more of the warm Panama current than the central islands, so the water is much warmer. Central islands often have around 22 C surface temp with 15C thermoclines below. The further west you go, the colder it is. So sites around Isabela are colder than sites around Santa Cruz. You can hit some pretty chilly thermoclines upon occasion around Gordon Rocks.

I just came back from 3 weeks out there. Water temps had plummeted relative to the unusually warm conditions that were there as late as April. Now, it has been unusually cold...ala July or August cold, not May cold. Leads me to believe that after what was a light El Nino, La Nina is now in play. Having said that, I was very fortunate to dive Punta Vicente Roca where temps were only 15-16 (around 60-61) which is not as cold as others have experienced there. Then again, that site is dived maybe 3 days per year, so not monitored very closely.

Long story short, water temps are on the verge of being normal. 7mm kept me warm everywhere. I did wear a 1 mm beanie (I hate hoods) out west and was fine. Outside air temps are cooler in October, so take something warm for between dives...fleece jacket, thick sweatshirt, etc. That's when you get cold...when you get out of the water and pull your wetsuit down.

 

[pikeblenny]

Well said RoatanMan and DiveTheGalapagos!
The key to diving in Galapagos is knowing your abilities and your weaknesses. You need to be in good physical condition and be very comfortable in the water. The number of dives is not the biggest issue - experience in all types of conditions is. 80 dives in the Bahamas in no current and 100 ft visibility will not prepare you for what the Galapagos is like. Diving the west coast of Canada is more like what you will find.
You also need to comfortable diving from a panga and entering one as well. Often you will be on the surface for several minutes so need to be comfortable in surface currents and waves as well.
YOu need ot be prepared to say ¨no¨to a dive if you are not comfortable with it. The currents can be strong in most sites - Darwin, Wolf, Gordon Rocks.
Three weeks ago we did a couple dives at North Seymour and were swept nearly the length of the island, far past where our boat thought we were. On this particular day surface conditions were lass than desirable with waves breaking over the stern of the boat. It was a difficult day for the captain to watch bubbles. This is not an uncommon occurence. We waited several minutes in the waves, flags up and were soon picked up.
Be prepared, have proper thermal protection. I wear a 8mm semi-dry when it is cold (August-October are the coldest months) and a 5mm in the winter when it is warmer. temperatures can vary throughout the year. In Oct-Nov be ready for temperatures to vary between 62 and 76.

 

[hmoffatt]

So, if I'm not sufficiently scared off by the list of experience I don't have, should I be?
I've got about 90 dives, though most are pier dives or directly off a liveaboard.

And finally, is the diving so good that it's worth it? It's not cheap, I'm a little seasick prone and you're freaking me out a bit here!

thanks

 

[scubafanatic]

So, if I'm not sufficiently scared off by the list of experience I don't have, should I be?
I've got about 90 dives, though most are pier dives or directly off a liveaboard.

And finally, is the diving so good that it's worth it? It's not cheap, I'm a little seasick prone and you're freaking me out a bit here!

thanks

you might wanna read this:

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/ac...ng-fatality-february-12-2010-eloise-gale.html