Manuel Sam
Contributor
Just returned from a great 10-day trip aboard the Deep Blue. I was very fortunate to be able to join a charter headed by Mike Convery from the Pittsburgh Scuba Center thru the intercession of Galapagos Adventures.
This was my fourth trip to the Galapagos since 2002, and my second aboard the Deep Blue, having last been on this boat in October 2005.
The boat was in great shape - perhaps even better than when I had last seen it two years ago. We had 10 crew members for 16 guests - pretty good by any standard.
And we had Roberto, whom we had as a chef on the trip two years ago, serving what is arguably the best food on any Galapagos liveaboard and among the best food that I've ever had on a liveaboard anywhere. His "fritada" or Roast Pork Ecuador style, is to die for, as were the colossal shrimps (7-11 shrimps to the pound - makes an extra jumbo shrimp look like baby shrimp) over pasta......(for lunch, mind you).
As for the diving, the first five full days of diving were the stuff that people dream about. We spent the first four up north in Wolf and Darwin with decent water temps (low 70's) and very decent viz (60-80 ft.). We had good schooling hammerhead, Galapagos sharks, eagle rays and bottlenose dolphins action just on the first day alone diving the Landslide at Wolf.
The second and third days were spent at Darwin. I had often heard about the mythical Galapagos whaleshark but had never actually seen one in my three prior trips here; but 5 minutes into the first dive at The Arch, the myth was a myth no more.
2 days at Darwin = 6 dives = 30 whaleshark sightings, ranging from ~30 ft. to ~45 ft.
And to top it off, on our last dive at the Landslide at Wolf on the fourth day, we added two more sightings for a trip total of 32.
On the fifth day, we headed back south with some trepidation at the prospects of diving the western tip of Isabela, at a site called Punta Vicente Roca, which is known colloquially as The Icebox for its cold waters and pea soup viz.
The Icebox lived up to its name and reputation: 57 degrees and 15 ft. viz. But in two dives there we had a seahorse, a horn shark, sea lions, penguins, and three Mola-Molas, one of which was about half the size of the inflatable. These were my 3rd, 4th, and 5th sightings in >20 years of diving.
After five days, I could have gone home at this point and called it a good dive year, never mind a good trip. As it was, the ensuing days had us in 59-64 degree waters with no more than 30 ft. viz in Cabo Marshall, Cousins, and Gordon Rocks, and the sightings were rather slim.
The bottom line is that in spite of the politics and the constant encroachment by those who look at a shark and only see a dollar sign, the Galapagos remain a world class dive destination. Hopefully they will preserve them so that we can continue to enjoy the diving there for many years to come.
I've attached a few pix, but being new to this forum, I have no idea if they will show.
This was my fourth trip to the Galapagos since 2002, and my second aboard the Deep Blue, having last been on this boat in October 2005.
The boat was in great shape - perhaps even better than when I had last seen it two years ago. We had 10 crew members for 16 guests - pretty good by any standard.
And we had Roberto, whom we had as a chef on the trip two years ago, serving what is arguably the best food on any Galapagos liveaboard and among the best food that I've ever had on a liveaboard anywhere. His "fritada" or Roast Pork Ecuador style, is to die for, as were the colossal shrimps (7-11 shrimps to the pound - makes an extra jumbo shrimp look like baby shrimp) over pasta......(for lunch, mind you).
As for the diving, the first five full days of diving were the stuff that people dream about. We spent the first four up north in Wolf and Darwin with decent water temps (low 70's) and very decent viz (60-80 ft.). We had good schooling hammerhead, Galapagos sharks, eagle rays and bottlenose dolphins action just on the first day alone diving the Landslide at Wolf.
The second and third days were spent at Darwin. I had often heard about the mythical Galapagos whaleshark but had never actually seen one in my three prior trips here; but 5 minutes into the first dive at The Arch, the myth was a myth no more.
2 days at Darwin = 6 dives = 30 whaleshark sightings, ranging from ~30 ft. to ~45 ft.
And to top it off, on our last dive at the Landslide at Wolf on the fourth day, we added two more sightings for a trip total of 32.
On the fifth day, we headed back south with some trepidation at the prospects of diving the western tip of Isabela, at a site called Punta Vicente Roca, which is known colloquially as The Icebox for its cold waters and pea soup viz.
The Icebox lived up to its name and reputation: 57 degrees and 15 ft. viz. But in two dives there we had a seahorse, a horn shark, sea lions, penguins, and three Mola-Molas, one of which was about half the size of the inflatable. These were my 3rd, 4th, and 5th sightings in >20 years of diving.
After five days, I could have gone home at this point and called it a good dive year, never mind a good trip. As it was, the ensuing days had us in 59-64 degree waters with no more than 30 ft. viz in Cabo Marshall, Cousins, and Gordon Rocks, and the sightings were rather slim.
The bottom line is that in spite of the politics and the constant encroachment by those who look at a shark and only see a dollar sign, the Galapagos remain a world class dive destination. Hopefully they will preserve them so that we can continue to enjoy the diving there for many years to come.
I've attached a few pix, but being new to this forum, I have no idea if they will show.
