Friday
Well, weve finished our three days at Wolf and Darwin with no whale sharks. I guess thats the problem with wild animals. Theyre totally unpredictable. Three weeks ago, no whale sharks. Two weeks ago, none as well. Then last week, 19 encounters. This week, none again.
Oh well, even without Mr. Big the diving was great lots of current and the occasional 10-15 feet of surge at 50 fsw, but great. Darwins Arch had lots of scalloped hammerheads, turtles, moray eels, and fields of garden eels. On one dive I watched as a Galapagos shark sliced through a school of fish a very impressive site. The most enjoyable dive was probably playing with the sea lions and fur seals in 15 feet of water on Darwin Island.
After two days at Darwin it was off to Wolf, a 2-3 hour ride away. I really enjoyed our day at Wolf as well. We had dolphins swimming with us on a safety stop, huge eagle rays cruising by, and a dive at the Anchorage solely devoted to the so-ugly-theyre-cute red lipped batfish. Again there were lots of scalloped hammerheads, but unfortunately for us photographers they were really deep. At Shark Bay and the Landslide we were cruising along at about 100 feet and they were probably 50-75 feet below us.
Ive decided that Galapagos is a tremendous visual destination as you see all sorts of stuff, but a very difficult photographic destination because of the current, fair visibility, and the big stuff hanging on the edge of the viz making the photos difficult. However, that just really makes me appreciate the great photos that the pros (like Eric) get here! Most of mine will probably only be seen by my non-diving friends!
The food continues to impress. There are always multiple choices of entrees with each meal and a wide selection of fruits and veggies. And theres always fresh fruit, snacks, drinks and even hot chocolate after the dives. Believe me, after getting out of the cold water in your 7mm suit, nothing looks better than a hot shower and hot chocolate. It seems like weve had shrimp almost every day, along with fish, calamari, beef, chicken you name it! The chef even makes different little decorations out of the food. Weve had palm trees, birds, fish, whales, etc. Very cute! And definitely the best food Ive had on a live-aboard! The after-meal discussions have been great, hearing about different dive locations, catching up on friends lives, etc. I even learned that Paul was a champion ballroom dancer for Singapore. (I guess that explains the panty hose under the 7mm wetsuit just kidding!). It was really interesting to hear of all the technology that goes into the costumes, the hair, and the dancing at that level.
After cruising from Wolf for the last 17 hours, were now at Cousins Rock and its time for seahorses! More later.
Sunday
Yesterday was finally the day for finding seahorses for Alex. Unbelievably, he has never seen one. He swears they dont really exist! Well, everyone else saw seahorses at Cousins Rock, but Alex missed them again!
After lunch it was time to snorkel with the penguins. When we arrived, they were just sitting on the rocks looking cute. For the longest time they didnt get in the water. Then, all of a sudden one came darting by chasing after some baitfish. They may look pretty clumsy on land but in the water they are like little torpedoes. Interestingly, they didnt seem bothered by us at all. They would chase fish awhile and then stay on the surface a few seconds before heading back down. One even pecked at Alexs dome port. It was difficult to get good images (at least for me!) as they were moving so fast underwater, but it was really fun. Definitely one of the highlights of the trip!
This morning was the last dive of the trip. The original plan was to go to Gordon Rocks but there was a concern by the captain about the current so we headed to North Plazas instead. The morning tour of the island was great. It is breeding season for sea lions and there were many new pups. One mother that was suckling her pup had a fresh placenta nearby so we just missed the birth. Seeing a sea lion being born would have truly been amazing! Also, there were numerous land and sea iguanas, and we even watched a mother gull feeding her new chick.
Then it was off to the water. This was supposed to be a dive with sea lions, but someone forgot to tell the sea lions! I only saw one. The rest of the dive was spent looking at the tropicals and studying the macro life. I had decided not to take my camera on this last dive, and that turned out to be a good decision as there was not much to shoot. However, it was great to just relax and observe the marine life.
In the afternoon, we headed to Santa Cruz and the Darwin Research Station to learn about the giant tortoise replenishment project and visit some of the tortoises. Then we just walked around the town and headed back to Deep Blue for tonights cocktail reception with the crew!
Monday
Time to start heading home. After breakfast, we put out our entire luggage and gave Luiz (one of the guides) our tickets to Guayaquil. He then took everything to the airport to get us checked in. Carol and I both got Deep Blue shirts at the Boutique in the salon and paid for our week of nitrox -- $100 each, definitely not bad. Be aware that the boat doesnt take credit cards so you need cash to pay for boutique items, nitrox, bar tab, and tips for dive guides and crew.
All in all, it was an outstanding trip. The only improvement would have been a whale shark encounter. Again, Ken at Galapagos Adventures was great as was the entire Deep Blue staff. It was really the life of luxury for the week with everything taken care of for you. Would I recommend this trip to my friends certainly! However, it is truly advanced diving with cold water, moderated depths (80-100 feet on most dives), and occasional strong currents. Additionally, the diving requires climbing back into the inflatables after each dive which requires one to be reasonably fit or to have a very strong boat driver to pull you back onboard! Finally, remember to bring lots of cash for park entrance fee ($100), nitrrox ($100), onboard bar tab/boutique purchases, tips for crew and guides (suggested $100 for guides and $60 for crew), and export tax ($25).
Well, weve finished our three days at Wolf and Darwin with no whale sharks. I guess thats the problem with wild animals. Theyre totally unpredictable. Three weeks ago, no whale sharks. Two weeks ago, none as well. Then last week, 19 encounters. This week, none again.
Oh well, even without Mr. Big the diving was great lots of current and the occasional 10-15 feet of surge at 50 fsw, but great. Darwins Arch had lots of scalloped hammerheads, turtles, moray eels, and fields of garden eels. On one dive I watched as a Galapagos shark sliced through a school of fish a very impressive site. The most enjoyable dive was probably playing with the sea lions and fur seals in 15 feet of water on Darwin Island.
After two days at Darwin it was off to Wolf, a 2-3 hour ride away. I really enjoyed our day at Wolf as well. We had dolphins swimming with us on a safety stop, huge eagle rays cruising by, and a dive at the Anchorage solely devoted to the so-ugly-theyre-cute red lipped batfish. Again there were lots of scalloped hammerheads, but unfortunately for us photographers they were really deep. At Shark Bay and the Landslide we were cruising along at about 100 feet and they were probably 50-75 feet below us.
Ive decided that Galapagos is a tremendous visual destination as you see all sorts of stuff, but a very difficult photographic destination because of the current, fair visibility, and the big stuff hanging on the edge of the viz making the photos difficult. However, that just really makes me appreciate the great photos that the pros (like Eric) get here! Most of mine will probably only be seen by my non-diving friends!
The food continues to impress. There are always multiple choices of entrees with each meal and a wide selection of fruits and veggies. And theres always fresh fruit, snacks, drinks and even hot chocolate after the dives. Believe me, after getting out of the cold water in your 7mm suit, nothing looks better than a hot shower and hot chocolate. It seems like weve had shrimp almost every day, along with fish, calamari, beef, chicken you name it! The chef even makes different little decorations out of the food. Weve had palm trees, birds, fish, whales, etc. Very cute! And definitely the best food Ive had on a live-aboard! The after-meal discussions have been great, hearing about different dive locations, catching up on friends lives, etc. I even learned that Paul was a champion ballroom dancer for Singapore. (I guess that explains the panty hose under the 7mm wetsuit just kidding!). It was really interesting to hear of all the technology that goes into the costumes, the hair, and the dancing at that level.
After cruising from Wolf for the last 17 hours, were now at Cousins Rock and its time for seahorses! More later.
Sunday
Yesterday was finally the day for finding seahorses for Alex. Unbelievably, he has never seen one. He swears they dont really exist! Well, everyone else saw seahorses at Cousins Rock, but Alex missed them again!
After lunch it was time to snorkel with the penguins. When we arrived, they were just sitting on the rocks looking cute. For the longest time they didnt get in the water. Then, all of a sudden one came darting by chasing after some baitfish. They may look pretty clumsy on land but in the water they are like little torpedoes. Interestingly, they didnt seem bothered by us at all. They would chase fish awhile and then stay on the surface a few seconds before heading back down. One even pecked at Alexs dome port. It was difficult to get good images (at least for me!) as they were moving so fast underwater, but it was really fun. Definitely one of the highlights of the trip!
This morning was the last dive of the trip. The original plan was to go to Gordon Rocks but there was a concern by the captain about the current so we headed to North Plazas instead. The morning tour of the island was great. It is breeding season for sea lions and there were many new pups. One mother that was suckling her pup had a fresh placenta nearby so we just missed the birth. Seeing a sea lion being born would have truly been amazing! Also, there were numerous land and sea iguanas, and we even watched a mother gull feeding her new chick.
Then it was off to the water. This was supposed to be a dive with sea lions, but someone forgot to tell the sea lions! I only saw one. The rest of the dive was spent looking at the tropicals and studying the macro life. I had decided not to take my camera on this last dive, and that turned out to be a good decision as there was not much to shoot. However, it was great to just relax and observe the marine life.
In the afternoon, we headed to Santa Cruz and the Darwin Research Station to learn about the giant tortoise replenishment project and visit some of the tortoises. Then we just walked around the town and headed back to Deep Blue for tonights cocktail reception with the crew!
Monday
Time to start heading home. After breakfast, we put out our entire luggage and gave Luiz (one of the guides) our tickets to Guayaquil. He then took everything to the airport to get us checked in. Carol and I both got Deep Blue shirts at the Boutique in the salon and paid for our week of nitrox -- $100 each, definitely not bad. Be aware that the boat doesnt take credit cards so you need cash to pay for boutique items, nitrox, bar tab, and tips for dive guides and crew.
All in all, it was an outstanding trip. The only improvement would have been a whale shark encounter. Again, Ken at Galapagos Adventures was great as was the entire Deep Blue staff. It was really the life of luxury for the week with everything taken care of for you. Would I recommend this trip to my friends certainly! However, it is truly advanced diving with cold water, moderated depths (80-100 feet on most dives), and occasional strong currents. Additionally, the diving requires climbing back into the inflatables after each dive which requires one to be reasonably fit or to have a very strong boat driver to pull you back onboard! Finally, remember to bring lots of cash for park entrance fee ($100), nitrrox ($100), onboard bar tab/boutique purchases, tips for crew and guides (suggested $100 for guides and $60 for crew), and export tax ($25).
