Galapagos Island Diving

When Nell and I were planning our big trip, the original plan was to go through Central America and dive in Honduras.
After some thinking and researching on the internet, we decided to forego that and concentrate on spending some time on the Galapagos Islands. Ultimately, we were so lucky! We had connections to someone who lived there and so could offset the cost of the entrance to the National Park and the diving with free accomodation.

In order to gain entrance to the National Park, you need to have a reason.
Most people think that the only way to see the Galapagos Islands is on a liveaboard and whilst this is a great way to see a lot of the Islands, it is expensive and it is not the only way.

Entrance to the Galapagos Islands National Park now costs $200USD and this is payable in cash as soon as you land and are processed off the aeroplane. You are then taken by bus from Baltra Island to Santa Cruz island by bus and boat and then bus again.
We arranged our diving through Nauti Diving in Puerto Ayora on Santa Cruz Island.
We had booked two days diving, with two dive trips each day, including equipment rental and accomodation for those two nights as an extra. The diving was expensive (think over $100USD a dive) but it was worth it.

The first day, we were taken back to Baltra Island and we boated up to North Seymour.
We had a divemaster with us and he explained that we just needed to jump in the water for a little to get used to the temperatures and to check out weights. Then we had to get out again, and we proceeded to the dive site – Isla Mosquera.
Later we found out that they call this ‘tea-bagging’ although it sounds a lot more classy in Spanish.

Chocolate Chip Starfish

The first dive we did was a drift dive, quite possibly an unplanned drift dive.
After descending to 18m, we settled on the sandy bottom. The waters are very similar to New Zealand – temperate so we were used to the 7mm wetsuits and hoods and gloves.
We moved around the island and into the current.
I managed to take just a couple of photos – luckily I found the endemic blue nudibranch and the endemic chocolate chip starfish – and we were off!

Flying past the rocks, we saw schools of barracuda and sardines, several large green turtles (also endemic apparently) as well as more of the blue and black nudibranchs. We kept our eyes out on the blue depths for some sharks especially the Hammerhead variety but on this dive we were rewarded with the smaller of the marine species.

During our surface interval, there was a large group of seals sunning themselves on the sandy beach.
We stayed off the islands and observed them from a distance and when the bull was seemingly assured that we were not harmful, some swimming with the younger seals was done.

Endemic Blue Nudibranch

The second dive was just north of Mosquera and woah – I thought the last drift dive was fast. This one was Formula One. I still think that the divemaster was shocked as well.

There were more sardines on this dive, twinkling like underwater mirrors and twirling in the current. In one place, wedged behind a rocky outcrop, we were able to hold on long enough to observe two rather large white tip reef sharks wedged into a crevice having a sleep. Keeping an eye out on the blue was difficult as you had to watch in front of you save being slammed headfirst into rocks but we did get an opportunity to see, swimming alongside us, a black tip reef shark approximately 2m in length.

Our second day dawned bright and clear again but I have to admit that I didnt have 100% confidence in the divemaster at Nauti Diving. I dont think he would last very long with our professional New Zealand operators. We were scheduled to dive at Gordon Rocks where every dive operator in Puerto Ayora promises you will see Hammerhead sharks. Gordon Rocks is almost the same distance from Balta that the Poor Knights Islands are from Tutukaka so we knew that the boat ride wouldnt be a problem. Not so for our German companion who thought it was a little rough (and a little hard to hold down his breakfast).
It turned out I was right about the divemaster. He and Nell and the other diver were seated on one side of the boat and I was getting ready on the other. He signalled everyone and backwards rolled off the side before I was ready to go, the boat lurched and I fell over the side without my mask on and without my regulator in. He then grabbed my fins and pulled me down. Frantically putting in my regulator, purging it, putting on my mask and equalising all at the same time, I gave him a gesture recognised in any language. Signalling to stop and wait, I collected myself at 10m and we progressed on the dive.
We swam into the current and then across the group of rocks which are arranged with a channel splitting through the middle. Making our way across this channel was a little work but within 10 minutes, it was worth it. A 2m green turtle swam with us for a long time and then moved away when we saw the amazing shape of a Hammerhead shark. As the divemaster pointed up and we shifted our vision, it was glorious. Above us and in front of us were 20 or so of the most comical creatures ever seen – but their entertaining shapes appear a lot more majestic in person. They ranged from smaller sharks of 1.5m to very large 4-5m sharks. Knowing that they can be aggressive, we adjusted our buoyancy (did you know that Hammerheads are the most negatively buoyant of all sharks), and sat back against the wall and just watched.
I hadnt taken my camera on this dive but I dont think I could have captured the moment. It will always remained imprinted in my mind and that is more than enough for me.

Sharks and Rays sleeping in the Alley

During our time in the Galapagos Islands, we made it out to Isla Isabella and watched stingrays and white tip reef sharks sleeping together in a quiet channel.

We snorkelled with them and turtles in another bay. We ate fresh seafood every day.

We used a tidal pool called Las Grietas as our morning swimming pool and enjoyed 30m visibility to the bottom.

We paid $100USD to enter the park and we were lucky with the remainder of our accommodation costs.

I would go back anytime that the opportunity presented itself.