Scuba Diving Galapagos Islands

Diving Galapagos Islands Overview

The Galapagos is the naturalist’s dream destination, above and below the surface, with all sorts of big fish action, and the remarkable life on each island. Several excellent live-aboards cover the area; however, the government is now limiting itineraries to reduce the impact of tourists.

Galapagos Islands Seasonal Dive Planner

The water temperature is generally about 70° from January to April (the rainy season) and about 66° the rest of the year. Land temperatures also rise during the rainy season, resulting in some uncomfortably hot weather (average daily high is 88°, but it can get much hotter). Visibility tends to drop during the rainy months of February, March, and April. Best months for diving are December and January, then again in May and June. October is probably the worst month, cold and windy. More whale shark sightings are reported during May and June.

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Diving Galapagos Islands Feature Articles and Reader Reports

Attention! You must be an Undercurrent Online Member to access MOST links in this section. However some articles can be accessed by the public -- these links have a button you can click to see the article. What others have to say about Undercurrent

All Availble to Undercurrent Online Members; Some Publicly Available as Indicated

Diving Galapagos Islands Articles - Land Based Bahamas, Carriacou, Puerto Rico . . ., and choose from land-based or liveaboard options in the Galapagos, 10/12

Diving Galapagos Islands Articles - Liveaboards Bonaire, Fiji, Galapagos, Roatan, great examples of customer service - - and one resort to avoid, 9/11 Peter Hughes Leaves Peter Hughes Behind, 6/10 Death in the Galapagos , a fatal first dive that wasn’t fit for not-so-advanced divers, 5/10 Available to the Public The Eric, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador, the “dive lite” version with energetic surface intervals, 4/08 Aquatic Encounters Is Taking a Sabbatical, 4/08 Galapagos Liveaboards Shut Down, 9/07 Serious New Regulations in the Galapagos Islands, 1/07 Sky Dancer, Galapagos, Ecuador, superlative sensory overload, 2/06 Five Well-Rated Galapagos Live-aboards, 2/06 In the Galapagos aboard the Sulidae, 9/96 Lammer Law, 6/95

Editor's Book Picks for Scuba Diving Galapagos Islands
including all of Ecuador

The books below are my favorites about diving in this part of the world All books are available at a significant discount from Amazon.com; just follow the links. -- BD

Beneath Cold Seas: The Underwater Wilderness of the Pacific Northwest
by David Hall

It's hard enough to take a first-rate photo of reef life in the best of conditions. Try doing it in murky, bone-numbingly cold water while wearing a dry suit with 40-plus pounds of weights around your waist, and thick, insulating gloves that make it hard to use the camera controls. That's what David Hall had to endure while photographing in Canadian waters, but those physical disadvantages make Beneath Cold Seas all the more amazing.

Hall's book successfully disputes the belief that cold-water reefs are drab and dismal. He has regularly photographed the world's most beautiful dive spots for major magazines from National Geographic to Time. While Hall's shots are taken entirely at Browning Passage in British Columbia, the reef life he shoots resides along the Pacific Coast, from Northern California up to Alaska, and they are as diverse and spectacular as any creature in Raja Ampat or Fiji.

Click here to buy it at Amazon via our website -- our profits go to save the reefs.

Reef Fish Identification: Baja to Panama
by Paul Humann and Ned Deloach

The latest edition in the popular Paul Humann series of marine life books. The most comprehensive field guide ever compiled for identifying reef fishes from the Gulf of California to the Pacific coast of Panama, including offshore islands. More than 500 photographs of 400 species taken in their natural habitat. The book is dedicated to Baja Legend Alex Kerstitch and includes several of his drawings and photographs. The concise text accompanying each species portrait includes the fish’s common, scientific and family names, size range, description, visually distinctive features, preferred habitat, typical behavior, depth range, and geographical distribution.
Illustrated/Hardcover. 364 pages, Amazon.com price: $27.17.

The Devil's Teeth: a true story of Obsession and Survival among America's Great White Sharks:
by Susan Casey

Perhaps the greatest gathering of great white sharks in the world is at the Farallon islands, 26 miles from San Francisco. Researchers have tracked and studied them for years and at least one diver still collects sea urchins in the midst of their gatherings. Journalist Susan Casey lived on these barren islands to write a fascinating, awe-struck account of the sharks, their amazing behavior, their killing strategies, their long distance travels, and life with the researchers. Click on this Undercurrent link to purchase the 304-page, hardbound, The Devil's Teeth at Amazon.com's best price, and all our proceeds will go to coral reef conservation.

An American Underwater Odyssey: 50 Dives in 50 States
: by Charles Ballinger.

Underwater Odyssey is the story of a scuba diving safari to every state in America. Tired of touring coral reefs, the author embarks on a year-long quest to discover the incredible assortment of adventure diving found in our nation's backyard. His dogged determination to follow his dreams and explore everything from flooded missile sites to abandoned mines should be an inspiration for any diver. Underwater Odyssey transcends the limits of a dive guide to reveal the broader adventure that diving provides.
Order through us, get Amazon.coms best price and some of the profit will be donated to preserve coral reefs.

There's a Cockroach in My Regulator
by Undercurrent

The Best of Undercurrent: Bizarre and Brilliant True Diving Tales from Thirty Years of Undercurrent.

Shipping now is our brand new, 240-page book filled with the best of the unusual, the entertaining, and the jaw dropping stories Undercurrent has published. They’re true, often unbelievable, and always fascinating. We’re offering it to you now for the special price of just $14.95.

Click here to order.

You might find some other books of interest in our Editor's Book Picks section.