Scuba Diving Galapagos Islands
including all of Ecuador
Diving Galapagos Islands articles, reviews, and reports from Undercurrent
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.
Diving Galapagos Islands Feature Articles and Reader Reports
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For Undercurrent Online Members |
Galapagos Islands Dive Reviews
from our Travelin' Divers' Chapbooks |
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All Availble to Undercurrent Online
Members; Some Publicly Available as Indicated
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Diving Galapagos Islands Articles - Liveaboards
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| 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 |
| The Eric, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador, 4/08 |
| Aquatic Encounters Is Taking a Sabbatical, 4/08 |
Available to the Public |
| 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 |
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Galapagos Islands Dive Reviews
from our Travelin' Divers' Chapbooks |
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
If you're headed south out of San Diego, Fishes of the Tropical Eastern Pacific
by Gerald R. Allen, D. Ross Robertson, is the fish guide you need.
With 324 photo-packed pages covering 680 species of sharks and sailfish,
wrasses and razorfish, pipefish and pearlfish, this is the ultimate ID book for
the Baja, Costa Rica, the Galapagos, and the Sea of Cortez. Sponsored by the Smithsonian
Institute Drs. Gerald Allen and Ross Robertson took years to produce this definitive
volume that describes and comments on the remarkable behavior of these critters.
Hardbound, $85.
Coral Reef Animals of the Indo-Pacific
by Terrence M. Gosliner, David W. Behrens, Gary C. Williams.
At last -- a just-published, complete guide to help you identify
the uncountable variety of weird critters you'll see on any Indo-Pacific dive,
complete with full-color photo of 1,100 species. About Coral Reef Animals of the
Indo-Pacific, Chris Newbert says, "This invaluable new book makes identification
easy and enjoyable." There are scores of flatworms, nudibranchs galore, bumblebee
shrimp, painted crayfish, pompom crabs, side-gilled sea slugs, and endless corals.
Marine biologists Terry Gosliner, David Behrens, and Gary Williams cover the reefs
from the Solomons to Sipadan, from the Maldives to Maui, from Palau to Papua New
Guinea. They provide good notes to help you find and identify each critter. Indispensable
for any Indo-Pacific trip. Paperback,
8x110, 314 pages, $45.00.
Indo-Pacific Coral Reef Field Guide
by Gerald R. Allen, Roger Steene.
I was trying to pack
light for a change. Surely the Solomon Sea would have good identification books
aboard. Not so; the only book on the boat belonged to a fellow passenger. It was
one that I had not seen before, the Indo-Pacific Coral Reef Field Guide,
by two of the best fish guys around, Gerry Allen and Roger Steene. The problem
was this fellow passenger kept it in a plastic baggie most of the trip and I had
to beg to see it. Great book, good traveling size, and it covers everything from
fish, shells, marine plants, mammals, corals, and invertebrates to sea birds and
more. Now I've got my own, and it won't do you any good to beg me to borrow it.
This is one of two books that I will not travel to the Pacific without. Good for
travel to the Red Sea, East Africa, Seychelles, Mauritius, Maldives, Andaman Sea,
Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Australia, Micronesia, Polynesia, and Hawaii,
it has 1,800 color illustrations in a 6x8 1/2 paperback format with 378 pages.
$39.95.
Sea of Cortez Marine Animals
by
Daniell W. Gotshall, Daniel Gotshal.
It's just the book
you'll need to identify critters anywhere along Mexico's Pacific Coast, all the
way to Panama. Any other ID book just doesn't cover the creatures here. Dan Gotshall,
a marine biologist with 34 years research experience, has more the 250 photos
of fish, corals, nudibranchs, lobsters, sea stars and other critters endemic to
these waters. For each animal there are tips how to identify and where to spot
it. Paper, 110 pages, $20.95.
You might find some other books of interest in our Editor's
Book Picks section.
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