Galapagos Islands

Galapagos Aggressor, January, 1995. "Quito was a tremendous vacation city. Two days not enough. Fantastic shopping values for sweaters, ponchos, earrings. . . . First day of diving at N. Seymour Island was single best dive I've had in 26 years of diving. School of hammerheads (75 at least, but Victor our dive guide thought closer to 200), white tipped reef sharks, Galapagos sharks, four mantas, at least a dozen turtles, sea lions and more. Visibility that day 80-100 feet. Able to snorkel several times with sea lions and fur seals, and penguins between dives. Great video material. Land excursions worthwhile, but next trip would want to focus more on great dive sites. Only negative: several dive sites mediocre - chosen to fit interesting land excursions nearby." Anon., E. Lansing, MI

Galapagos Aggressor, February, 1995. "Good: The boat is the height of luxury. A/C, individual heads, sit down meals, bartender. Dive from inflatables, good drivers to find you in the chop. Crew friendly and helpful always. Delighted if you speak Spanish. . . . Roca Redonda is an amazing dive for pelagics. Magnificent school of golden rays. There are two routes depending on time of year, but each is much the same as the other, some dive sites are on both. Be sure to do the land tours. Boat's dive guides are also certified Galapagos land guides, knowledgeable, speak good English. The combination of land and UW trips make this a unique trip for things you don't see anywhere else - sea lions playing with puffers (like divers do), penguins, large school of pelagics on every dive. 'It's just another turtle.'Take a 3/16 or 1/4 inch wet suit. 1/8 is not adequate; water 68 to 72, visibility 50­100 feet. . . . Bad: From the west coast, pay $300 more to fly direct, or take the long way to Miami. Must overnight in either Guayaquil or Quito. Guayaquil is boring. Take an extra day so lost luggage can catch up. If you fly US domestic to Quito, it is expensive to get to the Galapagos, must take Saeta from US for best rates. Also overnight one night on return. Nearest chamber is Costa Rica (three days by regular air). $117.50 fee to get to the Galapagos (at least it helps the preserve) $20 to get out. $20 to get out of airport in Quito." Maxine Barrett, Los Angeles, CA

Galapagos Aggressor II, February, 1995. "No place for beginners - surge and strong currents. Difficult for still photography, but videographers had fantastic time. No diver had less than 250 dives. Experience diving with surge and currents a must. Thermocline varied from 60 to 30 feet; water color below like lime Jell-O, temperature 79 degrees. On one dive we saw 30-40 fur seals, schools of hammerheads, manta and eagle rays, turtles and finally about 150 white tip reef sharks. After that dive the boat stopped to let us snorkel with a school of bottle-nosed dolphins. . . . After two morning dives each day we would spend the afternoon on land examining the flora and fauna indigenous to the Galapagos. Amazing that these creatures still have no fear of humans. An absolute must for a return trip, hopefully one arranged where we can get to the Northern Islands of Darwin and Wolf. . . . Food was ordinary but service outstanding." Stuart Goodman, Warren NJ

Galapagos Aggressor, March, 1995. "Seeing a school of hammerheads for the first time is breath taking. After the initial shock, I did everything possible to get close. A wonderful experience, Good weather, 15 to 70 foot visibility." Ray Berch, Belleville, MI

Reina Silvia, June 1995. "Ecuador planes have no assigned seats, a zoo to board. Galapagos customs has a long wait to get through immigration. Great diving and personnel, but needs more diving and more land trips (longer trips?) The Darwin diving probably exceeds expectations it is so good. Quito is a nice place but skip it if you can and spend more time in the Galapagos. Water 69­80, currents, schools of hammerheads, whale sharks." Graham Eastap, El Paso, TX

Copyright 1996 by DSDL, Inc., publishers of Undercurrent. All rights reserved. No portions of this report may be reproduced in any way, including photocopying and electronic data storage, without prior written permission from the publisher. For more information, contact DSDL, Inc., P.O. Box 1658, Sausalito, CA 94966.