Aquatic Encounters, December 1997, David Foley, San Francisco, CA. Land tours are a great addition to diving in the Galapagos. Vis: 50-100 ft. Wtr: 70-72 degrees. (Aquatic Encounters, Ph: 303-494-8384, Fax: 303-494-1202, e-mail:aquatenctr@aol.com)

Aquatic Encounters, January 1998, John Walker, Tampa, FL. Because of El Niño, water was 82 degrees; this Florida wimp was comfortable in a Polartec. One site was 84, one was 78 under the 3rd thermocline. Some wildlife may have moved to colder water, but there was enough to satisfy me. Sea lions every dive, morays, eagle rays, turtles and sharks (other than hammerheads) on most dives. First week rain and mud on shore walks, rough landings and dingy rides. Marc's Rock off Wolf (do the Aggressors call it Wayne's Rock?) was too rough to dive. Saw hammerheads, but only deep and far away. Dove harbor to see red-lipped batfish. Snorkeled with bottle-nosed dolphin and penguins. . . . Boat had space available so I stayed 2nd week. Weather completely different, sunny and calmer. Land tours dry and landings easy. Hammerheads at Marc's Rock; did 4 dives there. Saw dolphin and 15-foot manta swimming up the channel. . . . Boat comfortable, food good, so plentiful many of us requested half portions. Crew excellent, fills always 3000 psi; Captain, guide and leader flexible in face of uncertain conditions. . . . Aquatic Encounters did an outstanding job informing us and answering questions in preparation for trip and handled logistics perfectly. Farewell meals in the islands and Quito were included, as was trip video. . . . New Year's Day in Quito: most museums and restaurants closed. The group the 2nd week couldn't see the main square and President's Palace because of teargas. . . . Trip to Otavala was great, although some went mountain climbing instead. . . . Bad: not much. The A/C broke one night; a diver the 2nd week was a real pain; She believed rules were not for special people like herself, so took an intense and vocal dislike to the guide, whose job includes enforcing the rules. She managed to find fault with everything (the soup's too hot!) She needed a change in attitude and latitude, as Jimmy Buffet puts it. . . . Government extended the fishing exclusion zone from 10 to 40 miles, making it more effective and easier to enforce. The Park is trying to eradicate the worst of the introduced species: goats, pigs and rats. Any NRA types who want to hunt goats and wild pigs in a good environmental cause should contact Darwin Station. You'd even get to go places tourists aren't allowed. Park policy is to leave dead animals where they are. It may be upsetting to see and smell dead boobies and sea lions (live sea lions smell bad enough), but it is natural. And that's the point.

Galapagos Aggressor I, November 1997, Bill Adelmann, APA, AA. First live-aboard. Diving fantastic. Swam with a whale shark, saw hammerheads about half the time, whitetip sharks too numerous to count, turtles and moray eels became boring after awhile, sea lions and dolphins super friendly and curious. None of the sea life seemed to mind human presence. Water: 80-83 degrees. Vis: 40-100 ft. Boat crew worked hard to please the guests. My Polartec suit was perfect for this El Niño year. Experienced guests kept asking for night dives, but boat crew would only let us do one in their safe (read boring) site. (Aggressor Fleet, Ph: 800-348-2628 (US) or 504-385-2628, Fax: 504-384-0817, e-mail: 103261.1275@compuserve.com)

Galapagos Aggressor, January 1998, Lois Zarka, Brooklyn, NY. El Niño reigned. Very few big things. Sharks more than 150 ft down. Vis: 30-70 ft. Water: 80-85 degrees. Don't go while El Niño is on. Surge, strong currents, hard diving. Some people on boat were new divers and made problems for others.

Galapagos Aggressor II, January 1998, John & Nancy Rudy, Cincinnati, OH. Wonderful! We were surprised to learn upon arrival the southern route was replaced by the northern route to Wolf & Darwin. This was not our choice but the majority (8 out of 14) had booked along with 14 on Aggressor I to go north. Chris Merz, divemaster and naturalist was empathic and yet positive about the trip. He made us feel secure and he was right. The northern route was manageable. . . . Accommodations great. Clean towel every day. Crew amiable, food plentiful, good and healthy, snacks and beverages always available. . . . Diving from the panga easier than any we've done. Helpful crew made the difference. Perfect conditions: calm seas, nice weather; El Niño had warmed the water so much we only wore lycra suits. Vis: 50-75 ft. Water: 82-84 degrees. No restrictions: some went to 170 ft. to see hammerheads. Large sharks scarce but many new fish and eagle rays, turtles, free-swimming morays. Highlight: interacting with sea lions. What fun to cavort with them. Added plus; land excursions to three islands. Chris was prepared with interesting island history and insights to the wildlife adaptations.

Galapagos Aggressor, February 1998, Lois Zarka, Brooklyn, NY. No sharks, nothing big. El Niño in full force. Water 87 degrees, 10 degrees above what it should be. Vis: 50-150 ft. Divemasters gave lectures on sites and gave us profiles and then did their own thing, changing tables and profiles up and down. On this trip three divers had to have oxygen, two should never have been allowed in the water. New terrible divers had to be taken around and handheld by divemaster the whole trip. They were dangerous to themselves and everyone else and it was extremely uncomfortable being with them on boat and in water. Why do dive boats allow these people in dangerous areas. It can kill a trip.

Galapagos Aggressor I, June 1998, Mel Cundiff, Boulder, CO. Booking eight months in advance carried the gamble of El Niño, but I've been on nine live-aboards and never seen such a diversity and large schools up close and personal. And with water 80 degrees south and 84 degrees on the northern islands! A 10-15 degree colder thermocline was at 65-100 feet on five dives, and that kept me wearing a 3-mil jumpsuit. Currents were strong, so gloves were required for hanging onto the sharp iron-bottom when we reached a good viewing position. Vis 20-80 feet. Among the smaller species, endemics are common at most of the exotic reefs, but diving with marine iguanas and penguins is unique. Sea lions and dolphins (hundreds) would brush against us when we ascended for a safety stop. Large schools of scalloped hammerheads and Galapagos reef sharks at 100 feet; they would follow us up and hang around at shallower depths. Saw about a hundred, each, of the hammerheads and Galapagos reef sharks. Most were 5-8 feet long, but a monstrous Galapagos reef shark on one dive would go 10-12 feet. White tips (3-4 dozen) and black tips were smaller and on only a few dives. . . . No squadrons of rays but 6-8 mantas, a few dozen eagle rays in the 6-9 foot class, a few marble rays (one 7 footer) and a few golden cowrays. A dozen green turtles with a few smaller hawksbills. Numbers of fishes impressive. Schools of bigeye jacks, steel pompano and yellowfin tuna in the hundreds-within the schools another diver would disappear in 10-15 feet. Many butterflyfish, surgeonfish, rainbow runners, and creole fish. Wahoo (mackerel), black jacks, large yellowfin tuna and huge Cebus occasionally. Sea horses, batfish, frogfish and zebra morays. . . . Land-based excursions from the Aggressor provided an exciting diversity of giant land tortoises, lava lizards, land iguanas, finches, boobies, frigate birds, terns, petrels, tropic birds, gulls, pelicans. . . . At Darwin's Arch off Darwin island, we encountered a 35-foot whale shark. The shark blind-sided me from my right, as I was moving fast. I threw up my arms to protect my head and slammed into its lateral line just past midpoint. It was cruising too fast for me to reach a dorsal fin, but I got a long ride (maybe several hundred feet) by catching its caudal fin. Divemasters Richard and Jaime, who have a combined total of 13 years of experience on Galapagos Aggressors, agreed that this was one of their best weeks of diving. . . . During the briefing they told us that the itinerary had been changed to the southern islands and that our booking agents should have informed us we were not going to the northern islands. While three of the eight had not specifically requested the northern route and had been willing to stay south, the rest of us had booked specifically because of the northern route. Our captain, who could speak no English, was insistent about keeping to the south and implied the change had been made by the Aggressor Fleet. Over the next several hours there were heated discussions as the captain (via his English-speaking divemaster) insisted south and the clients insisted north. Five of us wanted our money back if they would not honor our original booking. We went north, but there were tensions throughout the week. . . . A client's dive bag was lost between Quito and San Cristobal; five of us saw the properly tagged bag on Saeta's conveyor belt at check-in, and it never arrived in the Galapagos.

Galapagos Aggressor II, July 1998, Zygmunt F. Dembek, Ph.D. Suffield, CT. Joined Stan Waterman and 11 other divers. Objective, as advertised in Aggressor brochure, was to dive with migrating whale sharks that annually travel near Wolf and Darwin Islands. We never saw whale sharks (Galapagos diving is not the Magic Kingdom, where they mechanically drag out attractions on demand) but one hell of a great dive vacation. The best high-powered big critter dives during the 3 days (out of 5 diving days) spent at Wolf and Darwin. Huge schools of scalloped hammerheads are back at easy diving levels. At Darwin's Arch, perched on a ledge at 50' watching the parading hammerhead horde accompanied by the occasional Galapagos shark, I saw a dolphin swim alongside them and a 12' manta swooped down almost on top of two hammerheads! Swam with sea lions and a school of golden cow rays at North Seymour Island, fur seals and seahorses at Cousin's Rock (San Salvador); found rose-lipped batfish at Wolf. Schools of bottle-nosed dolphins jumped alongside dinghies. We spotted wahoo, tuna, and turtles. Galapagos sharks often came within 3-5 feet of divers to check them out. . . . For experienced divers only. Visibility 30'-60', and varies considerably week to week. Currents at Wolf and Darwin were very swift, and thermoclines at North Seymour were up to a 20-degree difference (60 -78 ). At times we had 3'-4' swells. . . . They've invented a dive flag of 6 one-foot pvc pieces with a bungee cord strung in the middle and a dive flag wrapped around it. When folded and clipped on your BC, it doesn't take up much room, but when unfolded, it stands up tall among those four foot swells, and permits the dinghy pilots to spot the floating divers. One learns to appreciate such innovations when contemplating the pesky Galapagos and silky sharks swimming around you while you wait for a dinghy! . . . Divemasters Victor Mendia and Chris Merz made all dives, and showed us where the critters were. Victor was the photo and video pro and gave bilingual dive briefings, while Chris (trilingual) is a Galapagos Park naturalist for land-based tours. Stan Waterman, the elder statesman of the dive community, was a joy. His videos, myriad stories and charming company helped make this voyage a diver's delight!

Lammer Law, January 1998, Robert Goodman, Weymouth, MA. El Niño had its effects. With such high water temp. the thermocline was at 150, down and so were the schools of hammerheads. Saw about 15 hammerheads on the entire trip, most too far away to take pictures. Hammerheads always in waters where there were strong currents. Called these dives Flag Diving because our bodies would be stretched out like a flag (on a windy day) while trying to hold onto barnacles for dear life! Saw plenty of turtles, mantas, spotted eagle rays and whale tips along with Galapagos shark clusters of 1-3 here and there. Sea Lions more than happy to entertain us. Vis: 60-100 feet, water: 84-87 degrees. . . . Lammer Law had no main sail (being repaired) and no rinse buckets for equipment (just for cameras). Would have never gone on the Lammer Law if I had known there was no main sail. (Ph: 809-494-2490, Fax 809-494-5774, e-mail: cuanlaw@caribsurf.com)

Reina Silvia, May 1998, Cynthia C. Starkovsky, San Diego, CA. El Niño diminished but lingering. At Northernmost islands of Darwin and Wolf, occasional solo hammerheads. Schooling hammerheads only once (At Wolf). Rough seas on long trips; vis: 50-100 ft, water: 75-80. No dive restrictions enforced. Excellent pre-dive briefings that should surface you in easy range of chase boats. In the water, all divemasters pursue their own photo interests. No meaningful pointing out or discussion of marine life; carry out your own dive and bring your own literature. The Ecuadorian divemaster in charge was rudely intolerant of sea wimps, equipment clutzs and women (i.e., many of the recreational divers who can afford the trip). Diving with Mr. Macho equals a week of involuntary training with the Navy Seals. Underwater he vanished leaving the plagued female guests, only to surface at some place and time other than called for on his dive plan. Macho, not withstanding, this is a wonderful boat operating in incredible waters. (Ph: 011-593-5-526-210, Fax 011-593-5-526-283)

Reina Silvia, 1998, Roberta Kaplow, New York, NY. After screening all divers for level of experience and advising inexperienced divers to wait for more experience, nonexperienced divers were still part of the group. This affected some divers' profiles, as dives had to be aborted for some. Vis: 30 feet, water: 70-84 degrees. Not open-deck diving. You dive when you are told. Supreme diving and land tours nonetheless. Class operation.

Reina Silvia, May 1998, David Lovitt, Jr., Tucson, AZ. Fantastic trip, everything about the trip was lst class. Some concerns I had about the difficulty of diving in the Galapagos were unfounded. Vis: 50-100 feet, water: 80 degrees.

Reina Silvia, May 1998, Edward Schrader, IL. Organized, competent, fun. Both land and diving guides excellent. Vis: 50-75 feet, water: 72-76 degrees. Was pickpocketed in Quito outside a church. Quito airport sometimes closed for 1-2 days due to fog in valley. Allow time for this and luggage to catch up.

Reina Silvia, June 1998, L. Blumberg, Woodbridge, VA. More oversight of divers during dive. Before and after dive operations very well done. Boat personnel were well trained, professional, courteous. Rooms small but well designed. Land tours well done. Vis: 40-65 ft., water: 72-80 degrees. Our naturalist (required for all Galapagos tours) was knowledgeable and well spoken. His hand drawn maps of our dive sites were great.

Reina Silvia, June 1998, H. Wayne Ferguson, Lawrenceburg, IN. Boat well staffed and maintained. Excellent service, snacks after every dive. All requests greeted with a smile. Various shore excursions provided to view wildlife were informative. Vis: 40-100 ft, water: 64-84 degrees. Each cabin had its own head and shower, air conditioning worked flawlessly. Divemaster lets you go on your own which was not what some people wanted. Great trip.