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Galapagos Islands, July 4th – 13, 2007
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What an INCREDIBLE trip with another WONDERFUL group of divers! After an overnight in Quito at the Dann Carlton, we flew to the Galapagos Islands (Baltra), 600 miles west of mainland Ecuador. Divemasters and Naturalist Guides Richard Vera and Lenin met us at the airport and escorted us to the Aggressor Galapagos II. Our bags arrived on the boat with the ease of service we have come to expect from the Aggressor crew. Thanks! Our diving started the afternoon of July 5th with an acclimation dive off Baltra. Water temps the whole week ranged from 65 to 75 degrees F. Lots of schooling yellow tail surgeonfish, a small sting ray, a Galapagos Blue-Banded Goby, wrasse and more greeted us. After the dive, the crew handsomely dressed in uniform, was introduced by Richard. There was experienced Captain Julio, Divemaster Lenin, Chefs José and Alfredo, the Host Winter, Dingy Drivers Giovanny and Freddy and Engineer Vincente. Champagne and sparkling juice was served and we toasted our new adventure! The crew asked us our names, homes, and what we were looking forward to. All of it! After introductions, we had our first of many delicious meals served on board. The food at all the meals was delicious and beautifully presented. Fresh, varied and excellent! Many thanks to Chefs José and Alfredo and also to our charming host Winter for the exceptional service! Seymour IslandDay 2 was 2 dives at Seymour Island. A good acclimation to the swift currents of drift diving in the Galapagos! Marine life included the Guineafowl Puffer (both yellow and black phases), Large Banded Blenny, White Tip Reef Sharks, Streamer Hogfish, Giant Damselfish, a huge school of Blue Striped Snapper, Moorish Idols, Barberfish, King Angels, Turquoise Blue Nudibrachs and more! Dive 2 was less current and most of the same as before, including Purple and Goldrimmed Surgeonfish and a Glasseye! Beautiful!In the afternoon, we had an interesting and fun land tour of Seymour where we were introduced to the adult and baby blue footed Boobie Birds! The babies were a white, soft puff of feathers with light blue feet. Even though they couldn't fly, they weren't afraid of us, as we were not a threat! The Frigates had a colony on the other side of the island, too. Males with puffed red throats, females nesting, and babies were newly born. Speaking of babies, we had our pictures taken with a baby sea lions before boarding the dinghies to go back to the mother ship. Richard gave us so many details, I was on overload again! Then, we were off for the crossing of the equator to our dives in the North, Darwin and Wolf Islands and hopefully whale sharks sightings! Hammerheads & Whale SharksThe next morning, we arrived at Darwin, and after a detailed briefing, we dove to our places on the wall to see the action under the arch. And, action we had including Creole and Surgeon fish everywhere, schooling Hammerheads, Galapagos Sharks, and yes, 3 Big Guys (i.e. Whale Sharks!) I will never forget that adrenalin rush when the shadow turned into a real whale shark. And then another one, even closer this time, and finally, at the end of the dive, one that passed right over the top of us! Unbelievable! It was enough for a lifetime, but we wanted more! Dive two had a little less current (or maybe we were just used to it?)….still lots of Hammerheads and 2 whale sharks. The second one was about 15 yards away! The 3rd dive had one whale shark sighting. The 4th dive of the day was actually off Darwin Island. This dive was nicknamed "Turtle Dive" as I think we easily saw 20 different turtles including green, black and hawksbill, as well as a huge Eagle Ray! At the end of the dive, we played with fur sea lions, too. That was the icing on the cake and I cried with happiness. An incredible day!Darwin's ArchDay 4 was another day at Darwin. How could we leave with so much action there? The first 3 dives were under Darwin's Arch. We had 5 whale shark sightings that day. I was able to get some excellent shots on the 3rd dive, and could have sat on it's back! On the way back to the mother ship, we snorkeled with a whale shark on the surface and played with dolphins, too. Incredible! The last dive of the day off the island included many huge schools of permits, barbers and surgeons, king angels, idols, turtles, a flounder, leatherbacks, eels everywhere and fur sea lions at the end. Amazing.WolfDay 4, we left Darwin and headed to Wolf, Day 5. After another detailed briefing, we dropped to the rocks and saw numerous Galapagos and Hammerheads Sharks, and a huge Eagle Ray. Not much current until the 2nd dive! Then, hold on and watch the action....Sharks, Rays, schooling fish and action everywhere. I even had about 10 shots of 3 Eagle Rays that hovered over us for close to 5 minutes!After a group photo on the bow of the Galapagos II with Darwin's Arch in the background, we pulled anchor and headed south to Cousin's Rock, Day 6. After a fun card game with dive buddies Scott, Sarah and Dave (Fish), we went to bed and rocked to sleep. In the morning we arrived at Cousin's. After the briefing, we were eager to find seahorse, frog fish and more! Dive One gave us a huge school of Salema (could have been a million fish in that bait ball!) as they made it night time when we were under them! On the second dive Sara found the first seahorse! Lenin (I think) found the 2nd one, as well as a brown and orange frog fish! In the afternoon, we snorkeled with the adorable Galapagos Penguins off Bartolome. Penguins at the equator. Unbelieveable. And in the early evening, we hiked thru the island with extinct volcano craters, lava tubes and incredible views from the top. A beautiful sunset to end the day! Gordon's RockDay 7 ended our diving at Gordon's Rock, a water covered volcano crater. We were greeted with a school of Golden Cowrays at the end. A nice ending to our incredible journey! After lunch, we were off to a tortoise farm to see many ancient guys and gals roaming free. Great photo ops! We even walked thru a huge lava tube that was hundreds of years old! Then, it was off to the Charles Darwin Research Center in Santa Cruz. Here they raise tortoises to be put back into the wild, matching the islands from which they came. We even saw Lonely George, the oldest Tortoise in captivity. A bit of shopping in Puerto Ayora was fun and dinner at Garrapa was excellent….but not as good as on the Galapagos II!The next morning, we packed up, and reluctantly waited for our dinghy ride to the bus to the airport. When will we be going back? Not soon enough. However, rumor has it that July of 2010 is being planned. (Whale Shark season) We already have 4 people signed on. It will fill up quickly, so let me know, if you are interested in this incredible dive adventure! Best fishes, Heather Heather Bloom, Travel Coordinator West Michigan Dive Travel Center |
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