Shark Diving the Galapagos Islands
Advanced Divers Only:
The diving in Galapagos is advanced for the following reasons:
- The best dive sites have strong currents
- Sometimes there is a strong surge
- The water is relatively cold
- Diving is done from pangas
- The visibility is often limited
The water in Galapagos is relatively cold.
Divers in Galapagos usually wear a full 6 mm wetsuits with a hood. This much wetsuit requires quite a bit of lead
weight in order to sink. Of course as the diver descends, the wetsuit compresses and the diver becomes negatively
buoyant and must add air to the BC. As the diver ascents, the air in the BC expands and the wetsuit uncompresses
causing the diver to become positively buoyant. The diver must dump air from the BC. Therefore a diver should be
experienced enough to have good control over their buoyancy.
Diving in Galapagos is done from pangas.
The currents in Galapagos are strong. The majority of dive sites are small islands that break the surface of the water,
then taper down (see photos above). It is important that the divers enter the water right next to the cliff. The
further from the cliff, the stronger the current. Due to this situation, it is impossible to bring the dive yacht
directly over the dive site. Therefore all dive operators in Galapagos dive from small boats called pangas (usually zodiacs).
The diver will suit up on the main yacht then step over to the panga where they must put on their fins.
The panga will approach the dive site and the divers back roll into the water.
The visibility is often limited.
Large numbers of big animals need lots of food. To have lots of food requires lots of nutrients and high nutrient
water is low in visibility. Visibility can be as low as 10 feet and as high as 100 feet but 40 feet is more typical.
It varies between dive sites and with the time of day. It can even change during a dive. The visibility up at Darwin/Wolf
tends to be higher than in the south.
The diving in Galapagos is not for novice divers.
Before attempting to dive in Galapagos you should be completely comfortable in the water and comfortable with all
aspects of your equipment. Having experience diving in cold water with a thick wetsuit with a hood and/or
diving in strong currents is very helpful. Most dive operators require a minimum of 25 dives prior to diving in Galapagos.
Sound like a lot of work? It is.
Is it worth the effort? You better believe it! Why else would Rodale's Scuba Diving Magazine rank Galapagos as the best
dive destination in the world four years in a row?
How many dives will we take?
The number of dives which are done on any trip to Galapagos is dependent how much time you have to actually dive. This is dependent on two factors:
1. The amount of time available on any given day. The Galapagos Islands are located
directly on the equator so the days in Galapagos are exactly 12 hours long every day all year long. The islands
are far apart and there are many of them. There may be a two to three hour boat run between dive sites. Darwin and
Wolf are 14 to 20 hours from the other islands depending on seas, wind and current. Most of this long run is done
during the night but you still must leave the south by early to mid afternoon to get to Wolf by the morning. When
you are not up at Darwin/Wolf there are incredible land excursions to do. Typically you do two 2 hour land excursions
per day plus snorkeling with sea lions and penguins when you are in the south.
2. Safety issues - You must have surface interval between dives. You must
wait an hour or so after you eat before you dive. You must wait a minimum of 24 hour hours before flying and most
yachts will not start the last daylight dive of the day after to 3:00 PM. This last rule is because there are very
strong currents and the next nearest land is 4000 miles to the west. A lost diver at night is in serious trouble.
If a diver is separated from the group (which is common) and the dive takes 1 hour, this give the crew 2 hours
of daylight to find them.
3. Night diving is the exception rather than the rule. Remember that this is
open ocean diving with strong currents. The main attraction is not reef but the pelagic large animals off the reef.
A lost diver in Galapagos is a serious problem especially at night. Therefore night dives are done in coves and are
not available on most nights.
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