Cruises and Tours to Galapagos

Allow a day or two in Guayaquil or Quito and then again on San Cristobal as a buffer, just in case; would not want to miss the boat.

This was part of a two week trip, which included another boat, Coral II, for land and snorkeling adventures to other islands. All good stuff plus exploring San Cristobal and Santa Cruz on our own. But you go to dive Wolf and Darwin. This is as I had always heard, bit, cold, tough diving. Strong currents, most dives were get to the bottom fast then grab a rock. After settling into a hole, or nestled against a big rock you watch the parade go by. Hammerheads, Galapagos and Silky sharks cruise by like high school band parade. They are generally on the edge of good visibility but somewhat regularly one or more will come closer to the reef for a look at us. When working along the reef there were more morays and turtles than I have ever seen anywhere. The morays were often out, never timid. You had to check out your rock for scorpion fish and morays before grabbing on. Smaller fish, often in large schools, were everywhere. Simply the greatest display of fish life I have ever seen. The capper was a whale shark that swam through six of us as we were ascending one morning, totally unexpected in Feb. William and Jimmie were our dive guides, 15 divers split into two groups. Both were bi-lingual Spanish/English, excellent divers, and excellent spotters. DM’s rotated between our groups everday. William is a superb videographer. What he produced far surpassed any photos that the rest of us took. He offered us the video for $50, half of which goes to a Non Profit teaching local kids to dive. Well worth it. Boat was fine. Cabins were big

enough for two, clean, although the hanging disinfectant in the bath was obnoxious, we threw ours away. Dive area was great, setup gear once, tanks were refilled after every dive,pretty much everyone dove Nitrox 32. We only had to reattach the regs and weights. Good storage for wetsuits, fins, etc. A camera rinse tank and bench. Cabin lounge and top deck were both popular places. Good buffet style food with plenty of variety for both protein courses and vegies/salads. My wife thoughtthe desserts were too sweet and cloying. Unlimited drinks at no extra charge, including a decent pina colada. Guests were a great international mix, all fun, good divers. Not cheap, not easy, and worth every cent. 

by W Stanley Wilson