GALAPAGOS DIVING - VARIABLE DURATIONS

Diving tours to the Galapagos are based onstays on board various classes of yacht, from a standard tourist to a luxury style yacht. Dive sites to choose from are as follows:-

DIVE SITES’ DESCRIPTION

ACADEMY BAY

This is the bay of Puerto Ayora on Santa Cruz Island with 4 dive sites all within 20 minutes from your base by boat. Three of the sites are generally calm with little current; ideal for students or novices. At the other site, the dives can be a little more complicated if there is a current so they are suitable for intermediate or expert divers.

SANTA FE ISLAND

This island is a solid structure of basaltic lava rock about an hour away from your base. The 4 dive sites here generally have excellent visibility and mild currents, making these sites ideal for novices. At the same time, the animals and topography (including a spectacular arch) make them interesting for intermediates and experts alike. We can see stingrays, eagle rays, garden eels, turtles, sea lion colonies, morays, pelagic fish, and maybe white tip reef sharks and/or hammerhead sharks.

FLOREANA ISLAND

The island of Floreana is about 90 minutes south from the dive base. There are 9 dive sites here with generally calm waters. On the occasion that we do find strong currents, we can quickly move to another site, which makes Floreana ideal for all levels of diver. This site is one of the best in the central islands to see significant coral colonies, such as pebble coral and endemic black coral. You might encounter baby birds as they make unsuccessful attempts learning to fly. You may look on as barber fish clean sea turtles of parasites. Floreana is also one of the best sites to dive with sea lions. There is also the enticing gauntlet of sea horses, stingrays, eagle rays, turtles, long nose hawk fish, barracudas, pelagic fish, white tip reef sharks, Galapagos sharks, and hammerhead sharks.

COUSINS ROCK

An islet with a wall dropping from the surface into the deepest depths, Floreana Cousins Rock is home to a big area of sloping rock plates known as a "Planchonal" about two hours from your base. There can be strong currents here that separate the productive and unproductive sides of the dive site. Cousins’ is full of spectacular endemic young black coral and other sightings may include frogfish, fur seals, sea turtles, sea horses, and usually, hammerhead sharks.

DAPHNE

This is an isolated offshore tuff cone with vertical walls all around it about one hour from your dive base. The main dive site is a shelf of boulders at about 60 feet and the diving can be difficult depending on the currents and surge. We usually see many Galapagos sharks here, some schools of pelagic fish, and multicolored sponges on the rock wall.

NORTH SEYMOUR ISLAND

North Seymour is an uplifted island of lava flow about 90 minutes north of your dive base. There are 5 dive sites suitable for all levels of divers, although sometimes the currents can be strong. These sites have the most different species per square foot of sandy bottom. We can see cleaning behavior, a large garden eel colony, sea turtles, sea lions, fur seals, eagle rays, yellow-tailed grunts, big-eyed jack, and frequently white tip reef sharks and hammerheads. Occasionally, Galapagos sharks can also be seen here.

GORDON ROCKS

This tuff cone formation is a world famous dive site about one hour from our base. There are 4 dive sites in the area, but only two are for novices. The other two sites are for intermediates and experts because there can be strong currents and surge. The Gordon Rocks dive sites are mostly walls with a deep bottom. Hammerhead sharks are the main attraction of Gordon Rocks, where they often congregate in large schools. You won't be able to stop looking at this aquarium as you're likely to also see reef fish, large pelagic fish, golden rays, stingrays, eagle rays, turtles and morays.

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