Galápagos, Part 2
21st - 26th Feb 2025
Diving with Hammerheads
Reluctantly departing the mesmerizing Isla Isabela, we took the inter-island ferry back to Santa Cruz to scratch the ever growing scuba diving itch. The evening prior to the dive, we visited the dive shop to get kitted out and tried to get an early night ahead before an early start.
North Seymour Channel
Dive 1. 57mins. Max. depth 15.3m
The first dive was in the channel which divides Isla Baltra and North Seymour. Armed with 5mm wetsuits we were grateful to finely get into the water and descend a rocky boulder strew wall. Arriving at a sandy bottom in about 15m, white tipped sharks are seemingly everywhere. The sandy bottom is also home to a very curious type of eel. Grass eels partially buried waved in the current, slowly retreating into their holes as we passed by. As we progress into deeper water the sharks increase in size and we have our first glance of a Galápagos shark, twice the size of the white tips. Mobula rays, with an appearance similar to their larger Manta Ray cousins cruise by gracefully and we
Isla Mosqueres
Dive 2. 54mins. Max. depth 20.9m
For the second tank the dive boat relocated to the east coast of Isla Mosqueres, diving a steep volcanic wall, it’s not long before we see what we all came for, fully grown hammerheads sharks! The recent warmer sea temperature means they stay deeper than they can sometimes be seen, but nonetheless we can’t stop grinning behind our regs to each other.
Isla San Cristóbal
Puerto Baquerizo Moreno
Even the most densely developed parts of Galapagos, such as Isla San Cristobal’s capital Puerto Baquerizo Moreno, is alive with wildlife. The sandy bays are teaming with sea lions, from new born cubs up to dominant bull males. To the north, a rugged trail over volcanic boulders eventually leads to the towns namesake beach, Playa. Baquerizo
Kicker Rock
The Channel
Dive 3. 44mins. Max. depth 23.8m
After trying a our kit our the afternoon prior at Aquaventures dive shop (pleasantly more organized than the shop in Santa Cruz) we gathered at 8am excited for the day ahead. Boarding the dive board we were subjected to an intense but thorough dive brief. Warned of the potentially strong current and surges around the rock we were surprised to hear one of our dive party was only newly qualified, with just 4 dives logged. More on that later… We're introduced to Jesus, our dive guide and Ben questions how he's going to dive rather than just walk on water.
The boat ride of more than an hour is sweltering, so with 5mm wetsuits zipped up we're desperate to back roll into the deep. Descending down the sheer rock wall, colourful fish are busy with turtles who congregate here for a full service cleaning service. The volcanic rock is peppered with holes supporting coral and fish life, as a we navigate through the channel between two of the towering rocks, the seabed becomes visible again with yet more sharks leisurely cruising around. A mixture of white tips and larger Galapagos sharks are soon joined by a particularly friendly shark who appears to know Jesus and proceeds to play with our bubbles. The agility and speed they achieve in the water is staggering and further more, I was staggered to learn female Galápagos sea lions have been surveyed and recorded diving to in excess of 600m!
The Northern Tip
Dive 4. 44mins. Max. depth 25.6m
The second dive was on the the northern most tip of Léon Dormido. Here differing ocean currents are forced to converge, creating a phenomenon of shoaling Salema fish for just a few days a year. It just so happened to be our lucky day! Descending to 20m, a wall of fish extends from the sea bed to the surface. Jesus leads the way, parts the fish and we follow into the darkness. The shoal soon closes and absolute darkness descends on us. Moving slowly onwards, daylight streams back in. A truly other otherworldly experience, the fish move in harmony maintaining a perfect distance from us as if touched by an invisible forcefield. As we emerge from the shoal, the water looks distorted and we swim through a thermocline into water nearly 10 degrees cooler, upwelling from below, we're suddenly very grateful for the 5mm wetsuits.
We merge with the other 6 divers from our dive boat and after some confusion over who to follow, we enter the shoal again for another mind bending experience. Sliding out the others idea a sealion is having an equally good time rocketing though and parting the fish in what simply looked like play. Alex shares a dance with the sealion before we must begin our ascent.
We'd descended to more than 25m, and not long after I see Maya, hastily heading towards Jesus and sharply drawing his attention. A brief wordless exchange and she's breathing from his Octopus. Let's just say air may have been in short supply. Regardless, we continue the dive with Jesus and Maya now in tandem progressively heading shallower towards our 3min safety stop at 5m. With parting views of sharks skirting the shoal and turtles cruising alongside the shear rock face it is soon time to surface and trade looks of sheer delight with our dive buddies. It was up there with the best diving we'd ever experienced and running out of air hadn't dented Maya's enjoyment. One small problem, how do you top a dive like that!?
Playa El Manglecito
Eating lunch enroute the dive boat pulled into Playa El Manglecito for a snorkeling stop. From the boat we could already see turtle and rays surrounding us. I hadn't yet watched a marine iguana feeding underwater so slipped into the rocky shallows. Before long I find my prey, and a take a shot, with the GoPro that is. In conversation with our dive buddies heading back to port we invite travellers Dan, Maya, Selma and Signe from the Netherlands around to our the AirBnB for dinner later that evening and we talk and drink the night away sharing tales of our travelling misadventures.
Carawa Wreck
Dive 4. 45mins. Max. depth 15m.
Riding on a high from the Kicker Rock dive we enquired with the dive shop on their availability to go again! Alas Kicker was fully booked, but more fortuitously they had space to dive at Darwin Bay and the Carawa wreck the following day. The Darwin bay dive was a great reality check dive, and levelled our expectations after the excitement of Kicker Rock. Our boatman has a party playlist on shuffle when we clamber back aboard and the good vibes carry us to the next dive site.
Carawa was ready to surprise us once again, with a dive brief advising of the strong currents to contend with, we hang from a line off the dive boat to await our turn to descend the shot line down to the wreck. The next 40 minutes were spent exploring the remains of the wreck which whilst heavily broken up, still had many interesting structures to swim through and explore. The remaining structures were a popular haunt of reef fish and lobsters and sea lions gracefully swooped by us as we explored features such as the ship’s anchors and propellor.
Playa Loberia
With Ben and Alex taking the afternoon to recharge at the AirBnB after our latest diving antics, I find myself restless and walk from the town out to the south coast bay of Playa Loberia. Here a southern swell has drawn surfers to the boulder strewn bay which they share with the flippered locals.
El Junco
Hailing a taxi in town, we agreed a fare of $70 for about 4 hours to tour more of the island of San Cristóbal. Our first stop was the flooded crater in the highlands known as El Junco. Climbing to the ridge, the island sprawled out below us with a welcome sea breeze. Descending to the south of the island we stopped off at another giant tortoise centre as part of the ride. No guide or fee was required for a change, and we were left to peruse the grounds and trails shared with these majestic creatures.
Puerto Chino
With our time in the remarkable Galápagos islands regrettably coming to a close, there was no place better than the pristine Puerto Chino beach to swim with sea lions and sharks for one last time, and reflect on what a special part of the world we had the privilege of experiencing.
Next stop, Colombia and a series of unfortunate events…
Diving with hammerheads, white tips and an otherworldly underwater experience at Kicker Rock.