DIVING & SNORKELLING
With unique seabirds, mammals and marine life, the Galapagos Islands offer some excellent diving and snorkeling. Don’t miss the opportunity to see a penguin ’fly’ past underwater or have a juvenile sea line peer into your goggles; other breathtaking underwater sights include schools f golden rays and hammerhead sharks. Many of the islands have sheltered pays with an array of colorful reef fish and other marine life. At times, cold water, strong currents and/or undertow can add a frisson of excitement for experienced divers, but beginners can enjoy the superb underwater life in complete safety at many sites.
Galápagos offers one of the best divesides worldwide. Galapagos diving is amazing, but can also be unpredictable due to his current and ocean temperature.
OUR DIVING
We have great dive sites for beginners, intermediate and experienced divers, although the best dive sites are usually the most difficult ones, with significant to strong currents near vertical walls. Most of our diving is drift diving, so the divemasters skills play an important role. Beginners can start at the easier places and proceed to the more difficult ones always guided by our divemasters or instructors. In all our dives our divemasters will be actually diving in the water with the customers. Another important aspect of the Divemasters skills is that, although there is a decompression chamber on the islands, the divemasters duty is to guarantee that, to a reasonable extent, everybody is on the safe side.
THE DIVES
Each dive is one tank. We use aluminium tanks with 3000 psi /207 bar - all tanks have the international connection system - if passengers want to use their own regulator with DIN system they have to bring their own adapter. The bottom time depends on each passengers air consumption. All dives are in-between 15 and 25 meters because this is where you encounter most of the marine life in the Galápagos. Maximum depth for our dives is 30 meters.
Safety First
This is how we classify the divers experiences:
Beginners: Newly certified divers or divers with few dives logged (3 to 15 dives).
Intermediate: 15 to 50 dives logged with experience in cold water and with drift and wall diving.
Advanced: 100 dives or more logged with experience in cold water and with drift and wall diving.
Detailed description of dive experience is always necessary to confirm a dive program, because a diver with 10 dives in cold water and currents may feel a lot more comfortable than a diver with 40 logged dives in warm water and little current - also a newly certified diver may feel more comfortable than a diver with 50 logged dives but who has not been diving for 6 years.
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Dive Packages
Kicker Rock & Punta Pitt
Combine the best spots in one trip. After the check- dive we navigate the boat to the north of the island- Punta Pitt. The dive in Punta Pitt is followed by a second dive in Kicker Rock. Afterwards we have time to snorkel in Lobos Island
Experience required: 20 dives more |
Equipement
Our daily diving trip rates always include complete SCUBA gear. Diver can decide whether they want to use our equipment or bring their own.
Our live aboard cruises do not include personal gear - only tanks and weightbelts with weights. But with advance reservation, we can offer equipment rental at convenient prices onboard all our cruises. |
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Our PADI Open Water Scuba Instructor supports you to reach your new level of diving, whether you want to become an Open Water Diver or a Divemaster.
All courses are teached by a certified and experienced Padi Open Water Instructors. The courses include the PADI book, Padi Licence, a logbook, use of all the required equipment during the course, theory classes (video & classes by the instructor) and the practical part.
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Climate - Season - Water
The Season
We have 2 seasons : the warm and sunny from December to May and the cold and cloudy from June to November. June and November are transitional months. On the warm season there is almost no wind (so the sea is usually very calm) and the visibility tends to be better. In the cold season there is more wind, sometimes the sea tends to be choppy and the visibility lower.
Water Temperature
Although being very close to the Equator, water temperatures range from 16 to 24 degrees Celsius (61 to 75 degrees Fahrenheit); we use full wet (6mm) suits all year around and hoods, booties, and gloves are recommended in the cold season.
Visibility
In general, visibility ranges from 5 to 25 meters (16 to 82 feet), but most of the time it is restricted to between 12 and 18m. A large submarine current (Equatorial Undercurrent) coming from the West Pacific hits the largest island of the archipelago (Isabela Island) and is deflected upward reaching the surface, bringing up the cold and nutrient rich water; this can change the water temperature by as much as 6 degrees Celsius, and change the visibility in a matter of one or two days. |
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What to Bring
Most cruise boats can provide mask, snorkel and fins for a small rental fee that usually covers the whole trip, but if you plan to spend a lot of your holiday underwater then consider taking your own gear. This is especially true if you have a good fitting mask at home. If you wear prescription glasses it may be a good idea to get a mask with glass made up to your prescription or wear contact lenses.
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INFORMATION REQUIRED BEFORE CONFIRMING A DAILY DIVING TOUR
What type of diver's certification do you have (level and training agency)?
How many dives have you logged?
What was the date of your last dive?
Do you have experience with drift and wall diving?
Do you have experience with diving in cold water and with 6mm wet suit?
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