Every article you read about Top 10 dive spots would for sure list Galapagos in the Top 3, even number 1 spot. It is a place you just have to experience once in your life if you love diving! Of course, there are other similar spots (socorro, cocos island) which would offer you similar experience if you so choose a different island.
The best way to really get the full on dive experience is with a liveaboard. This is the only way you can get to the Wolf and Darwin islands to dive with hammerheads. Remember those photos or videos of hundreds of hammerheads swimming overhead? Yup, that would be Galapagos and in either Wolf or Darwin. It is a very long boat journey (>20 hours) from Baltra Island to get there, hence it is not a day trip. There are good dive sites which you can do in a day from Santa Cruz (Gordon's Rock or North Seymour) where chances are pretty good you see hammerheads but the big school? That would be more up north. And the whale sharks? Same.
Regardless of which liveaboard you choose, their itineraries are pretty much the same - just depends on whether they depart from Baltra or San Cristobal. Basically all boats departing from Baltra will follow the same itinerary (dive sites), same goes for San Cristobal departure. Both would include 3-4 days of diving at Wolf and Darwin (with 3-4 dives a day). So the only difference is the comfort of the boat - and that's where the prices differ by a million miles! From a budget boat of USD3,400 per person to over USD 6,000 per person. That is not to say a budget boat is shadier - they just have a more basic design and the cabins are less fancy, boat is smaller and no jacuzzi. The dive experience will be exactly the same! Of course, you might have different experience with different dive guides but you see exactly the same things.
The price is inclusive of all diving, all food and drinks (expensive boats include alcohol), accommodation, but exclusive of rental equipment, park fees, sometimes fuel surcharge and gratuities. The expectation is at least 10% gratuities on top of the package fee you paid, but I would say it depends on how much you are willing to give - some liveaboards provide guidelines saying USD8-20 per day for tips. The tip is usually split between the dive guides and crew - with our LOB, we got 2 envelopes, 1 for guide 1 for the rest of the crew.
A typical liveaboard schedule is 8D7N where the 1st and last days are usually non-event. You get a check dive on the 1st day and then it's cruising time, whilst the last day is when you dock and depart after breakfast. In essence you get 6 days of diving and a total of between 16-20 dives (boat dependent).
We got upgraded to a better boat than what we booked for (booked Aqua but as it was not completed for our trip, we got upgraded for free to Humboldt). So the experience is only based on Humboldt and not Aqua.
We were well fed - you get snacks after every dive and lunch/dinner were adequate. Good thing about Humboldt is alcohol inclusive (house wine and beer only) and the jacuzzi which works only when we get to Wolf and Darwin. The accommodation was comfortable - we got the main cabin with double beds with TV (movies and USB) and air conditioning. Slept great in there!
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| Our double room - nice cabin size! |
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| Sundeck and where the jacuzzi is! |
Our main guide Xavier was a gem! Made the trip so much more enjoyable!
The dive schedule is very standard everyday - wake up at 05:50 - first dive at 06:30, 2 dives before lunch and 2 dives after lunch ending around 17:00 each day. We thought we would have more free time and be bored but the schedule of 4 dives a day is hectic! The only free time was lunch and dinner and everyone was spent by the end of day. Day 7 will be a short dive day (2 dives) and long cruising.
Wolf and Darwin islands are really the highlight for diving in Galapagos. There aren't many dive sites in these 2 locations, in fact only 1 in Darwin (The Arch) whilst in Wolf usually they go to Shark Bay or Landslide. We saw 5 whale sharks in total as a group and hammerheads all the time! Visibility was not so great during our dives so we couldn't see the hammerheads that well unless they were really close by, but there were loads of them. Some of them even came real close as long as you hold your breathe or breath out slowly.
The other dive locations were not as impressive, though the playing sea lions were fun to witness when they dive in and out of the water.
The dive LOB is really only for divers, if you are only snorkelling, it will be quite boring as there aren't many snorkel locations in Wolf and Darwin. Join the naturalist tours instead.
Santa Cruz Island
Puerto Ayora is the name of the main town. There isn't that much to do on the island itself and you can easily do and see everything in a day. Charles Darwin center, Tortuga Bay and walking distance. Las Grietas is also a good morning trip - it is a gorge where you can swim in the water. Go early in the morning to avoid crowd. Further out to the highlands of course you cannot miss the Tortoise Sanctuary. The daily fish market is also quite interesting to see for a few minutes - either in the morning or late afternoon. It is a very small market (4 tables of fish) but nice to see the sea lion and pelicans trying to fight for food.
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| Galapagos tortoise |
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| Fish market |
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| Marine Iguana |
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| Las Grietas |
If you want to see shark action without being in the water, head to the pier! Baby blacktips swim around there!
We did a bike ride up to Bellavista and towards El Cascajo and along the way you will pass the Lava Tunnel. This one was 2KM of which you can walk 1KM for USD 3 per entry. It was a nice experience and really amazing how big the tunnel is. We rented it for USD10 (whole day per bike) from a shop along the waterfront but the bikes were not the greatest (gears and brakes wise). Bike and smile shop looked like they have got better bike (more expensive) and they give you a free beer per bike rental.
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| Lava Tunnel |
Food
It is not that much different than mainland, except everything is a lot more expensive. Santa Cruz brewery is a nice place to hang out and drink some locally brewed beer while looking out to the sea. There is also another local brewery just opposite Midori which has a pretty similar selection but without the view and crowd.
Lo & Lo was a nice place to have dinner (love the fresh lemonade and encocado), and next door you have Galapagos Deli which sells good gelato and healthy food. The night food market (Los Kiokos) is always a good experience to have freshly grilled fish at night. They do have lunch and dinner set menu (USD 5) if you're on a super budget but the quality and quantity would be very different. For the set, you get a plate of rice with side of meat/fish and a soup. We didn't get this but every restaurant offers the almuerza menu. Although more expensive, we really liked ordering grilled fish and sharing (starting at USD 10 for a whole fish). Walk around the different stalls (they sell the same items) and choose the one with the freshest fish.
1835 Coffee Lab is a cool place to hang out and have some Galapagos coffee. Ian said it was good coffee and reasonably priced.
We booked our rooms with El Paradiso - at USD40 a night, it is one of the cheaper options on the island with free wifi and drinking water. It's a decent place to spend the night and the location is superb!
All in all, almost everywhere we went (cafes/restaurants) offer free WIFI and the speed is pretty decent - just try to avoid uploading huge videos.
We didn't do much day trips since we already spent 8 days on a boat going around the archipelago and a huge chunk of budget. But if you're only basing yourself on the island, there are a few day trips which you should take - Bartolome, Pinzon, snorkeling trips close to San Cristobal etc. Even better if you have extra days to spare, take a trip to Isabela for a few days, discover the volcanoes and different wildlife. You can also see penguins in Galapagos! These trips are not cheap but since you are already in Galapagos, better to spend them and get the full on experience!
Here below, enjoy the compilation video of our diving days in Galapagos:
