We had spent a while debating whether to take semi-drys or dry-suits. In the end, advice from BCD Club members Neil & Liz tipped the scales in favour of the dry-bags. What we hadn't expected was that no one else aboard the Galapagos Aggressor would had ever heard of a dry suit, let alone used one. So, we spent much of our week afloat explaining the pros and cons of this essential piece of UK dive kit to a bunch of intrigued Americans.
In the end, the decision proved to be a wise one. Despite being on the Equator, the seas around the Galapagos Islands are washed by upwellings of the cold Humbolt Current. Vicious thermoclines blur the vision as the temperature drops from 22deg C to 14 in seconds. Add 2-3 knot currents and you have some pretty demanding diving on your hands. This is not the time to be cold and 11 inquisitive Americans learned a lot about why we tend to dive "dry" in the UK.
We joined the Galapagos Aggressor after spending a few days in Ecuador
checking out the capital Quito and the local market town of Otavalo. You do
have to be careful flying out and back into Quito after a week's intensive
diving as it's at 9000ft, but the Aggressor team know about this and plan
their schedule accordingly.
The Aggressor fleet prides itself on luxury and having unlimited Nitrox on tap, freshly made beds every day and waiter service is a far cry from some UK dive boats I've been on. We had 13 divers on board and a very attentive crew of 9. Maybe those Americans do get some things right after all!
The Aggressor itinerary involves diving some of the Southern islands of the
Galapagos before travelling up to the Northernmost islands of Wolf and Darwin
where the water is colder and the life more prolific. At times we motored
all night to get to dive sites so the ability to sleep on a moving boat is
useful. Due to the fierce currents, we had to transfer to RIBs for each dive.
Under water, we spent more time crawling over rocks than finning elegantly
as taught! At some points, tying yourself to the rocky landscape seemed the
best option. Having a DSMB proved useful when drifting in the blue and surfacing
close to the RIBs. We were issued with dive flags which were ideal for attracting
the attention of the boat handlers in rather choppy seas.
A typical dive involved rolling off the RIB and descending as quickly
as possible to about 20m where a lunge was made for the nearest piece of rock.
Clinging on in the current, you scan the waters for signs of the big stuff.
Galapagos and Hammerhead sharks, turtles, Manta, Eagle and Spotted rays are
common. There's also a fair sprinkling of the usual stuff - Morays, Wrass,
Angel Fish etc. along with the rather bizarre Red-Lipped Bat Fish which does
seem to be a rather pointless creature although Darwin probably had other
ideas.
A couple of dives warrant particular mention. Out on the East side of Wolf Island we drifted out into the blue to be surrounded by about 50 Hammerhead and Galapagos sharks and a lone turtle which seemed to be shadowing the pack. At Gordon's Rock (a half submerged volcano crater) we were treated to Manta Rays playing in our bubbles - an awesome sight. We were then pestered by a bunch of sea lions who also wanted to play. We stopped pointing out the more common rays to each other after a while.
| Dive | Date | Site | Depth (m) | Time (min) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 21/12/2000 | Check Out | 7 | 25 |
| 2 | 22/12/2000 | Seymour Island | 22 | 45 |
| 3 | 22/12/2000 | Seymour Island | 15 | 59 |
| 4 | 23/12/2000 | Wolf Island | 16 | 56 |
| 5 | 23/12/2000 | Darwin's Arch | 18 | 55 |
| 6 | 23/12/2000 | Darwin's Arch | 23 | 49 |
| 7 | 24/12/2000 | Darwin's Arch | 26 | 61 |
| 8 | 24/12/2000 | Darwin's Arch | 25 | 52 |
| 9 | 24/12/2000 | Darwin's Arch | 21 | 35 |
| 10 | 24/12/2000 | Darwin's Arch | 22 | 46 |
| 11 | 25/12/2000 | Wolf Island | 29 | 40 |
| 12 | 25/12/2000 | Wolf Island | 21 | 52 |
| 13 | 25/12/2000 | Wolf Island | 25 | 49 |
| 14 | 26/12/2000 | Cousin's Rock | 26 | 50 |
| 15 | 26/12/2000 | Cousin's Rock | 23 | 54 |
| 16 | 27/12/2000 | Gordon's Rock | 21 | 48 |
| 16 | 27/12/2000 | Gordon's Rock | 21 | 42 |
The Aggressor dive guides (Paula and Jamie) were very professional and produced an excellent video of our adventures which was available for purchase at the end of the week. They were more than happy for us to do our own thing on the dives after we had demonstrated we knew roughly how to dive. The Americans were also quite impressed with our DSMB which they had not seen before.
In all, we did 17 dives over 6 days - all on a 33% Nitrox mix. Most people
were on air but we felt that a large number of dives in a short space of time
coupled with strong currents and cold water (not to mention flying back into
Quito) warranted paying $100 for unlimited fills. There's a definite advantage
in diving this gas as we did not fall asleep upon surfacing as everyone else
seemed to do. You really benefit from the extra O2 on a week's diving of this
nature.
The itinerary also included some land tours to see the volcanic island
landscapes and the endemic wildlife - giant tortoise, marine and land iguanas,
sea lions and the famous blue footed boobies. They provide an interesting
diversion during surface intervals too.
I booked my own flights on KLM and the liveaboard through Jim at Scuba
Safaris. I guess you take pot luck on liveaboards like this, popular as they
are with the Yanks. We were very lucky in that everyone on the boat was an
accomplished diver (no faffing) and a reasonably sociable person to boot.
Some of you may ask what I was doing diving wildlife and scenery, being a
wreck diver at heart! The Galapagos is a once in a lifetime trip - I saw my
first Hammerheads and Manta here. I still prefer metal to rock but wouldn't
have missed it for anything.
Oh! And the landing at Amsterdam was aborted at the last minute due to driving snow and heavy winds... and the plane was struck by lightning at the same time!
Steve Chaplin
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