Hi,
I've 3 weeks in Ecuador in January, and am planning on visiting the Galapagos, and doing some diving.
Does anyone have tips of the best places to visit? Is a liveaboard worthwhile / good value, and if so, do you think I need to book in advance (and/or flights to the Islands)?
Thanks v much for any advice you can give.
Tim
just got back from a trip around the islands in the galapagos...
its easy to base yourself in puerto ayero and do day trips to the some of the best dive sites on the islands...puerto ayoro has relatively cheap accommodation and food similar to quito prices if you look hard enough...the going rate is UDS120 for two boat dives for the day...lots of options as to where to go...we saw about a dozen hammerheads at gordon rocks including one big scary one....there are a lot of cruises leaving puerto ayoro for extended trips around the islands and these are the way to see the place...there are livaboards to darwin and wolf which sound like the ultimate dive adventure with a big price attached...i am guessing approx 300USD per day if the normal cruises are approx USD150 a day without diving...
check out TAME website for flights to the islands...cheaper from guayaquil...i was getting flights and cruises last minute just recently in high season and there was no problem with availability.
i've seen a lot of naturally wild places in my travels but traveling by boat in the galapagos tops it...
happy travels
my experience was similar to the first poster's - i dove out of puerto ayoro and there was a lot of variety in both difficulty and sea life. The real draw of a live aboard is the chance to see a whale shark...but I am almost certain that you'll need to book ahead of time as space is generally limited and they are very expensive!
Thanks v much for those tips - think that I'll head for Gordon's first and hope to spot your mean hammerhead! Would you recommend anywhere in particular to stay in Puerto Ayora? I'm travelling on my own, so anywhere that is a good place to meet other people would be good.
I doubt very much if you will be lucky enough to still find space on a liveaboard for Jan at such short notice.
However diving wise a liveaboard out there is def the right way to go if you can as these are the only boats that can take you out to Wolf and Darwin. Other diving in Galapagos is all land based and the Central Island dive sites do not compare to either Wolf or Darwin.
Thanks - yes I understand that licences for the cheaper boats will not be finalised before the end of January. This means that spaces on the three boats that do have licences are at a premium, and this is reflected in their prices (upwards of $4000 apparently). Looks like I may have to make do with land based dives, I fear...