Optional Scuba diving offered onboard the Ecoventura yachts - 2010
ERIC, FLAMINGO & LETTY
Ecoventura offers an opportunity for certified scuba divers to dive on Friday and Saturday during the cruise. Diving is offered every week with a minimum of two divers on Friday and four on Saturday and a maximum number of eight. If you are the only person in your travel party that would like to dive, please inquire as we may already have other guests signed up for diving.
Friday
Level: Intermediate
Dive site: Beagle & Daphne
Land visit you will miss: Darwin Station and Highlands
We will take you to the dive shop of Scuba Iguana, located in Puerto Ayora Santa Cruz on Friday morning to select your equipment. The dive shop will transport you from town to the canal where you will board their dive boat. Beagle Islet is south of Santiago Island, there are 3 exposed rocks, where you may encounter cleaning station, sea lions, Galapagos sharks, turtles, reef fish, sting rays, eagle rays, barracudas, manta rays, invertebrates, solitary hammerhead sharks. At Daphne, we find a small cave with white tipped reef sharks, rays, Galapagos shark, turtles, reef fishes, barracudas, black coral walls and invertebrates. On the return to town, we will stop at a tortoise farm or you may visit the Darwin Station on your own. This dive includes lunch and a snack, towels, transportation to/from dive site
Maximum depth: 80 feet
Minimum # required: 2 divers
Cost: $225.00 per person (2 tanks)
Saturday morning
Level: Intermediate
Dive site: Gardner Bay, Espanola
Land visits you will miss: some beach time at Gardner Bay
The dive shop, Wreck Bay Diving, located in Pto Baquerizo Moreno, San Cristobal will meet our divers at the site in Espanola. Here, you may encounter: white-tipped sharks, hammerhead sharks, Galapagos shark, large moray eels, spotted eagle rays, golden rays, sting rays, fur sea lions, sea turtles, Amberjacks, reef fish, sponges and black coral. The dive includes bottled water and a snack between dives.
Maximum depth: 70 feet
Minimum # required: 4 divers
Cost: $225.00 per person (2 tanks)
Local Dive Operators
All diving is sub-contracted to a local dive shop in Galapagos; on Friday the dives are provided Scuba Iguana, one of the oldest dive center in the Galapagos Islands. The dive center is located in Puerto Ayora on Santa Cruz Island, and it opened for business in 1991 by Jack Nelson and Mathias Espinosa. On Saturday, the dives are provided by Wreck Bay Dive Shop, the most well known dive shop in San Cristobal Island, owned by Ivan Lopez, who is also a licensed guide.
Note: Scuba Iguana and Wreck Bay Diving are the operators and responsible parties of the diving programs available to passengers on the Eric, Flamingo or Letty. Ecoventura, S.A. and its affiliates act only as a coordinator in the organization of the services.
Galapagos dive guides
The dive shops will supply an expert dive Instructor and/or dive master. The guide is a qualified diver with essential knowledge of specific diving locations with their respective interest and dangers.
All divers must to fill out and return an experience form as required by the local dive shops. This form will also request your approximate size in order to have the dive equipment ready for you.
All divers are required to be certified and bring their open water diving certification with them.
They should also be experienced with adequate skills; sufficient experience diving in cold water in thick wet suits with a hood, at least 20 logged dives or advanced dive certification due to strong currents, cold water, thermo-clines and large marine life. Galapagos is not suitable for novice or infrequent divers due to strong currents, sea swells, surges, cool waters, up-welling, poor visibility (at times), and large animals including the harmless Galapagos shark. Divers must have excellent buoyancy control and be totally self-sufficient to handle all gear.
The final sites will be determined by the dive shops on the day of the service, taking into consideration the experience level of the divers and weather conditions including currents. Most dives are drift dives along the cliff faces of off-shore rocks and pinnacles.
Equipment provided
The dive shop will supply you with filled tanks, weights and weight belt, 5-7mm wet suit, hood, mask, fins, boots, gloves, regulator with guages (depth and pressure) and BCD.. You may want to bring your own underwater camera, computer or video camera as these are not provided.
Divers are required to sign an indemnity form stating that the operator of the dive boat is not responsible for any failure in the equipment which the divers use.
Insurance and safety
There is no insurance included in the programs and we highly recommend all divers to have their DAN (Divers Alert Network) insurance before going to the Galapagos (cost per year for Standard Insurance US$ 69 and for Master Insurance US$ 79 including the annual membership).
visit: Divers Alert Network website
Hyperbaric chamber fee
Located in Puerto Ayora, Santa Cruz, a hyperbaric chamber has the most recent technology and trained professional medics to treat dive related illness.
Cancellations
There is no penalty charged for cancellations received 60 days or more prior to departure. If two people signed up for diving and one cancels, we cannot provide diving for just one person as we have a two person minimum on Friday. Likewise if 4 sign up and 1 or more cancels, we cannot provide diving unless those diving make up the difference in price.
Cancellations received 59-30 days prior to departure receive 50% refund if there are 2 or more divers remaining to dive, otherwise there is no refund. There is no refund for cancellations received 30 days or less prior to departure.
Marine Reserve and Park Regulations
The following rules have been established in order to preserve the Islands marine ecosystems. One should respect the marine environment and do not engage in any activities that might damage it. Control your movements while diving. Practice neutral buoyancy control during all dives. Catching or collecting marine life is strictly forbidden with few exceptions. Spear fishing is also forbidden. Any artifacts found on the bottom may not be removed.
In order to protect this wealth of sea life against abuses by man, the Galapagos Marine Reserve, with waters totaling 27,000 square miles, was signed into law in 1986 to protect marine life 15 nautical miles offshore. As part of the Special Law of Galapagos, signed in 1998, the Galapagos Marine Reserve was extended to reach 40 nautical miles offshore.
Water temperature
From November to June, the water temperature averages 75 degrees ferenheit with February to April the warmest time. Water temperature from July to October averages 70 degrees ferenheit and can fall below 70 degrees in August and September.
Water Currents
There are several major currents that influence the water temperatures throughout the archipelago. It is a general rule that the northern islands (Wolf, Darwin, Marchena, Genovesa and Pinta) are the warmest. The central islands are cooler but highly variable, depending on localized upwelling (Santa Cruz, Santiago, Floreana, Espanola, Pinzon and Santa Fe). The coolest part is located on the western side (Isabela and Fernandina). Some currents run parallel to the coast and are greatly influenced by tidal change. They are also localized down currents and upwelling. Even though divers may be experienced, it is a good idea to take the advice of the Divemaster.
SUGGESTED READING & GUIDE BOOKS
REEF FISH Identification GALAPAGOS, Paul Human, 1993, 2003
The DIVING GUIDE GALAPAGOS ISLANDS, Steve Rosenberg and Ellen Sarbone, 2004
THE FISHES OF THE GALAPAGOS ISLANDS, Jack Grove and Robert Lavenberg, 1997
A FIELD GUIDE TO THE FISHES OF GALAPAGOS, Godfrey Merlen , 1988
MARINE LIFE of the GALAPAGOS, Pierre Constant, 1992
GALAPAGOS, A Terrestrial and Marine Phenomenon, Paul Human, 1988
SUBTIDAL GALAPAGOS Exploring the Waters of Darwin's Islands, James Cribb, 1986