PIERRE LOBEL
PIERRE LOBEL
Ecuador
Cruise in Galapagos (March 2007)
It was the last year where 10days cruise were available. Now it is 7 days max. So I took my chance and go for it to stay 3 days more in Wolf and Darwin which are the 2 best spots to dive in Galapagos.
It was the last year where 10days cruise were available. Now it is 7 days max. So I took my chance and go for it to stay 3 days more in Wolf and Darwin which are the 2 best spots to dive in Galapagos.
You can check my travel guide to get some advices about this destination
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It was a 10 days cruise aboard the Sky Dancer. This is one of the best boats of Peter Hughes fleet, with very professional crew members, large cabins and lots of space for the camera gears. Unfortunately, I am disappointed by the diving guide behaviour. Peter Hughes offers "high level" diving cruises and as client, we can expect to have excellent diving guides. While the second one was cool and professional, what can we say of the main diving guide who:
• Forces the 17 divers to dive at the same time on the same site? At the beginning of the cruise, I saw more divers than sharks and hopefully, in the middle of the cruise after we start complaining about this, the 2 pangas start to go diving with 15min delay between them, in order to avoid one group of divers to meet the other one.
• Does not propose to snorkel with dolphins when more than 100 dolphins start playing around the boat.
• Does not propose to snorkel near a baitball.
• Does not even explain what is a bait-balls...
This kind of events are exceptional and I am afraid I will not have the chance to see them anymore... I still cannot believe I miss it because of a lazy guide! So thanks a lot Peter for your "high end dive experience" but I would rather exchange the "dry towel after each dive" by an experienced and passionate dive guide such as the ones of the Undersea Hunter team for example... Hopefully, the Galapagos sea life is so exceptional and amazing that even with these kinds of problems, I could see lots of beautiful things. Compare to my last experience in Cocos, I would say that:
• I saw there the school of hammerheads
• The hammerheads were as shy as in Cocos: they do not approach more than 3m from us; sometimes they came closer but only if we did not move.
• The visibility was not as good as in Cocos: the water had lots of particles.
• There were much more current there: do not forget to bring some gloves to grab on the rocks!
• I saw there many more eagle rays than in Cocos, but less marble rays.
• I did not saw there big schools of jacks like in Cocos
• I did not saw there as many white tips reef sharks as in Cocos
• I did not saw there any Mobula nor Manta rays
• The water was quite cold inside and below the thermocline (17°C)
As a conclusion, even if these 2 destinations were exceptional diving spots, on one hand I was in Cocos a witness of the wildlife beauty, while on the other hand, in the Galapagos, I just felt to be like a tourist... If I had the choice, I will definitively go back to Cocos.
• Forces the 17 divers to dive at the same time on the same site? At the beginning of the cruise, I saw more divers than sharks and hopefully, in the middle of the cruise after we start complaining about this, the 2 pangas start to go diving with 15min delay between them, in order to avoid one group of divers to meet the other one.
• Does not propose to snorkel with dolphins when more than 100 dolphins start playing around the boat.
• Does not propose to snorkel near a baitball.
• Does not even explain what is a bait-balls...
This kind of events are exceptional and I am afraid I will not have the chance to see them anymore... I still cannot believe I miss it because of a lazy guide! So thanks a lot Peter for your "high end dive experience" but I would rather exchange the "dry towel after each dive" by an experienced and passionate dive guide such as the ones of the Undersea Hunter team for example... Hopefully, the Galapagos sea life is so exceptional and amazing that even with these kinds of problems, I could see lots of beautiful things. Compare to my last experience in Cocos, I would say that:
• I saw there the school of hammerheads
• The hammerheads were as shy as in Cocos: they do not approach more than 3m from us; sometimes they came closer but only if we did not move.
• The visibility was not as good as in Cocos: the water had lots of particles.
• There were much more current there: do not forget to bring some gloves to grab on the rocks!
• I saw there many more eagle rays than in Cocos, but less marble rays.
• I did not saw there big schools of jacks like in Cocos
• I did not saw there as many white tips reef sharks as in Cocos
• I did not saw there any Mobula nor Manta rays
• The water was quite cold inside and below the thermocline (17°C)
As a conclusion, even if these 2 destinations were exceptional diving spots, on one hand I was in Cocos a witness of the wildlife beauty, while on the other hand, in the Galapagos, I just felt to be like a tourist... If I had the choice, I will definitively go back to Cocos.