DIVING
& ITINERARIES
You will
have up to 3 dives daily, depending on
weather and sea conditions.
SAMPLE ITINERARY
Below is the planned itinerary for the Galapagos Sky as authorized by the
Galapagos National Park on patent (permit) issued to
Galapagos Sky.
SUNDAY AM
(Day of Departure) Arrive
San Cristobal—(Land Excursion) visit the Interpretation
Center where an interesting human history of Galapagos
is presented, town walk (last chance for shopping). Late
morning departure.
SUNDAY PM Lobos
(Day of Arrival) Check out
dive. Nice protected area at 20 feet depth. Look for Sea
Lions. This is a short dive in a sandy bottom with the
focus of checking the skills of every diver. As the sun
sets you will circumvent Kicker Rock where you want to
look for the Blue footed bobby birds.
MONDAY AM
Land Visit to the Highlands of
Santa Cruz to see the Galapagos Turtles in their natural
environment. A visit to the very special ―Scalecias
Forest‖,
the Twins and the Lava Tube also is included during the
morning ashore.
Monday PM Cousins Rocks (2 dives)-these dives are
done along a beautiful wall and allows for great viewing
opportunities for coral, frog fish, sea horses and
octopus. Sea Lions will be your companions on the safety
stops.
TUESDAY AM
Wolf All night 120 nautical mile
transit with schedule arrival between 9am and 11am. (1
Dive). Look for schools of Hammerheads, Silky Sharks,
Galapagos Sharks Dolphins and rays.
TUESDAY PM
Wolf (2 dives) during the
afternoon.
WEDNESDAY AM
Darwin Early morning transit with
early arrival at Darwin. (2 dives) at the Darwin Arch.
Hammerheads, Galapagos Sharks and HUGE schools of
tropical fish enjoy this area. Seasonal sightings of
Whale Sharks are common.
WEDNESDAY PM
Darwin (1 Dives) at the Darwin
Arch.
THURSDAY AM
Darwin (2 dives) at the Darwin
Arch.
THURSDAY PM
Wolf Late morning / early
afternoon transit back at Wolf. (1 Dive) After the dive
we will head to the west central Islands
FRIDAY AM
Roca Redonda (1 dive) Dive
encounters will include Hammerheads, wahoos, big eye
jacks, and at time the underwater volcanic vents can
release warm water bubbles.
FRIDAY PM
Vicente Roca (2 dives), Colorful
sites with many marine invertebrates, anemones,
lobsters, shrimp with occasional Mola Mola sightings.
Plus the opportunity to have a panga ride and snorkeling
SATURDAY AM (January-May)
Marshall Island (2 dives) At Cape
Marshall, on the eastern side of Isabela island, we
encounter rocky volcanic cliffs which drop down to the
ocean floor as an almost vertical wall. You might see
large animals like manta rays, marble rays, hammerhead
sharks, mola mola (oceanic sun fish) and marine turtles.
Also keep an eye out for Chevron barracuda, snappers,
yellow fin tuna, rainbow runners, wahoo and groupers.
There are also a lot of smaller fishes like creole
fishes, parrot fishes, scrawled filefishes, pacific box
fishes and tiger snake eels.
SATURDAY PM (January-May)
Albany Islet (1 dive) White tip
sharks, sea lions and many active tropical fish will
entertain you on this final day of diving.
SATURDAY AM (June-December)
Marchena Pta. Espejo (2 dives)
Underwater you might see cow nosed rays, turtles,
schooling hammerheads, schools of Blue-striped snappers,
grunts, surgeonfish, spotted morays and scorpion fish…In
the shallows be on the look-out for red lipped batfish.
SATURDAY PM (June-December)
Marchena Pta. Espejo (1 dive) After Saturday PM diving,
Galapagos Sky will be motoring to Itabaca Channel in the north side of Sta.
Cruz. This is where we will disembark guests who have
chosen to extend their holiday in Pto. Ayora for an
extension. We will arrive at approximately 9pm.
WHAT WILL I SEE?
Whale
sharks, hammerheads sharks, Galapagos
sharks, white tip sharks . . . . .
tunas, mantas, stingrays, eagle rays, .
. . . . . barracudas, snappers, goatfish, wahoo,
groupers & mola mola . . . . . dolphins, sea lions,
penguins, moray eels, turtles & red-lipped batfish . . .
. possibly even sailfish, tiger sharks, marlin and
killer whales.
And that's not
all. There is a broad spectrum of
marine life
that make the Galapagos Islands one of
the world’s foremost diving wonders.
Exactly what you see, of course,
will depend on the time of year, the region
of the Galapagos and, needless to say,
the weather & current conditions.
WHAT ABOUT THE WEATHER?
Water temperatures in the southern islands can get as low as the mid sixties in the cooler season, but the northern islands of Darwin & Wolf are usually 10 degrees warmer.
Because of the currents in Galapagos the temperatures can change rapidly.
Outside the water, temperatures are generally pleasant & shorts and t shirts are comfortable attire. Still, we recommend carrying a sweatshirt as evenings on the deck can be cool. Definitely expect some challenging diving in many areas where the currents are strong.
