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Reports from traveling divers: Wonders of the Galapagos !! by Carl Roessler |
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The
Galapagos
Islands
lie
six
hundred
miles
west
of
the
Pacific
coast
of
Ecuador.
They
have
been
famous
since
Charles
Darwin’s
Beagle
voyages
led
to
important
observations
crucial
to
developing
the
evolution
theories
in
his
Origin
of
Species. In the past three decades these widely-scattered volcanic outposts have become famous for both their terrestrial species and the rich marine fauna off their coasts. My first cruise among the Galapagos was in 1972, and I have made several visits since because the life on the rocky undersea flanks of these black basalt islands is so vivid, varied and plentiful. The
biggest
problem
in
designing
a
diving
vacation
in
the
Galapagos
is
that
there
are
so
many
superb
sites
scattered
over
such
a
vast
expanse
of
ocean.
Cruises
of
ten
to
twenty
hours
are
required
to
reach
some
of
the
more
distant
sites;
while
these
can
of
course
be
made
as
overnight
voyages
they
quickly
consume
a
short
vacation. In our early days, we offered cruises of ten to fourteen days. Cruises of that length enabled us to visit Darwin and Wolf Islands in the far North for the schooling hammerheads as well as visiting the prime sites in the central and southern regions. I have to confess that I never miss the big-animal diving in the northern islands; I have an incandescent memory of the first time we took a Zodiac full of divers from the anchorage to the dive site at Darwin.
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| As we motored slowly along at the foot of a thousand-foot-tall cliff, a huge school of huge gray creatures swam right long at the surface around us. On first glance we instinctively thought they were porpoises, but immediately we realized that hundreds of hammerhead sharks were swarming around our boat. | ||||||
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In addition to at least three dives each day, we climbed the Alcedo Volcano, 4,000 feet of steep (sometimes it seemed vertical!) hiking to look out across a vast forested caldera with giant tortoises everywhere. The Galapagos are perhaps the most different of all diving destinations. The waters are colder than most of our tropical haunts despite sitting astride the Equator. The land walks should never be skipped to squeeze in another dive, for the terrestrial animals are a crucial part of the Enchanted Islands story. Even the night dives in places like the bottom at Bartholomew (with yellow-bellied batfish) and Tagus Cove (with practically anything!) can be the outstanding event of any day.
That should be just a hint of the power of this experience! |
While
the
big-animal
diving
is
sensational,
I
hate
to
have
divers
miss
places
such
as
Hood,
the
Devil’s
Crown,
Cousins,
Fernandina
and
Punta
Roca
Vicente
on
Isabella.
Each
of
these
has
provided
amazing
species
from
Juvenile
stonefish
to
wrasse-assed
bass
(yes,
that’s
what
they’re
called)
to
Mola
mola
the
ocean
sunfish.
We’ve
had
passing
whales,
Sea
lions
beyond
counting,
immense
shoals
of
palometa
and
schools
of
barracuda
so
immense
that
diving
beneath
them
was
almost
like
doing
a
night
dive.
On
my
most
recent
trip
my
daughter
joined
me.
After
ten
days
in
the
islands,
she
learned
Spanish
and
applied
to
be
a
Galapagos
guide.