Few places in the world are more synonymous with nature than the majestic Galapagos Islands just off of the cost of Ecuador, made famous by their associated with Darwin and his theory of evolution; they are also a mecca for scuba divers the world over for encounters with large pelagic species such as Scalloped Hammerhead sharks, Whale Sharks, Oceanic Manta Rays Dolphins and much more. If you google lists of the top scuba diving destinations in the world then the Galapagos more often than not comes out at the top or damn well near it alongside the likes of Raja Ampat, Sipadan and Palau. It is for this reason that in late December 2023 we decided to head off on the adventure of a lifetime to the Galapagos and see what all the fuss is about by taking a 7 day liveaboard to be able to fully immerse ourselves in nature and see what the Galapagos had to offer us!

Baltra Airport, Galapagos Islands, the gateway to scuba diving in the galapagos — The Welcome at Baltra Airport, Galapagos Islands

The Galapagos Islands are an archipelago (chain of islands) belonging to Ecuador about 1000km off of the coast that are famous for their endemic wildlife such as giant tortoises, finches and marine iguanas that can be found no where else, consisting of 18 main islands and a number of smaller islands and rocks they are named after the giant tortoises for which they are famous (Galapago derives from a pre-roman Iberian word meaning turtle). Diving here can be challenging and is normally recommended for more experienced divers as the current can be strong and temperatures lower, requiring a 7mm wetsuit sometimes. That being said, we went during the warmer season and were lucky that the temps were higher than normal - I was diving in a 7mm wetsuit and often felt almost too warm!

As we are currently based in upstate New York traveling to the Galapagos was easier than from many locations but still required several flights, setting off on 2nd Dec, 2023 we flew down to Charlotte in North Carolina, stayed overnight and then flew to Miami and then onwards to Guayaquil where we stayed for a day and caught up on some well needed sleep! After a break in Guayaquil we boarded our flight on 4th Dec to Baltra Island in the Galapagos, a former US Airbase and after 2 hours we landed on the volcanic island that felt windswept and almost moon like. Once we had cleared the various checkpoints we were taken by bus to a ferry to cross the small Itabaca channel across to Santa Cruz Island as we would be staying in Puerto Ayora. As this was on the other side of the island we decided to splash out on a taxi as we had a lot of luggage with all of our diving and photography gear and this was well worth it as we had more room to stretch out after cramped flights. It was fascinating to see the landscape change as we travelled along the road from barren volcanic plains to almost tropical, lush vegetation as we gained height around the middle of the island, we even caught a few glimpses of the famous Giant Tortoises on the journey and even had to stop to allow one to cross the road which as you can imagine took some time! The journey took around an hour and soon we had arrived in Puerto Ayora and made our way to our hotel to relax for a couple of days and make sure we were fully rested before heading to our boat. We took the opportunity to have a walk around the town and were amazed at all the wildlife you can see, Sea Lions lying in the middle of the pier taking the opportunity to bask in the sun and no end of birds hanging around the harbour waiting to prey on unsuspecting fishmongers! As we were not too tired from our journey, but were in need of a little R&R we decided to take a water taxi over to one of the restaurants around the bay and have a couple of ice cold beer and marvel at our surroundings. It was truly spectacular, in addition to seeing the sea lions you could also spot baby blacktip reef sharks swimming through the schools of fish that surrounded the jettys. A great way to relax after a long journey and soak up the atmosphere of the area. Speaking to a few locals we were recommended a couple of restaurants, Midori to try that evening, which we took up and mad the most amazing locally sourced food and the freshest sushi I’ve ever had. I would really recommend staying in Puerto Ayora, the town has a great buzz to it being the gateway to the rest of the Galapagos, it even has its own brewery/tap room - Santa Cruz brewery where you can sit out on the balcony and watch the world go by sampling the many locally brewed beers they have to offer. Another highlight is 1853 a great spot of breakfast/brunch and the best coffee we found.

Our Liveaboard boat for the weeks scuba diving, The Galaxy Diver — Our boat for the week - The Galaxy Diver

After a couple of days of relaxation it was time for us to head off to our boat, we had to make our way back to the airport on Baltra island where we were treated by our guides for the week and had the opportunity to meet the rest of the guests we would be spending the week with. We had booked to go on a liveaboard called Galaxy Diver which seemed to offer a good balance between cost and comfort - aided by the fact that we booked pretty late on and were able to secure a good discount as well! (Trips around December often seem to fill up slower than other times as it is considered out of high season - however as you will find out, you will still see the most amazing variety of underwater life, better than pretty much anywhere else for pelagic species!) We boarded the boat and were shown to our cabins and then went through the mandatory safety briefing and drill and then we set off! While the boat set off to take us to to our check dive just off of Baltra island I was just about able to get my gear assembled and camera set up - this wasn’t a dive to go crazy taking underwater pictures but would be good to ensure I had my buoyancy right with the camera. We set off in two smaller tenders and bankrolled into the water - and were told to just go down have a short swim about and come back up - no more than 20 minutes, We managed to spot a couple of of Nudibranchs which we were surprised at and after around 10-15 minutes decided to come back up as we were confident that out gear was functioning properly and our buoyancy was about right. That evening we set off to drop anchor in the channel between Baltra and Santa Cruz and were treated to the most amazing sunset I had seen in a long time which had everyone taking pictures - it was stunning and the perfect way to wind down, Dinner on the boat surpassed all expectations, my previous experience of Liveraboards had been in Southeast Asia on a tighter budget but here we were treated to a 3 course meal served up impeccably.

Sunset in the Galapagos Islands — Sunset on our first evening!

A scalloped hammerhead shark makes a pass over me whilst scuba diving at Darwins Pillars in the Galapagos Islands — Scalloped Hammerhead Shark at Darin’s Pillars

In the morning we set sail for Carrion Point (Punta Carrion), just off of Santa Cruz Islands for a two dives, we were woken up for a quick snack and a coffee before our first dive and were again taken off in the tender to the dive site and were in the water just after 7am. It was a great site to start with as it’s still within the Itabaca Channel but protected by the currents. Here we were able to see Whitetip and Blacktip reef sharks, Turtles, Mobula Rays and even a Scalloped Hammerhead in the shallows as we were started to ascend - and this wasn’t even considered one of the best sites the Galapagos has to offer! After we had come back to the main boat and dried off we were treated to breakfast where everyone was excitedly talking about what we had seen that we couldn’t wait until our next dive. Thankfully we didn’t have to wait long and by 10.30am we were back in the water and again treated to reef sharks, an octopus, scorpion fish and even a marble ray - it almost seemed a disappointment this time that we didn’t get to see a hammerhead but then again, a dive like this would be a highlight anywhere else! After lunch the boat set sail for and we didn’t have anymore dives planned for the day as we were heading to Darwin and Wolf Islands which are around 15 to 16 hours of sailing (270km) from Santa Cruz. Although this may seem like a long way to sail their reputation precedes them as you’re almost guaranteed sightings of Scalloped Hammerheads, which is what everyone is excited to see! Having only ever seen a hammerhead fleetingly I was looking forward to this and hoping that I’d be able to get some good photos as well. I’d heard that conditions could be challenging for get good pictures as the current are strong and visibility can be limited however I still had hope. We were planning on being around the islands for three days so if I couldn’t get at least a few decent pictures then I would be unlucky I told myself, spray and pray!

After a night of interrupted sleep as I still wasn’t used to sleeping on a moving boat, we arrived at Wolf Island and were the only boat in sight - fantastic news as we’d have the dive site to ourselves! Again we split up into two groups and our tenders took us to the dive site, the first one would be Shark Bay. We dropped into the water and were lucky to see Scalloped Hammerheads, Galapagos Sharks, Turtles, Yellow Fin Tuna and Trevally - it really was insane to think that we were able to see all of this on one dive! The dive site was fairly deep about 28-30m but luckily we were using Nitrox so it enable us to stay down for longer to see the show, we were also fairly static during the dive allowing us to conserve air as well - the dive lasted just over 50 minutes which was pretty good and was surprisingly warm at about 27 C according to my dive computer. I had been expecting colder temps and my 7mm wetsuit was almost too warm - I probably could have gotten away with a 5mm, but I would rather be slightly warmer under water than shivering the entire dive. The second dive of the day was at a site called Landslide, appropriately called as it has a sloping topography, here we were able to see most of the same life we saw on the previous dive but fewer in quantity - this led to our remaining two dives of the day being back at Shark Bay in the afternoon. The days third dive was good, but it was our fourth dive of the day which was really stunning, Huge numbers of both scalloped hammerheads and galapagos sharks swimming about in front of us - unfortunately as I had a prime 28mm lens it was difficult to get any good pictures of them as I was quite far away - lesson learnt; get zoom lens and corresponding port! The end of the dive had us swimming up to where some sea lions were playing in the waves crashing upon some rocks - i didn’t get too close due to the surge which I now regret as I was being overly cautious thinking that this opportunity would come round again which unfortunately it didn’t. Still, was amazing to see the sea lions playing around - what wonderful creatures.

Whale Shark at Darwin's Pillars in the Galapagos whilst Scuba Diving — Whale Shark at Darwin’s Pillars

The next day we travelled the short distance over to Darwin Island and set about getting ready to dive at the famous Darwin’s Pillars (Formerly Darwin’s Arches) which is a small rock sticking out of the sea just off of the main Island - its effectively a sea mount and attracts all manner of sea life and I was seriously excited to drop into the water and see what it was all about. Although the currents were pretty strong we all hung onto the rocks around the mount at about 24m down and watched on as scalloped hammerhead and galapagos sharks swam around in the current below us, again I cursed myself for only having a fixed lens but it was amazing to see everything about us, I really felt so privileged to be able to witness such beauty. After watching the show for a while we all let go of the rocks and drifted with the current out towards the blue at the signal of our guides and were lucky enough to see a school of hammerheads below us on the sandy bottom. We completed our safety stop on got back onto our tenders and made our way back to the Galaxy Diver for breakfast and to discuss what we had all seen. Wolf Island, the day before had been pretty special, but this was something else - the shear number of sharks was on a different level! We did a total of four dives during the course of the day, all at Darwin’s Pillars and saw hammerheads and galapagos sharks each time, it was pretty amazing. The next day we were due to split our time between Darwin and Wolf Island as another boat was due to arrive and the operators ensure that they coordinate between themselves so they don’t crowd out the dive sites. Out first dive that next day was again at Darwin’s Pillars and as we dropped into he water we were greeted by a sea lion swimming below us, probably out hunting, when we had all gathered and found our positions on the rocks a shadow appeared in the distance, a Whale Shark and a large one too - as it was December it was considered as out of season but there is always a chance - we were so lucky! It made a couple of passes in front of us before disappearing into the blue, after that even though we saw dolphins and hammerheads, nothing could compare to the majesty of the largest fish in the ocean swimming right before us. We did a couple more dives at Darwin’s Pillars that day, even seeing some Dolphins swim by us with a baby following which may have been the cutest thing ever. After that we made the short trip back to Wolf Island to dive at Shark Bay once again to finish off the day. When we dropped into the water I had to blink and double take as right before us a Tiger Shark swam by, it was insane - the rest of the dive was awesome as well, lots of hammerheads and Galapagos sharks too and what a way to end maybe the best day of diving I have ever had - a Whale Shark in the morning and a Tiger to finish things up, only one word to describe it…… WOW! That evening the boat started to make it way back towards the main group of the Galapagos Islands towards Isabella Island so another long night for the captain and crew but thankfully the seas seemed to be calmer or I was more used to sleeping on a boat and managed to get a better nights sleep than on the way out.

A Blue Footed Booby perches on a rock with two penguins in the background at Isabella Island in the Galapagos Islands. — Blue Footed Booby with Galapagos Penguins in the Background

The next day we arrived at Isalella Island, the largest of the islands in the Galapagos, as we were here during December we were told that it was prime Manta season and not just any old Manta’s, we were on the lookout for the giant Oceanic Manta Rays. I had previously seen Manta Rays before in Southeast Asia a few times, in the Similan Islands in Thailand, at Nua Penida, Bali and Komodo both in Indonesia but they were (only) the comparatively smaller Reef Manta’s. While impressive, the Reef Manta has a wing span of up to 5m while the Oceanic Manta can measure up to 7m or even bigger according to some sources. On a previous visit to Raja Ampat we had gone searching for them only to draw a blank so I was super excited this time to be hopefully catch sight of these majestic ocean beauties, there is something incredibly relaxing about watching them just glide through the water effortlessly. Although the day was slightly overcast we dropped into the water at Cape Marshall and drifted along, it wasn’t long until we struck gold with a huge Manta Ray just gliding past us, cue excitedly snapping away on my camera trying to get that perfect shot! As the dive went on we saw more and more Manta Rays and they overshadowed everything else we saw, passing hammerheads, galapagos sharks, eagle rays and mutual rays just got s shrug as the star of the show was the Manta Rays. It says something about the huge biodiversity of the Galapagos Islands that after several days you almost get bored of seeing Hammerheads and other marine life, we had been totally spoilt by the whole experience! At the end of the first dive a couple of the Manta’s stayed around as we shallowed up for our safety stop and were incredibly playful wheeling around and swimming through our bubbles. It was a humbling experience to be privileged enough to share the same space as these beautiful creatures. Everyone was on high was we got back onto the boat to have our breakfast and were looking forward to the next dives - in total that day we did three dives at Cape Marshall, each time seeing Manta Rays along with other marine life and each time we pretty much ignored the other creatures on display to focus on the Manta Rays. In between the second and third dives we were lucky enough to be taken out on the tenders to see some of the above water life where we saw Blue Footed Boobies, Sea Lions, Penguins and more all sitting, nesting on the volcanic rocks nearby. We were so close but still my 200m lens came in handy as I was able to get some get photos of the bird life, almost as intriguing as what we had seen below the water! It was great to be able to marvel at the life above the water for a little while, but we still had one more dive for the day and we quickly got ready for our last Manta Ray dive of the day, thankfully we had stayed in our wetsuits so we didn’t have to struggle to get them back on but I had to quickly get my camera ready again and change my air cylinder over. Thankfully I had just enough time to manage all of this and soon we were back on the tender heading out towards the dive site again. We dropped in and were immediately greeted by more Manta Rays and Hammerhead sharks, although curiously after about 30 minutes everything seemed to disappear from site - we heard some echos that sounded like dolphins, it was only after the dive that we the boat crew pointed out some fins breaking the water in the distance - Orcas! All the other marine life had scattered when they sensed these apex predators in the vicinity, although we hadn’t been lucky enough to see them underwater (what a treat that would have been), one member of the other group did manage to catch a fleeting video of them. We all gathered around closely to watch and marveling at it, although I will admit to feeling a twinge of jealousy!!

An Oceanic Manta Ray seen scuba diving at Islabella Island in the Galapagos Islands — An Oceanic Manta Ray at Islabella Island in the Galapagos

After we had all gotten back on board the Galaxy Diver boat we headed for dinner and discussed the magic of the day and would down knowing the this amazing trip was starting to come to an end. We set off towards Santa Cruz and the next day we stopped at Cousin Rock at Isla Santiago for what would be the last two dives of the trips. Some of the guests decided to sit this dive out and let their equipment dry out as they had flights the next day and didn’t want it to add costly kilo’s to their luggage allowance. However, this of us who decided to dive were treated some sights that we hadn’t seen before. We saw the usual Galapagos Sharks, a highlight anywhere else, but by now having become background noise, marble rays and golden rays, but the best was three beautiful eagle rays swimming (or should It be flying?) in formation as he all hunkered down to the sea bed to watch them pass in the strong current. I got up the courage to edge myself forward to be able to get some great shots of them almost in line and just seemingly content to stay put in one spot due to the current - I was lucky enough to be able to get off several shots without scaring them off and potentially incurring the wrath of my fellow divers. I’m always conscious not to get trigger happy, especially with strobes incase of starting the wildlife and scaring them off for others - i tend to stay at the back of the group and wait until everyone else has seen something before heading in with my camera, sometimes this costs me a good shot, but I would rather this than upsetting fellow guests who have just as much right to be there as me. The last part of the final dive was spent watching a male sea lion play in the surf but we had been warned beforehand that we shouldn’t get too close as this one could be quite territorial, I also took some shots of fellow guests so that they could have some pictures of them underwater too which proved to be very popular. After the last two dives of the trip I sadly got back onto the main boat and set about dismantling my gear and equipment so that it could dry. Luckily we wouldn’t be heading back straight away so I could afford for it not to be bone dry but I didn’t want it to start smelling either. After lunch we headed onto land for the first time in a week on Santa Cruz Island to take a trip to see the giant tortoises up close in one of the reserves on the island. It felt quite odd standing on terra firma. First we stopped off at a lava tunnel which we could walk through and then headed off to see the tortoises. It was a nice change to be able to walk around, the weather was great and the tortoises certainly lived up to their name, they were huge. I still remember seeing a tiny tortoise in a neighbors garden as a child and thinking it was very exotic, but these must have been 10 or 20 times the size if not more! We spent a couple of hours wandering through the park and finished off at the cafe with a nice cold beer - aptly named “Reptillia”, would throughly recommend this to anyone who visits. After everyone had finished we headed back to the boat for our final night aboard with some sadness. The people we had met were fantastic and everyone that night exchanged photos, email addresses and instagram handles so we could (kind of) stay in touch in the future. The last meal aboard the boat was fantastic - it always amazes me how the kitchen staff manage to serve up such great food on a liveabord with such limited space. The food over the whole course of the trip had been 5 star, one night about halfway through the head chef even gave a demonstration of how the locals prepare cerivce in the Galapagos which was extremely tasty! After our final night aboard the boat we headed back to Baltra in the morning and disembarked. Before our busses turned up to take us back to the airport there was nought time to walk around the jetty and beach area to see some of the wildlife included marine iguanas, turtles and a baby sea lion hiding under a rock. After that small excursion the busses were loaded up with our gear and took us back to the airport where we all said our goodbyes, luckily for us we still had a couple of days left in this paradise and had decided to treat ourselves to a nice hotel for the last couple of nights. We headed across Baltra Island, over the channel to Santa Cruz and all the way back to Puerto Ayora where we checked into the 5 star Finch Bay resort. It definitely was a luxury but we decided that having come this far we might as well enjoy the last couple of days. The place was great with pool, bar and restaurant area and a spa as well. After check in we decided to head to one of the local beaches at Tortuga Bay to see the Marine Iguanas which definitely did not disappoint, Although it was a little windy and we had brought any snorkeling or swimming gear with us we were able to take a lovely stroll along the beach and really enjoy the scenery and nature on view. I was in heaven as the Iguanas were quite happy to be photographed whilst lying in the sun recharging and warming up after coming back in from the sea. After a few hours we decided to head back to the resort and enjoy ourselves a little; having a couple of cold beers at the outside bar and then heading to a local restaurant for dinner looking out over the bay which was quite simply stunning. The next day was spent in full on relaxation mode just lying by the pool, getting a massage and generally not doing much at all - trying to eek out of much as we could of the holiday before traveling back the next day. We also took the time to wander into Puerto Ayora again and found an amazing local clothing shop - Darwin & Wolf producing locally designed and made clothing with some of the proceeds going towards shark conservation as well. If you’re ever visiting I would thoroughly recommend coming here - great T-Shirts that go towards a good cause.

After a lovely meal at the hotel open the last night the next day we checked out and made the journey back across Santa Cruz Island to the Ithaca Channel one last time, crossing by ferry to be able to catch our flight back to Guayaquil. It felt sad to be leaving such an amazing place, beauty above and below the water, the sort of place that has something for everyone. One we arrived in Guayaquil we again stayed at the Sheraton, they had even found a pair of glasses I had accidentally left behind and returned them to me, and chilled out for the afternoon. Before we had left the Galaxy Diver boat, one of our guides, George, had recommended a restaurant called Casa Julian in Guayaquil so we booked a table for that evening for one final meal blowout of the vacation. The restaurant was stunning and we were a little underdressed compared to the other clientele, but no body batted an eye lid, or at least mentioned anything to us! The food was fantastic and we paired it with local Ecuadorian wines, i didnt realize there was such a thing and my expectations were exceeded. Overall it was a fitting way to finish the trip and after we returned to our hotel before heading back home the next day reversing the grueling schedule of flights to Miami, Charlotte and finally Albany where it was cold and snowing!

In summary, I would highly recommend the Galapagos Islands to anyone who has an interest in nature whether it be above the water or below. The islands are beautiful and the Ecuadorian government is doing a fantastic job so far of trying to balance tourism and conservation, I can only hope that it stays that way. I feel that I have unfinished business in the islands, I’d really love to go back and get to explore some of the other islands on land and also do another liveabord, maybe during Whale Shark season. I cannot recommend this trip enough I would also recommend the Galaxy Diver liveabord (Believe it is now Galaxy Diver II). Cannot wait to return!