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The first time I went to the Galapagos was in the early 1990s, shooting an article for Skin Diver magazine. Ecuador was only four hours away from Miami, not so very different in distance than many of the Caribbean destinations I was covering at the time, and even the Galapagos Islands were only another 600 miles offshore. So, in terms of time expended in travel it could have been similar to other places I'd been, but in reality these islands are like no other on earth.

The diving was substantially different, owing obviously to the fact that it was in the Pacific Ocean. Quite significant also are the seven major currents that converge on these islands, for these bring embryonic life from afar and also shape the climate of these islands. But, it was the diverse and unique terrestrial wonders that defined these islands for me that first time. Seeing the sea lions and marine iguanas and blue-footed boobies in such abundant numbers was remarkable. But beyond sheer quantity, their complete and utter trust (or maybe it was disdain) relative to our presence was magical. Whatever anthropologic rationalization, it translated into ultra-close encounters and stellar photo opportunities. I vowed to come back.

And return I did, four more times in the months of February and March, replicating the time of year of that first trip. After all, it was sunny and warm (on the surface at least), the seas were calm, and the wildlife encounters inspiring. Why mess with success? In fact, in those early years of dive tourism to the Galapagos, there was a fairly narrow prime season, especially since the distant islands of Wolf and Darwin were a significant 14 hour boat ride to the north, and in their winter (our summer) the seas for the crossing were sometimes rough and the water temperatures certainly colder. So, June through August were "down" times where the boats did their maintenance, or if they ran at all they scheduled trips to the calmer and more accessible Central and Southern Islands.

Then, the dedicated dive boats operating in the Galapagos made an interesting discovery. As they stretched their seasons into June, they began to have extraordinary encounters with whale sharks. Often 6 or 10 or even more on a single cruise. Or more remarkable still, on a single dive! It began to get predictable, and the word got out ... summer was whale shark season at Darwin Island. Suddenly, the "soft" summer season was the most popular, and the live-aboards were booked two years in advance for the months June through August. It also helped that a new generation of live-aboard had come to the Galapagos, far more seaworthy than some of the pioneering boats that cruised the region. While individuals can still find spots on a Galapagos adventure during whale shark season, a whole boat charter such as I had done aboard Peter Hughes' Sky Dancer should plan well ahead.

Introduction to the Galapagos

The Galapagos Islands are a group of 13 major islands, six smaller islands and dozens of islets located in the Pacific Ocean some 1,000 km east of Ecuador. Only five of the islands are populated, with a total of just over 18,000 residents. Aside from a few small towns, the archipelago is blessedly remote and natural.
Because the Galapagos are situated amid the confluence of seven different oceanic currents, a marine environment of astonishing wealth and diversity exists. Clearly, the protected status of the islands has much to do with the density and variety of marine life. Depending on where you may be in the islands, you can swim with schools of scalloped hammerhead sharks, enjoy up-close-and-personal encounters with a green sea turtle, lose yourself in a giant school of endemic black-striped salema, watch a squadron of eagle rays pass overhead, or view the comic antics of sea lions from under water at close vantage. When the wide-angle universe bores you can take macro photographs of a diverse world of bizarre macro critters. Whale sharks make consistent, if seasonal, appearances and even rare leviathans like the sperm whale are seen amid these waters. There are said to be 500 species of fish in the Galapagos, 86 of which are endemic.

How to Get There - The Galapagos are accessed via a two-hour flight from the Ecuadorian gateways of either Quito or Guayaquil, but once in the Galapagos, the live-aboard is the preferred means of exploration. Only the live-aboard dive boat can provide comfortable cruising from island to island and offer the extended range necessary to adequately sample the amazing dive diversity of these islands.

Highlights of a typical Galapagos cruise include visits to North Seymour (endemic garden eels, white tip reef sharks, and schools of yellow-tailed surgeonfish), Cousin's Rock (small creatures like large-banded blennies, nudibranchs and hawkfish, as well as moray eels and sea lions), Bartolome Island (Galapagos penguins), Wolf Island (consistent hammerhead action), Darwin Island (schools of bigeye trevally, green sea turtles, steel pompano, African pompano, hammerheads and whale sharks), Santiago Island (shore excursion for sea lions, Sally Lightfoot crabs and marine iguanas), Beagles (giant school of brown-striped snapper), Gordon Rocks (great pelagic action), and South Seymour Island (hundreds of nesting blue-footed boobies and frigate birds). The Galapagos remains one of the world's most pristine environments, providing a glimpse of unique and wondrous wildlife, above and below the surface.

Day One

Travel to Ecuador - Our group primarily flew Miami to Guayaquil, what would normally be a four hour flight, but this day significantly extended by a summer squall that closed the Miami airport for three hours. So, we spent more time sitting on the tarmac and less time enjoying our luxury hotel, the Oro Verde, in Ecuador. In fact, since the flights are scheduled to leave around 6:00 PM and we left at 9:00, by the time we finally got through customs and into the hotel, it was past 1:00 AM. And, as we had to leave the hotel for the airport at 8:00 it was a rather brief respite. (Without the weather intrusion at MIA we would have ht the hotel around 10:00 PM, making for a more restful first night. Also, note that the same AeroGal or TAME domestic flight serves both Quito and Guayaquil, so if you want to sleep in an hour later, choose Guayquil as your gateway city).

Note that the international air schedules are such that an overnight in either Quito or Quayaquil at both front and back end of Galapagos tour is necessary, so plan on two nights in hotels as part of your Galapagos budget.

Day Two

Travel to Galapagos, Boat Familiarization, Checkout Dive - We left the hotel at 8:00 AM for the transfer to the hotel, maybe 15 minutes distant. Actually, we had been led to fear the whole overweight procedure, anticipating significant charges for excess bags and weight, yet AeroGal checked us in as a group, and with the assistance of the ground staff from Ecoventura (Peter Hughes' Galapagos associate), we were checked in with minimal hassle and zero overweight charges. Already the trip was off to a good start!

Sidebar: This below from www.peterhughes.com, to give a sense of how onerous the baggage restrictions can be.

Note that in my case I had to pay $120 in overweight and excess baggage to get from Miami to Guayaquil on American Airlines (3 bags instead of the 2 allowed, and one over 50 pounds, therefore both excess and overweight. But, hey, you've got to have the tools or why bother going?). But had to pay nothing to get to the Galapagos. I know that was not an accident, but due to the group check-in arranged by Peter Hughes Diving. In fact, on board it was confirmed that Ecoventura had just negotiated their new contract with AeroGal and baggage dispensation is included. I don't know where the tipping point is regarding excess/overweight, but without doubt their arrangement saved us each several hundred dollars in baggage fees. Also, despite what is said on the website regarding cash payment of overweight, the crew on the boat confirmed that if excess has to be paid by individuals, it can be paid via credit card.

Our two-hour trip to the Galapagos is pleasant and uneventful. We landed at San Cristobal, as did all our bags, gratefully. Staff from Sky Dancer was on hand to schlep the bags to the boat, so once through immigration all was automatic and reasonably effortless from our point of view. Going home it was even easier. The crew transported our check-in bags to the airport ahead of our departure from the boat. They gave me the claim checks and seat assignments when we got to the airport, and we did not even visit the ticket counter. No overweight. No hassle. The relationship Peter Hughes Diving and Ecoventura has forged with AeroGal is a model to be emulated live-aboards and domestic airlines worldwide.

The Galapagos Park system requires a checkout dive of all visitors, regardless of experience level. And, truthfully, as we were all wearing more thermal protection than we are used to for the 73-degree water, this was not a bad precaution. They took us to Isla Lobos, a shallow 20-25 foot rocky bottom, the highlight of which is curious sea lions dive-bombing the group. It was comical, yet challenging photographically given the velocity of the fly-bys. Actually, by the time we did the checkout and listened to all the obligatory briefings, this day was pretty well spent. Fair enough, as we were all pretty tired from the minimal sleep on our day of arrival.

Day Three

Dive North Seymour Island and Cousins Rock, snorkel Bartolome Island - Razor surgeonfish are to the Galapagos as blue-striped grunts are to the Florida Keys, exceedingly common on most every dive. But at North Seymour they are especially abundant. Huge schools obscure the massive boulders dotting the bottoms here at about 45-feet. The other iconic species is the white-tip reef shark, safe to say we each saw dozens under various ledges and hidey-holes this dive. While they most often spook at the sound of a diver's exhaust bubble, I found one indifferent cluster that allowed me to take several photos. And then, when they did decide they'd had enough, they couldn't decide whether to try to slip by my outstretched strobe arms and instead took the path of least resistance, which was resting of the seafloor once again indifferent to my photographic intrusion.

Cousins Rock is one of the most productive fish paparazzi dives in these islands. In some ways it is a shame it happens so early in the tour because divers don't recognize how very special this dive is. Take it serious and be prepared, for this 50-minutes may be some of the fish and macro opportunities of the whole trip.

Along striated ledges dotted with their version of black coral, dropping from 15 to below 80 feet, all manner of marine life dwell. Too diverse to fully list, highlights include sea horse, frogfish, and longsnout hawkfish for the macro enthusiast; and king angel, guineafowl puffer, porcuipinefish, and giant hawkfish for fish shooters. There is a resident school of pelican barracuda, but the most impressive encounter this day was with an absolutely massive shoal black-striped salema.

The visibility was not great this day, maybe only 25-feet, and the heavy overcast made it seem more oppressive. So, when I encountered the school I had no idea how large it might be, or how skittish. I slowly crept up to the leading edge of the school and cautiously shot a few images. Gradually, it snuck closer to the fish, changing composition and being a bit bolder, hoping they wouldn't dart away too quickly. Then, suddenly the dark light went almost black and I was totally surrounded by thousands and thousand of these fish! I could tell up by the direction of my bubbles, but any other direction was totally disorienting. I have to say, this may have been the largest school of any kind of fish I'd ever seen, and I had to laugh at myself for my initial trepidation in approach. Clearly, these fish could not have cared less about me, although I will say they respectfully parted when a sea lion swam through. I had a 50mm macro lens with me this dive, the right choice for the seahorse and hawkfish nestled in the black coral, but I wished I might have had something wider to convey the sheer enormity of this congregation.

There was another dive this day offered, a quick bounce to 90 feet to shoot the red-lipped batfish common along the sandy seafloor. Some of our group went for it, while others (like me) preferred to conserve bottom time for the dives at Wolf tomorrow.

Sidebar: About Sky Dancer - The last time I had been aboard Sky Dancer was winter 2002, and I always figure the lifespan of a live-aboard is measured in dog-years, unless of course care is taken to repair and refresh the vessel. However, Sky Dancer remained extraordinarily fine condition. The wood throughout the interior continued to glisten, the cabins were immaculate, and the dive deck was ergonomically optimized for the kind of dinghy diving they do in the Galapagos. Clearly, Peter and his Ecuadorian partners have continually reinvested in the vessel. Hard to believe, but I think the vessel was better than it was in 2002. Certainly, the itinerary and guest services had been refined to a very high level.

First impressions of Sky Dancer are very reassuring: lovely lines, spacious and impressive. The dive deck is obviously well configured, as you would assume of a Peter Hughes vessel, with a membrane system to pump Nitrox 32% reliably and quickly.

All diving is done from the 21-foot Zodiac dinghies. Divers kit up on the dive deck with everything but their masks and fins, then they step from the port side of the boat into the dinghy and motor off to the site. The boat rides are short, usually five minutes or less, and if the dive site is too distant from an anchorages the Sky Dancer stays live and in proximity. Very easy and safe. Gratefully the dinghy drivers are quite adept at keeping track of the diver's bubbles, and are always there for a quick retrieval.

There is a large, multi-tiered camera table, which we quickly put to good use. The main salon is finished in hardwoods and tasteful upholstering. The cabins have en suite head and showers, individual AC units, and expansive windows upstairs and small viewing ports for the cabins down below. Ample closet space and clever little hidden drawers beneath beds and tables to maximize storage options serve to make the cabins more efficient for double occupancy. Other touches like individually controlled AC and ionic air fresheners add to the sense of luxury often absent in dedicated dive boats. However, any live-aboard is more than the tangible aspects of the vessel. Sky Dancer boasts an extremely attentive and professional crew. The food was excellent, and dive staff safe and diligent. Yet, it was probably the small touches ... the warm towels they drape over your shoulders after you step out of the warm shower on the dive deck, the hot cocoa and sweetbreads waiting after the dive, wiping down the pontoons of the inflatable before guests sit down for a land-excursion ... small things perhaps but in total they add to the overall quality of the holiday experience. The crew works very hard to please, and their efforts are certainly noticed by the guests. I heard many times from many of our guests that this ranked as one of the best live-aboards they had dived. My guests have traveled aboard dozens dive boats in a wide variety of destinations, and I recognize them as a very savvy and discriminating client base. For them to be so uniformly pleased by the hardware (boat) and the software (crew), Sky Dancer is doing a fine job indeed.