An Experience of a Lifetime Galapagos Islands

Diving

On our last expedition we had a journey that provided the trip of a lifetime. We began by diving at the foothold of the Galapagos' tallest volcano, Wolf Volcano, on Isabela Island. Here lies a dive site called Cape Marshall, also known as the City of Mantas, nicknamed appropriately for the fantastic encounters we divers were about to experience.

Although water conditions are not perfect in the Galapagos, and waters can be greener than in other dive sites, these indicate high levels of nutrients that attract impressive marine megafauna such as the oceanic manta rays we encountered underwater. We swam beneath these giants who danced above us, their bodies spanning over five metres wide.

Over the next few days, we moved to the far northern region of the Galapagos where the sharkiest waters in the world await - the waters around Darwin and Wolf Islands. Here we encountered hundreds of hammerheads and experienced close encounters with Galapagos, whitetip reef sharks, oceanic black-tip sharks and more. As we were diving, surrounded by sharks, we could hear the whistles of bottlenose dolphins, and an entire pod swam over our heads. As so much was going on, it was hard to decide which direction to look.

On this expedition, we were very fortunate and had the chance to swim with a humpback whale and her calf. The mother, although aware of the divers, did not shy away. Instead, she floated in the water and allowed us to watch from a respectful distance as she hung in the water, supporting her calf, surrounded by more bottlenose dolphins, who seemed to be playing with the whales.

The week of diving culminated in a completely different scenario. We moved west of the archipelago, where cold waters bring different life for divers to encounter. Here we went diving with playful sea lions who danced around us, we spotted the endemic Galapagos bullhead shark and red-lipped batfish and travelled to the past as we jumped into the water with present-day dinosaurs - marine iguanas.

Every week of diving in the Galapagos is different, yet every week provides the trip of a lifetime.

The ultimate trip for megafauna enthusiasts, this unique dive safari cruises the Galapagos Islands during whale shark season under the guidance of marine biologist and whale shark expert, Sofía Green Iturralde.

Departs 23 Sep 2024 Group size: 15 10 days from £6,995