Calipso Liveaboard

Arrival

AM: This morning, you will fly from the mainland of Ecuador to San Cristobal, Galapagos. Our guides will be there to greet you and escort you to the yacht.

PM: After getting settled in, we will have lunch and briefings followed by a check dive at Isla Lobos. Lobo is Spanish for wolf and sea lion is lobo del mar in Spanish. Expect to see sea lions. We sail to Marchena overnight.

AM: Punta Carrion is located on the island of Santa Cruz. Sometimes we get lucky and see mola molas here. It’s a good first dive to acclimatize to Galapagos diving.

PM: Seymour is an island known for having great dives. Sightings include mobulas, white tip reef sharks, Galapagos sharks, sometimes Hammerheads and many fish species.

AM: Wolf is one of the reasons Galapagos is on most divers’ bucketlist. Scientists have designated Wolf and Darwin (together as they are so close together) as the sharkiest place on earth because they have the largest biomass of sharks on the planet, 17.5 tons of sharks per hectare (2.47 acres). Only divers visit Wolf. There is no chumming in Galapagos. This is where sharks come naturally. There are no land visits. Wolf is located 115 miles north of the central islands.

PM: Sightings include huge schools of Hammerhead sharks, Galapagos sharks,Whale sharks (in season), Silky sharks, Eagle Rays, Sea Lions, Fur Seals, Mantas, Turtles, Jacks, Trumpetfish, Butterfly fish, Morish Idols, Moray Eels and Dolphins. Some sites at Wolf are covered in coral and all of the tropical fish species that live on coral reefs. Dive sites include Shark Bay, The Landslide, La Banana and Islote La Ventana. On the island itself, there are hundreds of thousands of seabirds including all 3 types of boobies in Galapagos – Red footed, blue footed and Nazca. There are frigates, pelicans, lava gulls and red billed tropicbirds.

Diving begins early to get in all 4 dives in a 12 hour day. 4 dives and a night dive (optional) where you can see garden eels and the red-lipped batfish on a sandy bottom.

Darwin’s Arch is an icon, the symbol of diving the Galapagos. It is located 229 km / 142 miles north of the central islands. In addition to Wolf, this is where we find massive schools of Hammerheads. Huge, pregnant Whale sharks pass through Darwin each year for reasons unknown.

Darwin is the warmest dive site in Galapagos due to the tropical Panama current. You spend a lot of the dive stationary, on a platform that drops into the blue where Hammerheads swim against the current. It’s like being on the side of a Hammerhead highway watching traffic pass. You leave the platform to swim out into the blue when a Whale shark is spotted. That sometimes means swimming through the Hammerheads, a truly magnificent experience you will carry with you forever.

AM: We have 2 more dives at Darwin in the morning.

PM: We have 1-2 more dives at Wolf in the afternoon. There is an optional night dive at the Anchorage site. Anchorage has a sandy bottom where you may see garden eels and the red-lipped batfish.

JAN-MAY: Cabo Marshall (Isabela Island)

JUNE-DEC: AM: Cabo Douglas (Fernandina Island) PM: Punta Vicente Roca (Isabela Island)

AM: Cousins Rock. Cousins is a small rock, the remains of an eroded crater sticking up out of the sea. On the eastern side, the rock cascades down in a series of recessed ledges strewn with black coral, which is bright green under the water. Taking cover in the coral, you may find Seahorses, Frogfish, Octopus, Turtles and the elusive Longnose Hawkfish. It’s not unusual to spot pelagics from Cousins including Mantas, Eagle rays, Mobulas and Hammerhead. Sea lions are fur seals are also at Cousins. 1-2 dives depending on the mood of the divers.

PM: We disembark head for a reserve in the Santa Cruz Highlands to see the iconic Galapagos Tortoise in its natural habitat.

After the Highlands, we descend into the largest town in Galapagos, Puerto Ayora. You may opt to visit the Charles Darwin Research Center in the Galapagos National Park or wander about town.

Our farewell dinner will be at a restaurant in Puerto Ayora. We then return to Calipso and sail to San Cristobal overnight.

AM: You will disembark and are free to visit the Interpretation Center or wander around port before to the airport for your departure.