Days 316 – 319: Darwin & Wolf
The majority of our dive trip was spent at Wolf Island and Darwin Islands. These small, uninhabited islands are located about 150-200KM northwest of the main part of the Galápagos archipelago – since it takes 16hrs of navigation to reach them, only liveaboard tours get to visit them. There are only a handful of liveaboard dive boats operating in the Galápagos, and since we were here in the low season, even fewer were operating tours this week – as a result, the Humboldt Explorer was the *only* boat at these locations the entire week! Talk about exclusive!
Wolf & Darwin Islands are the last landmass before hitting open water, and they are located at the convergence of several currents (the biggest danger here is the currents – the animals are mostly harmless). The currents bring nutrient-rich waters and that is what attracts so much wildlife – especially BIG wildlife. Wolf and Darwin are particularly famous for schools of Hammerhead Sharks, Whale Sharks, Orcas, dolphins, sea lions and Green Turtles. Other than the Whale Sharks and Orcas (which are only there in the “winter” season from June – November) we saw EVERYTHING!
We spent 4 days diving in the northern islands of Wolf and Darwin. Our first two days were intense, with four dives per day at 8AM, 10AM, 2PM and 4PM. Our dives were limited to 55min each (we were usually low on air and coming up to do our safety stop at that point anyways, so the time limit didn’t bother us) and a max depth of 30M (again – didn’t bother us as we are only certified to 30M anyways). We were divided into 2 groups of 8, and we switched between the two dive masters each day, so everyone got equal time with the “senior” guide.
Surprisingly, of all the sites we visited, Darwin’s Arch ended up being a disappointment – we actually had one dive where no one saw a single shark! Some of the guests on the boat actually skipped our morning dive at Darwin being they, “knew it would be shit.” They were right. The currents were incredibly mild this week, so that might account for the lack of activity. The dive masters took a vote among the guests and we all agreed to forfeit 1 dive at Darwin in order to return to Wolf Island where conditions were better (every single underwater photo below was from Wolf!).
When we weren’t diving, we had a very relaxing stay on the Humboldt Explorer. There was no Wifi and no TV (at least, not in our room – even if there were, there was no cable!), so we had a lot of down time for naps, writing, editing photos and pleasure reading. Once we were out of the water after our last dive of the day, we could help ourselves to unlimited beers, and as many glasses of wine we desired at dinner. Of course, we were always aware of the fact that we had a 6AM wake-up call and an early dive in the morning, so our boozing was pretty moderate (well…by our standards at least).
Every diver is given an emergency radio and a Dive Alert whistle in case we get caught in a current and surface out of sight of the pangas
We get a briefing for each new dive site, going over a rough map and route, depth and current direction, and what kind of wildlife we can expect to see. Afterwards, we go out to the deck to get suited up – Lindsay tries to work in a few stretches in the morning
Getting suited up for our 3-4 daily dives in Wolf & Darwin
Back-rolling off the panga and into the water – Igor give the OK sign and continues his rapid descent
After each dive the panga driver for our group (Green!) picks us up – we hand over our camera, weights, BCD + tank, and fins (in that order) before climbing onboard the boat
Even though snacks and hot drinks are plentiful after every dive, we are always ravenous by lunchtime!
There is so much to see underwater, sometimes we don’t know where to look without missing something else!
Galapagos Sharks! These were the scariest sharks we saw during our dives – they were much more interested in us than the Hammerheads, and would swim closer to us, checking us out
The real star of the show: Hammerhead Sharks!
THIS is why we came to the Galápagos! Schools of dozens of Hammerheads slowly pass overhead – AMAZING!
Lindsay is in awe from all the sea life surrounding us
Sharks aren’t the only schools we see – a pod of around 50 dolphins keeps porpoising around our boat. Some divers from the Blue group get lucky when a handful of dolphins swim right into their shark video. Lindsay was so jelly, but she just needed to be patient: the next morning she kept an eye out when we heard the squeaking of dolphins underwater, and she caught a half dozen dolphins on camera!
Just as everyone was getting into the panga at the end of a dive, our dive master tells Lindsay a pod of dolphins is swimming on the other side of the boat! She is the only diver still in the water – even though she already took her tank off, she swims as fast as possible with her mask and fins and finally catches up to them! Swear to God, I saw 4 wild dolphins swim 3 feet from my face – INCREDIBLE!
We asked our dive master if we could find a dive location with sea lions, so he instructs the panga driver to bring us to a spot near the shore where a couple dozen lobos were sitting on the rocks and swimming in the water – we actually had to check behind us before back rolling into the water to make sure we didn’t land on a sea lion!
The sea lions went into an excited little frenzy to see they had company! They made multiple passes toward us, checking us out – everyone got a chance to play with the lobos! Lindsay tried rolling around underwater – mimicking the way they play – that got her some attention! After a few minutes of playing, we all started to realize the surge near the shore was quite strong and we were getting very close to being dashed on the rocks, so we reluctantly backed off and found some sturdy boulders to hide behind as we watched the sea lions swim around some more
A Needle Fish photobombs Igor’s shark video – guess he wants the other fish to get a little attention!
The Galápagos is all about BIG things – even if the fish are small, their schools are HUGE!
So many fish in the sea!
Gotta be careful – not all the fish are harmless! Igor is so distracted by a passing shark, he nearly puts his hand on a well-disguised rockfish! Looks like this guy has venomous spines on his back – VERY DANGEROUS!
Whether or not the rockfish was poisonous, this Scorpionfish looks really nasty! Thanks for hiding in plain sight you deadly fish! Why not find a safe little crevice like this considerate little lobster?
What a difference some light makes! We don’t have underwater flashlights which is a shame as the photos our fellow divers are taking are phenomenal! We just happened to be next to someone with a light when we come upon a purple lobster and a seahorse
So many turtles, dude! We find so many Green Turtles munching on sea grass
We are able to get so close to the turtles – they really don’t care if we are there! In fact, one scares the beejeezes out of Lindsay when it swims up from directly below her and cuts her off while she was filming! Watch where you’re going, buddy!
Our final dive in the northern islands is at the caves – we still don’t have flashlights, so we try to stay close to other divers so we can see where we are going. Not much wildlife in the caves – just some lobsters and eels.
Back on the boat after a long day of diving – Igor looks at pictures from fellow divers (who have WAY better camera equipment) while Lindsay catches up on her Kindle
Igor sips a bruskie and admires the Golden Hour at Wolf Island
Wolf Island, Galápagos
The sheer rock face of Wolf Island – park regulations forbid tourists from making landfall…but how would anyone be able to get up there anyways?
A seabird flies by the deck just before sunset
Darwin’s Arch – just off the coast of Darwin Island. Too bad it was more impressive above the surface than below
We had a full moon during our cruise to the northern islands – AROOOOOO!
Creative (and tasty!) creations by our chef, including a “Darwin’s Arch Cake” for dessert