General Diving Information

SERVICES:

We offer the following dive services using only the services of Galapagos Sub-Aqua, the most professional and experienced dive company in the Galapagos islands:

• Introductory Diving
• Full certificate courses up to Dive master level (PADI or NAUI)
• Daily diving tours
• Live-aboard diving tours (occasional and full diving)
• Equipment rental

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW BEFORE YOU GO…

A holiday in the Galapagos Islands is an adventure.  There is a reasonable amount of daily activity from diving, swimming, snorkelling, hiking etc.  Most activities will be experienced in tropical heat.  Therefore, the destination lends itself to travellers that are in good physical condition.

ARRIVAL GALAPAGOS PARK ENTRANCE FEE:

Upon arrival to Baltra airport in Galapagos all passengers will have to pay a US$ 100 per person National Park Entrance Fee.  This is only payable in cash US dollars.  It can take up to one hour before you get your luggage in the meantime you can enjoy a drink at the airport snack bar, pass the time at the souvenir booths or step out and observe the land iguanas.

ARRIVAL PUERTO AYORA:

The trip from the airport to Puerto Ayora takes approximately 1-2 hours.  From Baltra Island passengers have to take public transportation to the Itabaca Channel between Baltra and Santa Cruz Island (no private transportation is available on Baltra Island).  Passengers cross the channel onboard a small guest ferry and on the other side public transportation waits to bring passengers directly to Puerto Ayora.  Private transportation from the Itabaca Channel to Puerto Ayora is also available upon request.

SANTA CRUZ ISLAND AND PUERTO AYORA:

Santa Cruz is the centre of the Galapagos Islands tourist industry.  Some of the sites to visit on Santa Cruz Island are the Charles Darwin Research Station, Tortuga Bay, the Highlands and the Tortoise reserve.

CLIMATE:

The islands are isolated so the climate is determined almost entirely by the ocean currents, which in turn are influenced by the trade winds, which push the currents.  The dry and cold season is from July December, the warm season is January June.

WHAT TO WEAR:

The dress code is very casual.  There is really no need to wear anything other than shorts and T-shirts once you arrive in the Galapagos. 

OUR DIVING:

We have great dive sites for beginners, intermediate and experienced divers, although the best dive sites are usually the most difficult ones, with significant to strong currents near vertical walls.  Most of our diving is drift diving, so the dive masters skills play an important role.  Beginners can start at the easier places and proceed to the more difficult ones always guided by our dive masters or instructors.  In all our dives our dive masters will be actually diving in the water with the customers.  Another important aspect of the Dive masters skills is to guarantee that everybody is on the safe side.

THE DIVES:

Each dive is done with one tank.  We use aluminium tanks with 3000 psi / 207 bar - all tanks have the international connection system - if passengers want to use their own regulator with DIN system they have to bring their own adapter.  The bottom time depends on each passenger’s air consumption.  All dives are between 15 and 25 meters because this is where you encounter most of the marine life in the Galapagos.  Maximum depth for our dives is 30 meters.

EQUIPMENT:

In our daily diving trip rates we always include complete SCUBA gear and the diver decides whether he / she wants to use our equipment or bring their own.

MARINE LIFE

The Galapagos’ marine life is so varied, tame, abundant and amazing, that the Islands are considered one of the Seven Underwater Wonders of the World.  Here you are going to dive with thousands of fish (both big and small), sea lions, rays, turtles, morays and garden eels.  It is almost sure that you will encounter harmless white tip and hammerhead sharks.  At some places you can even dive with dozens of hammerheads, snorkel with dolphins and  - in the right season - meet a whale shark.

Finally, this is the only place in the world where you can dive with a marine iguana or watch sea lions teasing white tip sharks by biting their tails.

The richness of our sea life is mainly due to cold water coming up from the deep, in this way bringing nutrients to the light zone, producing large amounts of phytoplankton that start the food chain.  The diversity of the species is mainly due to the position of the Galapagos on the cross-roads of the main East Pacific Equatorial Currents, where tropical semi-tempered waters meet, allowing animals from all over the Pacific and some parts of the Indo-Pacific to arrive here.  The many kinds of marine habitats (sandy, rocky, coralline, muddy) and the large area of the Archipelago’s waters, also play a role on bio-diversity.

DIVE CONDITIONS

THE SEASONS:

We have 2 seasons: the warm and sunny from December to May and the cold and cloudy from June to November.  June and November are transitional months.  In the warm season there is almost no wind (so the sea is usually very calm) and the visibility tends to be better.  In the cold season there is more wind, sometimes the sea tends to be choppy and the visibility lower.

WATER TEMPERATURE:

- Although being very close to the Equator, water temperatures range from 16 to 24 degrees Celsius (61 to 74 degrees Fahrenheit).  We use full ¼ inch wet (6mm) suits all year around and hoods in the cold season.

VISIBILITY:

In general, visibility ranges from 5 to 25 meters, but most of the time it is restricted to between 12 and 18m.  A large submarine current (Equatorial Undercurrent) coming from the West Pacific hits the largest island of the archipelago (Isabela Island) and is deflected upward reaching the surface, bringing up the cold and nutrient rich water.  This can change the water temperature by as much as 6 degrees Celsius, and change the visibility in a matter of one or two days.

EXPERIENCE FOR GALAPAGOS DIVING:

Beginners:             Newly certified divers or divers with few dives logged (3 to 15 dives)

Intermediate: 15 to 99 dives logged with experience in cold water and with drift and wall diving

Advanced: 100 dives or more logged with experience in cold water and with drift and wall diving

Detailed description of dive experience is always necessary to confirm a dive program, because a diver with 10 dives in cold water and currents may feel a lot more comfortable than a diver with 40 logged dives in warm water and little current - also a newly certified diver may feel more comfortable than a diver with 50 logged dives but who has not been diving for 6 years.

DAILY DIVING TOURS

WHERE AND WHEN:

All day trips leave from Puerto Ayora, Santa Cruz Island.  We normally depart around 08h30 and, depending on the navigation distance to each site, we return around 16h30.

WHAT’S INCLUDED:

Full SCUBA gear (full 6 mm wetsuit, jacket type BCD with power inflators, regulator with octopus, pressure gauge and depth gauge, mask, snorkel, fins and booties), 2 boat dives in small groups, Dive master diving in the water with customers (max. Dive master to diver ratio 1:6) transfers to / from Puerto Ayora and dive sites and drinking water.  Our program outside the Academy Bay also includes a box lunch.

INFORMATION REQUIRED BEFORE CONFIRMING A DAILY DIVING TOUR:

All the programs of daily diving tours are made especially for the customer.  Safety comes first and therefore we require the following information about each passengers’ dive experience in order to make the program that fits the customers’ skills and interests:

1. What type of divers license (level and training agency)
2. How many dives
3. Date of last dive
4. Experience with drift and wall diving
5. Experience with diving in cold water and with 6mm wet suit
6. What would the customer like to see in the Galapagos?
   

THE DIVE SITES FOR DAILY DIVING TOURS

ACADEMY BAY

Academy Bay is a short 2.5-mile navigation from the dive centre.  This area is great for introductory diving, beginners and intermediate divers.  We always request that each person spend a minimum of 1-day diving Academy Bay to get acclimatised to our waters, ¼ wet suit and the visibility.  We recommend that beginning certified divers do at least 2 dives in Academy Bay before heading to the more distant spots.

The Academy Bay area is easier diving with very little current.  The following are some of the Academy Bay diving sites - dive sites will not be specified when confirming a Academy Bay program since we select the sites according to the divers skills and the conditions of the day.

Punta Estrada -

Sea Turtle Canyon in Academy Bay.  Invertebrates, tropical fish, stingrays, green sea turtles with possible encounters with golden rays and some White tip reef sharks.  There are many interesting geological formations

Caamano Islet -

Offers a chance to swim and play with friendly sea lions, many tropical fish and a few marine iguanas.

Punta Nunez Cliffs -

Wall diving in a cave.  At this site you can see turtles, stingrays and tropical fish.

El Bajo Solmar -

This submerged shoal at Academy Bay has an impressive amount of fish, white tip sharks, morays, invertebrates, caverns, eagle rays, stingrays, turtles and sea fans.  A great diving site intermediate as well as experienced divers.

OUTSIDE THE ACADEMY BAY

The dive sites outside Academy Bay have a navigation distance of between 20 and 38 miles.  The approximate travel time is 1 hour to each site.  There are always three crewmembers on board when diving outside of Academy Bay.  These areas are spectacular sites representing world class diving and are for intermediate to experienced divers.

Floreana -

Enderby Islet, Punta Ayora, Champion Islet and Devil’s Crown are the dive sites where you will experience sea lions, exotic fish, thousands of tropical fish, barracudas, black coral, white tip and Galapagos sharks, moray eels, some hammerheads and eagle rays.  You will have an excellent opportunity for dolphin watching during the boat trip to and from Floreana.  You will also enjoy some sightseeing by boat of the local marine and bird life such as sea lions, blue footed boobies, frigate bird, penguins, marine iguanas etc.

Gordon Rocks -

Here you will experience diving with turtles, big fish, hundreds of tropical fish, hammerheads, Galapagos sharks, blacktops and white tips, large morays, spotted eagle rays, golden and stingrays as well as fur seals.  This is the best one-day trip for experienced divers.

North Seymour -

Schools of hammerheads, loads of snappers and other fish, turtles, morays, manta rays and white tip sharks.

Cousins Rock -

An intermediate dive combination of shoal and wall diving with sea lions, large amounts of fish, white tip sharks, hammerheads, eagle rays and manta rays.  There is a breathtaking vertical wall with a profusion of black corals and other invertebrates.  This dive site is always combined with diving in Bartolomé

Bartolomé -

Stingrays, turtles, white tips, plenty of fish, invertebrates and interesting rock formation with crevices.  This dive site is always combined with diving in Cousins Rock.  During the surface interval between Cousins and Bartolomé we snorkel to look for penguins

Mosquera Islet -

Big schools of garden eels, mantas, white tips and maybe hammerheads and eagle rays as well as plenty of tropical fish and sea lions.

Daphne Islet -

Wall diving with morays, white tip, eagle rays, stingrays, sea lions, cave diving, invertebrates, hammerheads, turtles, black corals and hundreds of fish.

Santa Fe -

Easy diving with little current.  Similar to Academy Bay.

RATE SHEET DAILY DIVING TOURS

SCUBA DIVING EQUIPMENT RENTAL

COMPLETE EQUIPMENT:

Full wet suit and booties; jacket type BCD with power inflators; regulator with octopus; pressure gauge and depth gauge; mask, fins and snorkel.

* IVA: Prices are subject to IVA (government tax) currently at 12%

PROCEDURE: EQUIPMENT RENTAL

Reservation:

Sangay Touring needs the following information in order to proceed with an equipment rental reservation:

• yacht
• dates and time
• license (we do not rent equipment to people without license)
• passengers height
• passengers weight
• passengers shoe size
• with which credit card the passengers will leave equipment guarantee

Turn over of equipment:

A Galapagos Sub-Aqua representative will be waiting for the passengers at the airport at Baltra with all equipment.  The passengers have to show their diver license - if the passengers do not have a diver license Galapagos Sub-Aqua will not turn over the equipment.  The passengers have to check the equipment together with the Galapagos Sub-Aqua representative and afterwards leave a signed credit card voucher as a guarantee.

On the last day of the cruise a Galapagos Sub-Aqua representative will be at the airport to receive the equipment.  We will check the equipment together with the passenger and if everything is OK we will hand over the signed voucher with the guarantee

In the case that the cruise begins and ends in Puerto Ayora we will turn over and pick up equipment on board the yacht.

Payment:

The equipment rental needs to be prepaid before the passengers leave to the Galapagos Islands.  All passengers leave with vouchers.  The guarantee is to be paid in the Galapagos in cash or on signed credit card voucher.

IMPORTANT:

Delivery of complete personal equipment to Baltra airport does not have any delivery cost.  But delivery of parts (ex. BCD or a pair of booties) has an additional cost of US$ 30 NET.

SNORKELLING IN GALAPAGOS

SNORKEL PROGRAMS

If you are not a diver you can join Galapagos Sub-Aqua’s daily diving programs anyway and practice snorkelling at the dive sites that correspond with the dive program.  Each time we have dive programs confirmed we can offer this service.

All prices include snorkel equipment and the Floreana program also includes 1 dinner, 1 night at hotel in Floreana, 1 breakfast and 1 box lunch.

SNORKEL GEAR RENTAL:

UNDERWATER PHOTOGRAPHY

Wouldn't you like to have the fantastic memories of the marine life in the Galapagos printed in your mind forever but also take back some of your own shots of hammerheads, manta rays, garden eels etc. Why not rent Galapagos Sub-Aqua’s professional underwater camera (we only rent out to persons that have used this type of camera before).

PADI DIVING COURSES

PADI OPEN WATER DIVER COURSE

GOALS:

Provide students with the elemental knowledge and skills needed to safely gain experience in the diving environment, and ultimately, to dive with another certified diver of equal or more experience.

PREREQUISITES:

Medical certificate that shows that the person is apt for diving (forms may be picked up at SUB-AQUA), minimum 15 years of age (minimum 12 years old for Junior Certification).

CERTIFICATION:

At the end of the theory section of the course the student must score 75% or higher on the Final Exam, and have completed all Confined Water Sessions and Open Water Dives.

COSTS:

COMPLETE COURSE: $ 350 pp.

INCLUDES: All equipment, theory lessons, pool sessions, boat trips, reference material and PADI certification.

NOT INCLUDED: Airfare, national park entrance fee, transfers to and from the airport, meals and accommodation in Puerto Ayora 

IMPORTANT:

You need to bring one picture (passport size) for your Certification Card and it is advised to stop by the Shop prior to the start of the course to pick up course materials and try on the equipment.

SCHEDULE FOR PADI OPEN WATER COURSE

PADI ADVANCED DIVER COURSE

GOALS:

Provide students with a supervised Introduction into various underwater environments and hence expand their diving horizon and possibilities.

PREREQUISITES:

Medical certificate that shows that the person is apt for diving (has to be taken within the last year), minimum 15 years of age (minimum 12 years old for Junior Certification).

CERTIFICATION:

Certification lies in the practical completion of the 5 required dives (3 core dives - Night, Deep, Navigation, and 2 electives - Multilevel -, Drift -, Boat-, Naturalist Dive) and their exercises, and in the completion of the knowledge reviews relent to each chapter.

COSTS:

Academy Bay: US$ 250 pp.

INCLUDES: All equipment, theory briefings, boat trips, reference material and PADI certification

FLOREANA: US$ 350 pp.

INCLUDES: All equipment, theory briefings, boat trips, reference material, PADI certification, 4 dives in Floreana and a night dive in Academy Bay the next day. The program also includes 1 dinner, 1 night at hotel in Floreana, 1 breakfast and 1 box lunch

NOT INCLUDED: Airfare, national Park entrance fee, transfers to and from airport, meals and accommodation in Puerto Ayora

IMPORTANT:

You need to bring one picture (passport size) for your Certification Card and it is advised to stop by the Shop prior to the start of the course to pick up course materials and try on the equipment.

SCHEDULE FOR PADI ADVANCED COURSE

PADI RESCUE DIVER COURSE

GOALS:

Develop the necessary knowledge and skills to effectively perform diver rescues and assists, manage diving-accident situations, render proper first aid and be able to save yourself.

PREREQUISITES:

PADI AOW or equivalent (certification beyond entry level, min. 20 dives and experience in night, deep and navigation diving).

CERTIFICATION:

At the end of the course, each student should be able to perform all OW exercises properly, score 75% or higher on the Final Exam, and complete the First Aid and CPR course.

COSTS:

COMPLETE COURSE: US$ 250 pp.

INCLUDES: All equipment, boat trips, reference material, PADI certification. - does not include Medic First Aid.    

NOT INCLUDED: Airfare, national park entrance fee, transfers to and from airport, meals and accommodation in Puerto Ayora.

IMPORTANT:

You need to bring one picture (passport size) for Rescue Card.

MEDIC FIRST AID REFRESHER:

Cost: US$ 50 (includes books and PADI fee)

SCHEDULE FOR PADI RESCUE DIVER COURSE

PADI DIVEMASTER COURSE

GOALS:

To enable the candidate to organise, conduct and supervise recreational diving activities, both land- and boat-based, to effectively act as an instructional assistant to teaching status PADI Open Water Scuba Instructors (or higher), develop the theoretical diving knowledge of candidates to a level sufficient to become an instructor, and encourage and prepare candidates for instructor-level-training.

PREREQUISITES:

Be a certified PADI Rescue Diver or an equivalent rating, have completed and logged at least 20 dives on entry (60 logged dives are required for certification), be 18 years of age or older, be in good physical condition and submit an approved medical-exam form (can be picked up at Galapagos Sub-Aqua) for a diving medical examination conducted within the past year.

CERTIFICATION:

Certification is given to candidates which score 75% or higher on each of the theory sections and to those who pass all the practical session in the pool and in the open water. 

COSTS:

Complete Course: $ 500 pp.

Included: All equipment, theory reviews, pool sessions, boat trips, and reference material. 
Does not include PADI Membership Application ($50 - subject to change according to PADI fees). 

Not Included: Airfare, national Park entrance fee, transfers to and from airport, meals and accommodation in Puerto Ayora.

IMPORTANT:

You will need one picture (passport size) for your Application Form. A certain degree of self-study is expected and encouraged, so it is advised to stop by the Dive Centre as earliest as possible prior to the start of the course in order to pick up course materials and try on the equipment.

SCHEDULE FOR PADI DIVEMASTER COURSE