diving the galapagos

so...
landing at the airport in san cristobal
we had a little problem with chris´ money
as the hundred dollar bills he had
just happened to be in a series that was counterfeited
and for which warnings were posted
automatically 200 bucks worth of US cash was no good
¨for about a week¨ the government people said
luckily i had some ¨good¨ 100 dollar bills
*mutter*
anyways,
the deep blue
(our ship and home for the next week)
is a beautiful yacht
specifically made for diving
it was big
it was clean
the crew was friendly
and it felt GOOD to be aboard
we got our gear stowed
and then joined everyone for lunch
the russians were there already too
(eugene and katrina
or yv-ge-ne and keh-cha)
and we did our checkout dive at sea lion island
a shallow site with some playful sea lions
the water was salty as heck
which reminded me of taiwan
but it was good to be in the water
and try out the new wetsuit i´d bought just for this trip
the wetsuit fit awesome
and with the 1mm neoprene shirt underneath
it was super easy to get on and off
(at the least the torso and arms! hehehe)
after a one our dive
we set off for seymour island
which is north of baltra
and the next day we did 2 dives
off north seymour
with a land excursion in between
to see blue footed boobies
we also saw here
our first lava lizards
male frigate birds with their chest bladders inflated
and some marine iguanas
that night
we set off for wolf island
it was about 14 hour journey
and we arrived to an amazing vista in the morning
and proceeded to have 5 opportunities to dive
first at galapagos shark
then at shark bay
at this point
we saw hundreds of dolphins out in the blue
and antonio took us by panga
to go snorkel with the dolphins
they were bottlenose dolphins
big, sleek and fast
and nowhere near as laid back and friendly
as the wild spinner dolphins in hawaii
we did 2 or 3 drops
to try to find them
and swim with them we did
tho keeping up with them was definitely a workout
after that we returned to galapagos shark
and did a cave dive at JC caves
and a night dive at antonio´s bay
(named after our divemaster by himself
because no one else dives there
and not at night either)
at this point i should mention
that our divemaster and main guide
antonio draws the most amazing maps
and gave some of the best dive briefs i´ve ever seen
very very cool
needless to say
i did all 5 dives =)
the third dive that day was one of the best
saw lots of hammerheads,
a sea turtle or two
and generally just had a nice long dive
there were so many eels
huge green morays and spotted morays
that they became so common place
that after a while
they didn´t excite any comment
tho i would stop and play with one every now and again
hehehee
the dive into the caves was also quite neat
with huge lobsters
and huge eels hiding within like monsters in a movie
no one got eaten tho
including the eels
the night dive was quite fun
as i accompanied dan and robin on their first ever night dive
after going through some basic instructions
i told them to follow the dive master
and stay with each other
and the rest of the time
i dove silent and with lights out
above them
=)
very fun
reminded me of the blackout dives we did in roatan
only this time
instead of stalking newbie night divers
i was pretending to be a guardian angel
and showed myself only when it seemed like
they wanted to make sure i was there
(robin)
or when they got separated
(after dan took off after a shiny object
and then realized his wife was missing! hehehehe)
it's always fun to watch people
as they learn in a new environment
and conquer fears and deal with situations on their own
very cool!
the next day
we were off to darwin
where darwin´s arch
made a spectacular background to dive off the site
we did 2 dives there
and saw only a couple hammers briefly
the visibility wasn´t the greatest
and we decided to head back to wolf after dive 2
and did our third and last dive for the day at wolf
that would be our last dive at darwin
as the schedule was changed
(not sure who made the decision or why,
but it´s all good!)
so we could dive at cape marshall off isabela the next day
and that third dive
was the single best dive on the trip for me
as we saw a school of 50-60 hammerheads
and following antonio´s lead
we stayed at the vantage point for quite a while
and saw them 6 times
being the first group down had a huge advantage
as the first time they swam by
the circled above and behind us afterwards
and that was an awesome sight to behold
we also found a very healthy looking eagle ray
which i swam beside for quite a while
and herded back towards antonio and juan carlos
(the other dive master)
only to find out
that he had run out of film or battery
on his digital camera
oh well,
it was still worth the burn
air burn that is
as i sucked it back a bit
in order to perform that manuever
hehehe
=)
as a grand finale for the dive
the superpod of dolphins swam by
when i was doing my safety stop
and i spent the next 20 minutes
diving with the beautiful creatures
and even tho i had my scuba gear on
they were swimming slow enough this time
that i could keep up with them
and they were HUGE
and sleek and beautiful
it was amazing!
so the next day at isabela
we went down at cape marshall
and the dive wasn´t even close to wolf
in terms of coolness
but happy as a fish in water
i still found things to do
and popped back to check on dan and robin for the heck of it
(ok, i was a tiny bit bored
and wanted to see if i could stealth dive in the daylight)
and that was when i saw my first ever manta ray
it was ahead of us
and coming towards us
tho the others didn´t see it
i flew off screaming through my reg
(in excitement and joy!)
and then as the manta came past the other divers
(ray was there too with a video cam)
i had a split second decision to make...
do i stay with the manta?
or share this experience with the others?
so i cut away from the manta screaming at dan and robin
(which probably sounded like
someone being drowned underwater)
and finally getting their attention
pointed back in the direction of the manta
spun around
and swam off like a torpedo
with flapping arm-wings just to make sure
they were looking at the right thing
by then tho
the manta had quite a lead on me
and i couldn´t catch up
the effortlessness of the glide
and speed was amazingly beautiful
and i only wish we had better vis
so i could see it and follow it longer
after lunch
we did a second dive there
and going off into the blue at the end of the dive
with my bro
we ended the dive at his air level
and coming into the boat
i lost one of my force fins
*cry*
now i knew that one of them was loose
but i´d managed to keep it on until then
and in roatan as well
and the panga was empty when it came to get us
and the waves were big
and i had to kick mightily to get into the boat
and still needed a hand
and i think it was the second mighty kick
that dislodged the fin
i felt the empty foot
as soon as i landed in the boat
but it was too late by then
i strapped on my gear
borrowed my brother´s fin
and dropped to the bottom
but i knew i wouldn´t find it
and at 40m
i was narcing
my air was going like mad
(i only had about 75 bar when i went in)
and after a few minutes
at depth
(it was way colder down there too
tho the vis was awesome)
i returned back to the surface
with 30 bar maybe 8 minutes later)
and feeling like an idiot
oh well
another sacrifice to the gods of the sea
what can one do eh?
the one thing that stuck in my mind
was that i wouldn´t have a fin for the rest of the dives
luckily they had extra fins on the boat
and they worked just fine
(in fact,
for snorkelling they worked even better than my force fins)
and i still managed to finish my dives with alot of fun
we set off for santiago island after that
and did 2 dives off of south plaza rock (or island?)
(on the west side of the island)
and then went snorkelling by isla bartolome
with the penguins and the sea lions
and that was AWESOME
i had the chance to see the penguins on land first
and then they started fishing in the water
and there were these tiny fish they were feeding off of
at one point
it was like being in national geographic LIVE!
a cloud of the tiny silver fish came swarming around a corner straight at me
and hugging the edges of the rocks
3 penguins came blasting through the water after them...
in formation!!!
stacked in a line,
they moved in sync as they followed the contours of the rocks
herding all the silverfish into a giant ball
while 2 others would shoot through the mass of fish
and feed
it was SO cool!
then the sea lions came to play
and unencumbered by scuba gear
i was able to stay eye to eye with many a sea lion
and play with them underwater
it was SO much fun!!!
i have not felt so free
and spineless
(in a good way *wink*)
....ever.
:)
after this
we made a trek to the top of isla bartolome
which is about 114m in height
and volcanic in landscape
it´s much older than the volcanic terrain i´d seen in hawaii
but at the summit
looking down on the galapagos
it was so beautiful and serene
the sun was setting as we headed down
and tho there were clouds
for the last 30 minutes
the clouds framed the sun above
and the islands framed the sun below
and we had that quality of god´s light
soft and gentle
beautiful
my bro, yung and i
lingered as we descended
taking photos
and soaking up the beauty of nature´s finest moments
anchored in james bay
we did a night dive in the sand
where we saw too many diamond back rays to count
and sleeping sea turtles in the sand
we saw the rare and exotic batfish
one of which yvgene squished with his divelight
(he said he was holding it in place,
pinned to the bottom of the ocean
so that someone could take a picture...
grin... it was painful to watch
and one could feel the shock run through
the other dives as we observed this new tactic
in underwater photographic assistance)
the next day we made our way to cousin´s rock
on the other side of santiago
and did 2 dives there
with a land visit in between
where we saw darwin´s toilet
a snake sleeping in a crevice
and tons of marine iguanas
cousin´s rock was really neat
with sleeping white tips
a ray or two
(including the canadian one with a big camera)
a turtle
and some sealions
oh yeah,
and the big seahorses =)
on our final dive day
and we made a single dive at gordon rocks
where the geological formations were spectacular
it was a great way to end the trip
one beautiful dive
where i saw the largest hammerheads i´ve ever seen
tho only 7 or 8 of them
they were MASSIVE
and they looked extremely healthy
(read - well fed)
they were sleek and powerful
and moved with a sense of majesty through the water
too bad the vis was murky
however
on the outside of this ancient crater
the vis cleared up
and i was tossed about in the vertical surge
reminiscent of molokini backwall in hawaii
only not as big
still
clear and fun
and a great way to end the day
sheltered in a bay
we made a land tour
to see cacti
and land iguanas

i have to say
that the stars at night
were brilliant
the big dipper and orion to remind me of home
and the southern cross
an alien sight
gentle and peaceful ways
to end every night
greeting the stars
before i went to sleep
rocked in the cradle of the ocean
to the land of dreams
=)