Galaxy Diver II Itinerary

Galapagos Diving

Day 1: Arrival at Baltra airport where you will meet our dive guides at the designated area, ready to be transferred from the airport to the Galaxy Diver II. We’ll show you your accommodations and the Divemaster will hold a short briefing on all safety and emergency protocols. Lunch is served on board. The first dive in the Galapagos Islands is a check dive at Baltra Northeast to ensure adequate buoyancy and to confirm that the diving equipment works properly. While exploring the site you can enjoy schools of reef fish, skate rays, eagle rays, moray eels, turtles, garden eels, and white tip sharks.

Day 2: After an overnight sail, we will arrive at Wolf Island for a full day of diving. In the morning, we will explore El Derrumbe and La Ventana Islet. El Derrumbe is particularly well known for hammerheads and Galapagos sharks. Whale sharks have also been encountered here, as well as a huge range of fish, rays, turtles, marine mammals, and many more iconic Galápagos creatures. 

In the afternoon, you can dive the north islet, known by locals as La Banana. This wall dive features moderate to heavy current and visibility is often limited, but some very impressive and large animals such as whale sharks, hammerheads and dolphins are spotted here. We will also dive Shark Bay at Wolf Island - among the best dive sites in the Galapagos to see hammerheads and Galapagos sharks. 

Day 3: Starting the day at Darwin Island, you can enjoy two immersions at El Arenal - considered one of the best diving points in the entire world. There is an amazing array of marine wildlife you can encounter, like dolphins commonly sighted feeding on schools of fish, hammerhead sharks, whale sharks, rays, Galapagos sharks and even tiger sharks and killer whales. It offers a unique experience, not just from the impressive marine life, but the geological formations as well.

In the afternoon, we will conduct two dives around Darwin’s Tower - formerly Darwin’s Arch. Here you can see a great variety of reef fish, hammerhead sharks in cleaning stations, Galapagos sharks, silky sharks, hawksbill turtles, green turtles, moray eels, lobsters, jacks, bottlenose dolphins, and whale sharks from July to November. 

Day 4: Today we will head back to Wolf Island to conduct two morning dives at Shark Bay and La Ventana Islet, followed by two afternoon dives at El Derrumbe and La Banana.

Day 5: Sailing back to the main archipelago overnight, we will dive Cape Douglas in the morning to observe the gracious marine iguanas feeding on algae underwater. You might also encounter red-lipped batfish, fur seals, Galapagos penguins and flightless cormorants. In the afternoon we will submerge ourselves at Vicente Roca Point, on the northwest coast of Isabela Island. The abundant concentration of corals and gorgonians make this site one of the best to enjoy with macro life such as seahorses, different species of nudibranchs, as well as toadfish and cat sharks. One of the main attractions here is the chance of seeing the largest bony fish in the world, the mola mola. 

Day 6: This morning we offer two dives at Cape Marshall, located on the northeast side of Isabela Island. This site is home to populations of giant manta rays, mobulas, enormous schools of barracudas, Galapagos sharks, and sea lions. The afternoon dive takes place at City of the Mantas, which offers year-round manta rays sightings. 

Day 7: In the morning, enjoy two dives around Cousin Rock - a beautiful wall with corals and gorgonians where you can see macro life such as seahorses, reef fish, toad fish, coral hawks, a variety of nudibranchs. You can also see a school of eagle rays, white tip sharks, mobulas, school of barracudas, and sea lions. In the afternoon we will hike to the peak of Bartolome Island, for exceptional views out over the archipelago. You will have the option to swim or snorkel from the beach. This area holds a well-deserved reputation of being one of the best snorkelling places in the Galapagos due to the presence of penguins.

Day 8: The Twin Craters or also known as “Los Gemelos”, are located on the way to the Highlands of Santa Cruz Island. You will find them on both sides of the road leading from Puerto Ayora to Baltra. In fact, they are not real craters, they were created by the collapse of surface material in underground fissures and chambers. You will have a wonderful view of the local flora, like Scalesia plants. On this site it is also possible to observe the endemic short-ear owl. Then, transfer to the airport to take your flight back to continental Ecuador.

Sample itineraries are for guidance only. Actual itineraries may differ slightly due to factors such as weather, wildlife, logistics and local regulations.