Galaxy Diver II Liveaboard Diving Review Galapagos

”Diving the Galapagos. The following is a letter I wrote to a passenger (also a travel agent) I traveled with the week before: Dearest Marianne, It is so nice to hear from you. First, of the 14 guests we had on board, not one was a drama queen, everybody acted their age. Ha ha. (Note: I was senior to all by about 25 years and I was the only American). They were from Australia (transplants from England), Germany, Spain, and France. Most spoke their native tongue, and Spanish and English. I thoroughly enjoyed their company while observing the minute cultural differences. Second, I would rate the trip an 8 or 9 when compared to the “naturalist” trip we took. As you know, the “naturalist” trip was chaulk full of minitrips, hiking, snorkeling and touring, and most educational about the environment and all. Most of the diving in the Galapagos can be found better elsewhere in the world. We did have some special moments with sea turtles and sea lions in and around the main islands. However, we did dive at Wolf and Darwin Islands, Darwin Arch specifically, both of which were spectacular, Darwin Island much more so though. Darwin Arch (now Pillars because the arch collapsed) is the flagship diving spot of the Galapagos. Besides seeing sea turtles and hundreds of hammerhead sharks, as well as other sharks, we encountered not one, not two, but six whale sharks. Most other places in the world, you are allowed to snorkel with the whale shark after chasing them a bit. But the whale shark always just swims away and you cannot keep up with it, then the chase begins again. Here though, we would dive to about 70 feet (about 21 meters) and lay on a ledge and wait for the whale shark to slowly swim by. This is what divers dream about. I shot video and posted the best on my Facebook page ( https://www.facebook.com/Fourteener ) if you care to see. All in all, I am totally happy with making both voyages on the Galaxy Diver II. Usually, when I travel to go diving I am glad I did it, but also happy to be heading home. While I still had these emotions when this trip ended, I was for the first time, actually tearfully sad because I had exceptionally good experiences and wouldn’t trade it for any other trip. These two weeks have been the flagship trip of my 70 years and I doubt any other trip can beat it. Thank you for getting back to me, I was sincerely surprised. I enjoyed our time together. Yours truly, Robert.” Recommended for: the crew. the food. the diving.