Galapagos Islands Trip Report

Page three     Darwin's Arch  

Arriving at Darwin's Arch was the stuff of dreams come true.  I had been blown away by my dives off the arch four years ago, and was worried that the site could not possibly live up to the hype and my exaggerated expectations.   I really shouldn't have worried!  We dropped in and settled down on the shelf in about 60 feet of water and watched the parade of sharks and fish swimming by.  It wasn't long before Walter was banging his tank and we were swimming furiously out into the blue.

There we encountered out first of many whale sharks.   This was a young female, and as before, I was humbled by the gentle nature, beauty and grace of the world's largest fish.  She watched the paparazzi closing in, their strobes flashing and she gently swam by, careful not to touch or hurt any of the bumbling, graceless divers that surrounded us.

We were to be blessed with fourteen magical encounters with Whale Sharks over the nine dives we made at Darwin's Arch.  Only two of those dives went by without a behemoth appearing out of the hazy water, and on those dives we were entertained by dolphins, hammerheads, silky sharks, black tips and hundreds of moray eels (that often would swim right between your legs).

Darwin Island is several hundred miles north of the main islands in the Galapagos.  No one is allowed to set foot on the island (the sheer walls would make it nearly impossible anyway).  Several ocean currents meet at the arch, and is the reason for the abundance of pelagic life that divers enjoy.  After ten years of diving all over the world, I have yet to experience another dive site that rivals Darwin's Arch for sheer electric excitement.

Cousins Rock

Leaving Darwin Island is always sad.  We headed back to civilization, but stopped along the way to dive at Cousins Rock and to enjoy another land tour.  We enjoyed two dives at Cousin's.  I put the macro lens on the camera for the only time during the entire trip and shot some of the small critters on the ledges.   Then it was back to wide angle and we had a very fun dive playing with the sea lions.
 

That night, we headed south to Plaza Island, and awoke to a beautiful island and the best land tour of the trip.  The scenery on South Plaza was lush and the island is crawling with Sea Lions, Iguanas and many species of birds. 

One wayward iguana headed down the main trail and literally walked right through the middle of our group.  Stopping only to give me that universal animal look (the kind my wife like's to give me), that says, "hey buddy, get out of the middle of the trail, you're blocking my light!"

After the tour, we headed over for a dive a Gordon Rock.  My ear wasn't up to another dive, but a few members of our group headed out for a last dive on the rock before we went back to cars, crowds and civilization.  I was certainly going to miss our beautiful yacht, and the girls were going to miss Solomon, the steward that took such wonderful care of us.

After anchoring in Puerto Ayora, we toured the Darwin Research Center and marveled at the giant tortoises.  We then walked to town for some cold beer and shopping.   Dinner was in town at a very nice restaurant, where we met the Russian's from the other boat again and some old friends from previous trips. 

Late in the evening, we made our way back to the Galapagos Aggressor I and the boat motored back to San Cristobal to drop us off at the airport in the morning.  The flights home were stress free, and my mind is thousands of miles away from here, still in awe of the gentle giants and miraculous creatures that we were so fortunate to swim with in the Enchanted Islands.

Would I go back?  Heck yes!  I actually did.  Our first trip was one of those "trips of a life time".   So was this trip, and I'm hoping that I manage to get back there again before I die.   I there is only one dive site that should be on everyone's "bucket list", it is Darwin's Arch in the Galapagos Islands.  Go there if you can and you will be amazed.

More underwater photos from this amazing trip can be found in our Galapagos Underwater Photo Galleries.  Thanks for looking!