The Galapagos Islands have been high on our list of places to visit, and we figured that since we had signed up for a week of SCUBA diving to see the underwater creatures, we might as well opt for a week of land-based activities to see the above water wildlife. We are so glad that we planned for two weeks here, as the Galapagos certainly lives up to all its hype. Our land based tour was with the tourist class boat, “Angelique”, which has a great 8 day loop of the northern and southern islands (Santa Cruz, Floreana, Espanola, Santa Fe, South Plaza, North Seymour, Genovesa, Bartolome). Since we had a few days to spare before our next cruise, we were able to get in a few dives from Santa Cruz, the highlight of which was Gordon Rocks (hammerhead sharks, massive manta rays, and mola molas). It was easy to hop from Santa Cruz to our next destination of San Cristobal where we linked up with the “Deep Blue” for a week’s diving at the SCUBA mecca of the world. Diving the Galapagos is truly special, and we will never forget diving alongside Mr Big (10 whale shark sightings!), witnessing the playful antics of the curious sea lions, seeing hunting packs of bottlenose dolphins in action, becoming mesmerized as hundreds of hammerhead sharks swam by, and gazing at a humpback whale and its calf while diving beneath them…not a view you get every day! Spend the money and visit the Galapagos…its worth every penny for the priceless lifetime memories.
