8 of The Best Scuba Dive Sites of the Galapagos Islands

Whether you’re planning a scuba dive trip to the Galapagos Islands to spend some time on a Liveaboard vessel that allows you to head out for a few days at a time or you prefer to just take some daytrips to your preferred dive sites instead, below are some scuba dive sites of the Galapagos Islands that you’ll never forget.

Tijeretas Hill is a Galapagos dive site off of San Cristobal Island. It offers great visibility, and it’s also a perfect dive site even for beginners. Be sure to bring your camera along with you, especially since you’ll be encountering plenty of different marine animals.

This wall dive features green sea turtles, Galapagos garden eels, rays, and schools of myriad fish, including angelfish and grunts. The best part of this dive, though, is being able to swim with the playful sea lions who are intrigued by the bubbles you make.

Daphne Minor is a dive site off of Daphne Island. Experienced divers will love exploring the caverns, walls, platforms, and slopes at this awesome Galapagos scuba dive site, which also features stunning marine life, including hammerhead sharks, sea turtles, and manta rays.

Be sure to keep an eye out for the unique Galapagos black coral found throughout the site as well.

Shark Point, a dive site off of Wolf Island, is extremely popular. Here, divers get to fulfill their wildest dreams of swimming alongside massive whale sharks. Other large marine species include dolphins, hammerhead sharks, and Galapagos sharks.

The only way to access this site, though, is by taking part in a Liveaboard expedition. Also, due to the strong currents, limited visibility, and harsh surges, this site is reserved only for experienced divers.

Another easy drift dive found off of the island of San Cristobal is Whale Rock. This site features massive schools of fish, with plenty of rays and sea turtles swimming along as well.

Visibility is great and typically ranges anywhere from 10-15 metres, or 33-49 feet, and temperatures are anywhere from 18-26 degrees Celsius, or 64-78 degrees Fahrenheit.

Camaño Islet, off Santa Cruz Island, is a great spot for beginners who want to see groupers, batfish, seahorses, sea lions, and more. This shallow dive offers great visibility, at 10-15 meters, or 33-49 feet. You may get lucky and see some eels and Galapagos marine iguanaswhich dive beneath the waves in search for their food.

Located off the island of Isabela, Cape Marshall features a wall of volcanic rock that goes down into the depths of the ocean. Sunfish, hammerhead sharks, manta rays, marbled rays, mobula rays, and huge schools of fish such as black-striped salema can be found here.

Sea turtles and sea lions will have no problem swimming alongside you as you explore this Galapagos Dive site. This site is for experienced and more advanced scuba divers only due to its strong currents.

Bartholomew Point is a dive site off of Bartholomew Island. This site is unlike any other in the world. Not only will you get to encounter the usual marine species found throughout other dive sites in the Galapagos, such as sea turtles, sea lions, and plenty of different species of fish and rays, but you’ll also get the opportunity see penguins swimming swiftly past you as they search for food and play in the waves.

White-tip reef sharks are also common here. Explore the lava formations beneath the surface, and see what creatures are hiding amidst the rock formations too. Moderate currents make this site appropriate for someone who has already logged quite a few dives in the past.

This Galapagos dive site, located off of Isabela Island, is great for intermediate level divers who aren’t afraid of following a deep drift wall down to the depths of 40 meters, or 131 feet.

Here, you will find a variety of native species, including Galapagos sharks, Galapagos sheephead, and Galapagos Groupers, as well as many manta rays, stingrays, sunfish, and more.

You may even get the chance to see hammerhead sharks and white-tipped reef sharks. But if you’re truly lucky, you may be diving at the right place at the right time in order to see a passing orca.

 

source: https://www.bookyourdive.com