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Dive Review of Lammer Law in
Galapagos Islands/Ecuador

Lammer Law, Dec, 2002,

by Donald A. Brooks, IL, USA . Report 678.

No photos available at this time

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Accommodations 1 stars Food 3 stars
Service and Attitude 2 stars Environmental Sensitivity N/A
Dive Operation 1 stars Shore Diving 1 stars
Snorkeling N/A
Value for $$ N/A
Beginners 1 stars
Advanced 5 stars
Comments In December 2002 we dove the Galapagos aboard the Lammer Law. We had dove the Galapagos several years before aboard another liveaboard, and the experience and diving were fantastic. We enjoyed it very much and looked forward to diving the islands again. We especially looked forward to spending most of the trip at Darwin and Wolf, where all the action is.

The Galapagos is awesome diving, but definitely not for the beginner diver. The currents are often strong and the seas are rough at times, but the big fish life is superb. The Galapagos are home to hammerhead sharks, manta rays, and sea turtles.

Unfortunately, our experience aboard the Lammer Law left a lot to be desired. Although it is a trimaran (93') and designed to be fairly stable, it is NOT for seas with conditions worse than calm. In moderate to rough seas as you can expect in the Galapagos, the Lammer Law heaves and twists constantly and gives one the feeling that it is NOT seaworthy. In fact, in some of the rough seas we encountered, the boat 'creeked and banged' extremely loudly. In addition, sea water splashing up on the upper deck would often leak through the port holes in the bow cabins. Imagine being awakened with a 'bucket' of salt water that has leaked through the window and splashes down on you and drenches you and your bed. Ever try sleeping on a soaked mattress? For several nights the crew slept in the lounge due to the rough seas, rather than below deck where they normally bunked. The crew said that is quite often the situation in the Galapagos.

For the most part the crew was very helpful and performed their tasks very well. The food and the service were both good. For diving, we had two divemasters aboard, Fabian and Patricia. Patricia was excellent and tried very hard to accommodate the guests. She was very knowledgeable and her land tours were extremely informative. She was also an excellent diver, who cared for her guests. Fabian was also an excellent diver, but he definitely lacked the personal touch that Patricia genuinely exuded. In fact, his personality was often abrupt and rude. In several instances he was ‘flat out’ rude with his comments to several of the guests (including myself) for no reason whatsoever. His comments were certainly not becoming of a trip leader. He made the trip very uncomfortable for many. I would not recommend him as a divemaster for anyone anywhere.

The Lammer Law was to have nitrox for our trip, but upon our arrival no nitrox was, as yet, avaialble on the boat. That was okay, but with the promise of nitrox aboard I had purchased a new ($600) nitrox computer and looked forward to comparing it to my old nitrox computer. Unfortunately, the new computer was stolen off my BC two days later. Early in the trip Fabian asked about the computer and even asked if I had a backup computer with me. The next night my new computer disappeared, and being 100 miles or so away from any other boats, it leaves no doubt that someone aboard was responsible. Since I had dove with all of the guests before and many times, it only left the crew. When I noticed the computer had disappeared, I approached Fabian and let him know. However, he or no other crew member was very helpful in trying to recover the computer; but instead blamed it onto to the fact that it probably had fallen off into the water. This was extremely unlikely since it had been secured to my BC with its strap/buckle and a 'tie-wrap' for extra measure. To my further disappointment, even the owners of the Lammer Law (Duncan and Annie) were NOT helpful at all and said there was nothing they could do.

My experience with the Lammer Law and Fabian certainly left a very bad feeling for the Lammer Law and their owners. Although, Galapagos is awesome diving, I absolutely would never recommend the Lammer Law nor diving with Fabian again.

Don Brooks

Reporter and Travel

Dive Experience Over 1000 dives
Where else diving Over 1, 500 dives around the world
Closest Airport Getting There

Dive Conditions

Weather sunny, windy, rainy, cloudy Seas choppy, surge, currents
Water Temp 68-78°F / 20-26°C Wetsuit Thickness 7
Water Visibility 50-75 Ft/ 15-23 M

Dive Policy

Dive own profile yes
Enforced diving restrictions Essentially allowed to dive your own profile, but certainly do to conditions, it was best to stay within your small group
Liveaboard? yes Nitrox Available? N/A

What I Saw

Sharks Lots Mantas 1 or 2
Dolphins Schools Whale Sharks None
Turtles > 2 Whales None
Corals 1 stars Tropical Fish 3 stars
Small Critters 1 stars Large Fish 5 stars
Large Pelagics 5 stars

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Subject Matter 5 stars Boat Facilities 1 stars
Overall rating for UWP's 5 stars Shore Facilities N/A
UW Photo Comments [None]
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Note: The information here was reported by the author above, but has NOT been reviewed nor edited by Undercurrent prior to posting on our website. Please report any major problems by writing to us and referencing the report number above.

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