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Dive Review of Yemaya in
Colombia/Malpelo

Yemaya: "Great Trip, but Tough to Get There", May, 2016,

by David Marchese, PA, US (Sr. Contributor Sr. Contributor 20 reports with 27 Helpful votes). Report 9049 has 2 Helpful votes.

Photos Submitted with this Report


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

Accommodations 4 stars Food 5 stars
Service and Attitude 4 stars Environmental Sensitivity N/A
Dive Operation 4 stars Shore Diving N/A
Snorkeling N/A
Value for $$ 4 stars
Beginners 3 stars
Advanced 5 stars
Comments This was a very good trip despite requiring nearly 3 days of travel each way. Our outward crossing was pretty rough, and since the island is a small rock, we were not able to escape to flat water for about 5 days. The return trip was pretty flat. The dive operation is very good. The crew was top notch, and the food was excellent. We were in one of the two master cabins, which was about the size of medium sized room on most liveaboards. The boat was clean and well maintained. The crew worked hard yet mingled with guests, which I liked.

The diving was excellent, but on the advanced end. Compared to our two trips to Socorro, two trips to Cocos, and two trips to Galapagos, I'd say Malpelo was different enough to still be worth doing. The schools of silkies were impressive, we saw an average of one whale shark each day, and the schools of hammers were pretty thick at times. We also saw a lot of eagle rays. However, the water was surgy, the viz was poor, and the hammers were more shy than we found them to be in Cocos. Overall, it made photography challenging.

Only doing 3 dives a day when traveling that far was another downside. Plus, most dives were deep so dives were generally 45 minutes on average.

Reporter and Travel

Dive Experience Over 1000 dives
Where else diving Grand Cayman, Little Cayman, Turks & Caicos, Bay Islands, Bahamas,
Fiji, Saba, Maldives, California, Revillagigedo, Cozumel, Midway, Kona,
Galapagos, Panama, Palau, Tahiti, Cocos, Tonga, PNG, Komodo, Sulawesi,
Holbox, Solomon Islands, Belize, Komodo, Raja Ampat.
Closest Airport Panama City Getting There Overnight in Panama City, 5 hours bus to coast, 32 hour crossing

Dive Conditions

Weather sunny, rainy, cloudy Seas choppy
Water Temp 73-80°F / 23-27°C Wetsuit Thickness 5
Water Visibility 25-60 Ft/ 8-18 M

Dive Policy

Dive own profile no
Enforced diving restrictions We dove in groups. Boat holds 16. We were divided into two groups of 8 and did different dive sites each dive. Guides made us stay with the group, but they were pretty laid back about it.
Liveaboard? yes Nitrox Available? yes

What I Saw

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

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

Subject Matter 5 stars Boat Facilities 4 stars
Overall rating for UWP's 4 stars Shore Facilities N/A
UW Photo Comments They initially told me that I had to back-roll holding my housed DSLR rig with two strobes! I said, "No way", and got them to hand it to me without too much argument. They have good sized camera-only tables, good rinse tanks, and air guns. Other than them wanting me to backroll with my rig, I'd say they were well set up for photographers.
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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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