Dive Review of Aggressor Fleet in
Galapagos Islands

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Aggressor Fleet: "Challenging Dive Conditions; Wonderful Marine Life", Apr, 2017, by Michael J. Millet, CA, US ( Top Contributor 96 reports with 61 Helpful votes). Report 9609 has 1 Helpful vote.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity
Dive Operation		Shore Diving	N/A
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
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Comments	This was my second dive trip to the Galapagos. This trip was aboard the Galapagos Aggressor III. After spending the night in Guayaquil, flew into Baltra where we were met by Nelson, the tour guide and dive master. The transfer to the boat went very smoothly. That afternoon we did a check-out dive in very murky conditions in waters near Baltra. The next day we did 2 OK dives off of San Bartoleme Island (SBI) with somewhat low viz and cold-ish water about 70˚F. The highlight of the dives was encountering mating Roboastra nudibranchs. The afternoon was spent with a land excursion on SBI with beautiful views of Pinnacle Rock, and a skiff ride along the shoreline encountering Galapagos penguins and blue-footed boobys. The 3rd day was spent with 4 dives off of Cape Marshall on the northeast side of Isabela Island. Here the water temps varied from 72˚F - 79˚F. Here we encountered large schools of pelican barracuda on most dives. We then cruised overnight up to Wolf Island, Darwin Island and Darwin Arch where the water temps were in the low 80˚'s F. Four dives were done at Wolf Island then on the 5th day, we did 2 dives at Darwin Arch and 2 more at Wolf Island. The highlight of these dives was several close encounters with many, many hammerhead and Galapagos sharks. The dive conditions were quite challenging even for experienced divers with very unpredictable, significant surge and strong current. Often one had to hunker down in the rocks to keep from getting blown away. A bit hard on both dive and camera gear. I managed to nick the dome on my wide-angle port while thrashing about the rocks. The next day we were back south of the Equator at Punta Douglas on the west side of Fernandina Island. Despite cold water (66˚- 70˚F), had an awesome dive with marine iguanas. The next 2 dives were at Vincente Rosa on the northwest side of Isabela Island. Again with cold water, had a tremendous dive with 3 mola molas. The next day we did our last dive at Cousins Rock, on the east side of Isabela Island where the water was much warmer (78˚F). Here we had nice encounters with Galapagos sea lions and spotted eagle rays. That afternoon was spent at Santa Cruz with a very interesting excursion to the highlands to visit a Galapagos tortoise reserve. I had a single cabin on the upper deck that was very spacious and comfortable. The food on board was excellent and plentiful with made-to-order breakfast, buffet lunch and buffet/plated dinner. Local beer and wine (quite average) is included. The dive deck is spacious and well managed. On 4 tank dive days, we had 2 AM dives and 2 PM dives with the first dive at about 7:30 AM. All diving is from pangas with back roll entry. The crew was quite accommodating providing 7 mm wetsuits on the 2 cold water dive days. Nelson and Richard are excellent dive guides and top-side naturalists. A special thanks goes to Richard for repairing my leaky float strobe arm. All transportation connections at Baltra and Santa Cruz Island went smoothly with no hassles. I stayed overnight at the Finch Bay Resort in Puerto Ayora; the crew coordinated the transfer of my luggage to this resort. The Galapagos Islands offer some very challenging dive conditions with heavy surge, strong currents and cold water. But the abundance and variety of marine life along with the unique topside critters make it all very worthwhile.
Websites	Aggressor Fleet
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	Over 1000 dives
Where else diving	All over the Caribbean; Galapagos, Socorro, Fiji, Solomons, GBR, Vanuatu, PNG, Philippines, Indonesia, Palau, Yap, Kosrae
Closest Airport	Baltra	Getting There	Spent one night in Guayaquil
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, windy, cloudy	Seas	choppy, surge, currents
Water Temp	65-82°F / 18-28°C	Wetsuit Thickness	5
Water Visibility	25-75 Ft/ 8-23 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	No Deco; No diving below/beyond Nitrox limit; usually 55 minute dives
Liveaboard?	yes	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	Lots	Mantas	1 or 2
Dolphins	Schools	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	> 2	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals	N/A	Tropical Fish	N/A
Small Critters	N/A	Large Fish
Large Pelagics
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter		Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's		Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	Aggressor had large camera rinse tanks and an adequate camera table with compressed air for blow offs. The panga crew was diligent when handling camera gear.

Report currently has 1 Helpful vote

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Dive Review of Aggressor Fleet in Galapagos Islands

Aggressor Fleet: "Challenging Dive Conditions; Wonderful Marine Life", Apr, 2017,

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

Overall Rating

Reporter and Travel

Dive Conditions

Dive Policy

What I Saw

Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):

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

Dive Review of Aggressor Fleet in
Galapagos Islands