Midwest Aquatics and Choo Choo Dive Center recently took two groups of divers to the magical Galapagos islands. Diving at such places as Wolf and Darwin Islands will take your breath away.
 The staff from the Aggressor II met us at the airport and transported us the short distance to the harbor. The Aggressor boat was magnificent. It accommodates 14 guests with a crew of 9 outstanding professionals. Excellent air conditioned cabins, a beautiful sitting and dining area, plus multiple outside lounging areas. And, by the way, the food was “to die for” with an abundance of fresh fruit and fish.
 The trip on board the Aggressor is truly unique with a combination of diving and land excursions. We were always accompanied by a dive master/naturalist who was able to answer all our questions. On land we got to see the blue footed boobies doing their mating dance, land and marine iguanas, the Magnificent Frigate birds, and Sea Lions by the dozens lounging around in the sand. We also visited Bartolome Island (where “Master and Commander” was filmed). The island looks like it comes out of a science fiction movie done by Steven Spielberg.
 Now, how about the diving? Washing machine currents with water temperatures ranging from 69-75 degrees in a single dive was normal With all the up and down welling, many the times the temperatures would change like walking through a door in your house to find the air conditioning to be set a bit too low in one room compared to another.
 We dove off of zodiacs with the classic Navy Seal backward role into the water. Once in we descended to about 60 -70 feet, grabbed onto some rocks and watched the parade. On multiple occassions, I counted over 50 hammerhead sharks go by in the first ten minutes of the dive. When you let go of the rocks you “flew” like superman with the current. An awesome experience!! In many cases the sharks would glide within 3-6 feet of a diver. I am not sure who came to see who the sharks or we the divers.
The highlight was Darwin Island . We were starting our ascent when the dive master started banging on his tank like a mad man. I looked over my left shoulder and not more than ten feet away was this ‘huge” mouth coming straight at me. Descending just a few feet we got to be up front and personal with a 45 foot Whale Shark. On the next dive another “smaller one” graced us with its presence. It just doesn't get any better than that. |
