Diving the Galápagos Islands | Ecuador

DESTINATION OVERVIEW | While this is not diving for the fainthearted, for many divers, the Galápagos are a dream come true. The marine life is big with a capital B. You can swim with masses of hammerheads or do your safety stop surrounded by 20 silky sharks. Whalesharks start appearing at the end of May and mantas arrive in the summer. Hammerheads are seen all year round and on almost every dive. Galápagos and whitetip sharks are common companions. Eagle rays and marble rays are everywhere as, of course, are curious and playful sea lions and fur seals. There are smaller creatures as well – seahorses, morays and even nudibranchs – so it's worth looking down for some of the dives, not just out into the blue. There is very little in the way of coral so the reefs are not classically pretty.

There is diving around most islands. The east central zone is where most dive trips start. The waters are protected so conditions are a fairly easy. The west catches the cold Cromwell current so conditions can be tough and change quickly while in the south, the water is also cooler but this attracts different fish species. The northern area, where you find Wolf and Darwin islands, is regarded as the pinnacle of diving this region.

What makes the Galápagos so very special though, is the what's above the water line. You see ever more seals on land, along with the marine iguanas and crabs, plus there are the unique landscapes and birds.

Galápagos scuba diving features

PROS AND CONS | Getting to the Galápagos is not a cheap exercise and more than any other country, a diving trip requires a high level of understanding of local conditions. The water can be icy and it's never dead calm. Currents and surges are an every-dive occurrence and you will find yourself clinging to rocks frequently. It's challenging, exciting and the rewards can be very, very high.

SCUBA DIVING | Liveaboard diving is now highly restricted by the government with a only a small number of boats having permits. Shore based diving is easier to organise. Animal encounters vary radically due to wide seasonal differences but whenever you go there will be masses of big animals. One month it's mantas and the next it whalesharks, sometimes there are whales, but a couple of animals are a constant – the sealions and the hammerheads.

OPINION | This could never be regarded as easy diving. We met a lot of people there who, frankly, couldn't cope yet there is nothing quite like watching a school of hammerheads several hundred strong or a playing with a curious sealion who just won't go away. Although we travelled in the summer, and were told that the water would be about 24 degrees, it is rarely that warm beyond about 5 metres. No matter what anyone says, take a 7mm wetsuit or a drysuit and some very good gloves.

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