Day 401 – Santa Cruz
Discovery Dive in the Galapagos
Last night, we signed up for a Discovery Dive (Beginner Dive without a PADI/Diving license). We were doing it with Macarron Scubadiver, which is opposite the Fish Market in Santa Cruz. After booking last night, we had to sign waiver forms and try on the gear. The dive cost us $150 USD ($223.38 AUD) per person, so it wasn’t cheap!
After a quick breakfast at Best Hostel Galapagos, we walked to Macarron Scubadiver. At the tour agency, we met up with the rest of the divers. We were the only ones doing a discovery dive today. Everyone else was certified.
From the agency, we drove to the north of Santa Cruz. We dismounted at the Northern dock to Baltra Island (where the airport is). A large boat was unloading, so we had to wait for a while.
Then we got onto our boat, which was nice and loaded with the dive equipment. The group was mixed from all over the world. The range of dives the others had done were between 5 to 200!
Seymour North Dive
Our first dive spot was in a place called Seymour North. As we got close, the dive instructor started giving everyone the safety briefing and teaching the sign language for the various types of sharks and marine life we may encounter.
I was freaking out, because there was so much information to retain. At the end of the speech, the instructor must have seen my face, because he said not to worry. On the Discovery Dive the instructor is responsible for doing everything. All we need to do is breathe.
We went upstairs to allow the others to gear up, as they would be diving before us. We heard them go into the water.
Then it was our turn. The instructor who would be taking us wasn’t talkative. Even though the main instructor told us not to worry as our instructor would take us through everything, he was just in a rush to get into the water, which wasn’t good. As we suited up, got weights on and finally the tanks on, he didn’t say a word.
Then we jumped into the water. It was crazy.
Under the sea
Once in the water, the sea was really rough. Once we submerged a metre under the waves, the water was surprisingly calm. It was also super clear and strangely loud. The instructor was better in the water. He took his time with us, to make sure we were breathing properly.
Breathing was weird through the mouth piece. I thought it would feel like snorkelling, but it’s way different. After we pressurised we kept going down and down. I always have issues pressurising, even in planes, so I was a little nervous, but I kept pinching my nose and blowing out until I felt good.
Being under water was really nice. There were so many fish everywhere. We saw a shark from a distance, but I wasn’t too sure what type it was. As our tanks became empty, we went back up.
Above the sea
When we eventually surfaced, the waves were really rough. I felt like a rag doll being tossed around. This made me feel sick. Once on the boat, we changed our clothes, but I did not feel great. The rest of the divers were already on the boat.
We were given some food and drinks. I had a minimal amount. Then we went to the second dive spot. When we signed up, we were told that we could go snorkelling at the second dive spot. However, we were given a simple “No” by our instructor. So we waited on the boat as the others went for their second dive.
The waves were massive so we were trying to chill on the boat, which was a little hard. We couldn’t relax, as we had to keep changing our body position to remain upright.
Once the divers arrived, we went back to the dock. From the dock, we were driven back to Macarron Scubadiver. At a restaurant nearby, we had the included lunch.
As we were all talking around the table, we realised that the instructor never took photos of us under the water. Once again, this was different than what the company had told us when we signed up.
Overall, the discovery dive was amazing in the Galapagos given all the wildlife we saw. However, our dive instructor wasn’t the best at communicating anything with us on the boat, and he didn’t take any photos (There was only 1 camera, which the actual divers had taken). The agency told us that they would send the photos of the animals that the other group saw, but they never did. Because of this, I wouldn’t recommend going with Macarron for a Discovery Dive.
After dropping off our bags at our hostel, we went towards the supermarket to buy our ferry tickets for the other islands. The tickets here to Isabela and San Cristobal are $25 USD ($37.20 AUD) p/p per trip.
Fish market Some cooking show near the pier 1835 Coffee Lab Pier at night
Then we bought some empanadas for dinner, before having coffee at 1835 Coffee Lab. There is a lot of advertising about the coffee here. I wasn’t too much of a fan, but the place was nice to chill at.