Accessible scuba diving at Galapagos
Our first accessible diving Galapagos experience
During late November we had guests from the UK who were very enthusiastic about doing many things while traveling with us.
The Galapagos visit was at the end of their journey and of course as the days went by, more and more activities were done……rafting at the amazon, hiking in secondary rain forest, even in Galapagos the snorkeling and the close contact with animals provide an extra motivation for everybody……
That particular weekend there was a big swell coming from the south. So the ocean was rough, but for the day of the visit to Kicker Rock, chances were the swell will start going down.
You can see that the ocean was bigger as the waves pounding in shore were higher and stronger. This gives a particular feeling of adrenaline to al lof us.
The night before the tour, we stopped at our dive master shop, where we tried our diving gear, BCD, wetsuits, fins etc. We watched some videos and filled out all the forms.
The next morning we started our adventure. We took a very comfortable 12 people catamaran. We rode for approx 1 hour until we reached a huge rock formation that stands out of the open ocean. Locals called in “Leon Dormido” or Kicker Rock.
As we circle the spot, the first people who were doing snorkel jumped in the water. Then we did our inmersion to the water, by sliding into the boat platform.
Going into the water was very easy, as boat has a back platform at water level. Once inside the water, with all the gear checked, we started descending
The temperature of the water was around 20 degrees celcius and visibility was approx 8 meters.
We felt how currents surrounding the rock formation pulled you in different directions, but the good work and knowledge of our dive masters make it possible for us to go down to 15-20 meters.
For the people who has never dived before, it is the closest as being on the moon…Your senses, specially sight become very sharp and you experience how your body floats in the water. You are very alert at all the different sounds and pay close attention to many details in the water, rocks and coral.
As we kept moving across, we spotted marine iguanas (many), galapagos sharks, rays and we had a glance at distance of a hammer head shark. Of course this is not common to happen but we were able to see it from a distance.
As we got back to the surface, we were helped to go back into the boat platform, get a dry towel and warm oursleves with a banana and cup of coffee.
The rest of the team that went snorkeling were happy as well as they spotted galapagos shars, 3 rays, many marine tourtles and corals.
Diving is not for everybody, wether you have a disability or not, but if you are lucky to do it, it is certainly one experience to remember.
If you do it at Galapagos, where currents are strong, and you watch plenty of marine life, then it will be an experience you will never forget 😊
Thanks to all our crew, boat Captain, dive masters, staff to make this possible.
Thumps up Galapagos
