The most spectacular pelagic diving on the planet. The Galapagos is one of those rare places where you can dive through hundreds of hammerhead sharks to find a whale shark cruising along. Toss in silky sharks, sea turtles, giant morays and schooling fish in their thousands… And that’s just the first dive at Darwin!
At Wolf Island, you can expect huge Galapagos sharks and eagle rays up close, whilst dives at Cabo Marshall will put you face to face with giant manta rays and inside a school of millions of black-striped salemas. Mola mola (sunfish) may be seen in the depths too. Macro life is plentiful. Black coral bushes shelter seahorses, blennies, nudibranchs, hawkfish and frogfish. Marine iguanas are a unique sight, along with speedy Galapagos penguins and playful sea lions.
Overview
This is but a mere taste of why divers consistently proclaim the Galapagos to have the healthiest marine life in the Pacific. Situated in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, nearly 1,400 km due west from the coast of Ecuador, the archipelago’s unique flora and fauna is mainly due to the isolated location. The various racing ocean currents around the islands bring with them nutrients and the world-famous marine life.
Above water, this isolated group of volcanic islands has a striking range of landscapes which are home to an unparalleled number of endemic species. Brought to prominence by Charles Darwin in his renowned book ‘On the Origin of Species’ following his 1835 visit on board HMS Beagle, the islands were named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1978.
