deep blue galapagos

has anyone been on the deep blue to the galapagos. i am booked for june 06 and would like to hear from anyone that has been on her. many thanks, stewsmith

We were on the Deep Blue at the end of October for a 11 night cruise. I thought both the boat and crew were excellent. The dive area was large and well organised, there was lots of space elsewhere to lounge around in the sun or shade between dives, the food was good and the crew friendly and helpful.

With the exception of the check out dive the diving was superb. We got to see everything we had hoped for - 100's of hammerheads, mantas, dolpins, seahorses, red lipped batfish, huge shoals of fish and at Darwin we were lucky enough to see whalesharks on most dives.

I'd definitely recommend both the boat and destination.

Richard

what were the currents like, were they as bad as they say they are. we are both advanced divers and used to strong currents but like to prepare ourselves for them. also have you posted any photos anywhere. cheers for the info, stew

I was there last year in October,the boat was great and the staff were excellent too. The Southern islands the water was cool and with corrents,but no too strong at least when I was there. The best diving was at Darwin and Wolf,We had very strong corrents at Darwing but then is when you see the the big stuff and then ....whale sharks. We saw a total of 13 whale sharks during six dives.

You can check out some of the photos I took during that week:

http://www.pbase.com/dgallardo/galapagos&page=all

You will love it

Regards

David

Bunch of Deep Blue trip reports, from me:

http://echeng.com/travel/galapagos2005/

http://echeng.com/travel/galapagos2004/

http://echeng.com/travel/galapagos2003/

The vast majority of people I know who have been on the boat had a fantastic time. There was one really bad trip that I know of (which I'm sure you can find trip reports about, if you are so inclined), but all of those issues have been resolved, or were one-off problems.

what were the currents like, were they as bad as they say they are. we are both advanced divers and used to strong currents but like to prepare ourselves for them. also have you posted any photos anywhere. cheers for the info, stew

(taken from my journal here: http://echeng.com/travel/galapagos2005/ )

Strong down and up currents while we were there!

nice profile.......now i seriously cant wait.....those washing machine currents are always good for adrenalin.....

In my opinion it will be hard to have a "bad" trip to the Galapagos but I definitely was impressed with the operation of the Deep Blue while I was on the vessel. It is a large, spacious boat - plenty of room. It is also comfortable (especially liked the large, soft bath robes provided). Finally the crew is good and Juan Carlos and Antonio are passionate about preserving the unique biology of the Galapagos. They genuainely care about andf know their home and this is expressed in their lectures - they have a lot to teach if you listen and are personally interested in conversing with you at length over many topics. As a biologist I was fascinated to be at what can be considered "mecca' to a biologist. The unique forms of life that are able to survive in these mostly harsh and volcanic islands fascinated me and was a nice addition to Darwin - still my pic for the best dive spot in the world. Enjoy the trip! I am trying to get back out there myself and will probably look to use the Deep Blue again...

cheers!

- MP

I have not been on the Deep Blue, but on the Lammer Law. I had a great time and I know from friends that the Big Blue is great as well. The only thing I'm sure about the BB, is that you will have the best guide in the entire region. Antonio Morena used to work for the LL and I really enjoyed his kindness, his knowledge and his professionalism (Now he works for the Big Blue).

About the following quote: "In my opinion it will be hard to have a "bad" trip to the Galapagos", I have good friends who were in September 2005 in the Galapagos and they were really deceived. They are photo pros and had no chance to see any whale shark (OK for that, it was not the right season) and any hammerhead at all during 5 diving days in Darwin! Moreover they had a really bad weather.

If you are interested to read my travel resume, you can find it here:

http://www.braunstein.co.il/articles.asp?id=6

Have fun,

Michel

great website. i really cant wait till june..i just hope i am lucky enough to see a whale shark or 2. i have just set myself up with a sony pc1000 video camera and ikeltie housing, so i maybe lucky and have some good footage on my return. i am off to elphinstone and the brothers on the grand sea serpent at the end of february to try my new kit out amongst the oceanics. i want to get a wide angle lense for the set up and ikelite suggest the inon uwl 100. i have read a review that vingetting will appear, so i am not so sure now. although i would rather have a shot of a whale shark with vingetting rather than a shot of half a whale shark. all the best, stewsmith