air or nitrox in galapagos

Hi all, i am booked on the Deep Blue for June this year and was wandering what people have been diving on. I would like to dive on nitrox for obvious reasons,but have concerns regarding the strong down currents that I have been reading about.

Any advice welcomed. Cheers, Stew

Hi Stew,

I just went diving in the Galapagos last June and dove nitrox all week. If the boat offers it, dive it! Less nitrogen is the bottom line. I wouldn't be overly concerned about the strong down currents. I never experienced any that time of year and a lot of the diving is in the 20-25m range anyway. Besides, most reputable operators/DM keep a good eye on you anyway. That time of year is when the whale sharks start showing up so you'll be near your DM for dives out at Darwin's Arch if they go there anyway. They are good at spotting those guys in the blue!

Have a great time!

Get rebreather trained if you can.

A quick excursion a several metres beyond the MOD of a nitrox fill will not give you a problem.

The same may not be said for rebreathers - they are a tool, and like all tools have a place, this is not the place, nor the reason.

PRC

I think people are insane who dive Galapagos on air, especially if you are doing multiple dives at Darwin. The ledge at Darwin is at around 60', and on air, you'll be pushing your limits on virtually every dive. Just about everyone seems to end up in deco, despite strong advice against it.

Nitrox, all the way.

Definitely Nitrox, much better for the bottom times. As Eric said, its mostly at 60 feet. Nitrox a huge benefit at that depth

Good to know, I have not even done a nitrox class yet and I will be in Galapagos in April. Generally at 20m, I will be out of air long before my

less conservative divecom (Cochran) will be anywhere near NDR

Boi....don't worry, we can take care of that next month ol bean!

Stew,

When we were on Deep Blue in October most of the boat used Nitrox for the days at Darwin and Wolf but my wife and I didn't as we're not Nitrox qualified. I think we might have been lucky but neither NDT or down currents were an issue. The second half of most dives was spent in the blue at depths that meant deco was never an issue and the only bad profiles we experienced were due to over enthusiastically following the whale sharks and not down currents.

Richard

cheers for the replies, nitrox it is... I am off to The Brothers and Elphinstone on the Grand Sea Serpent in the Red Sea in 6 weeks so I will be doing my course on there. It is also free nitrox onboard so that cant be bad...