Am I missing something? - Galapagos

Desertdiver11

You can hold your camera in your lap as you do a back roll or have it handed to you after you are in the water.

Because of the current and surge you do a back roll and kick hard to get down to 60-80 feet where you hold onto a boulder so you are not swept away. You need to stay with your group and not be separated from them to prevent yourself from getting lost forever.

I took my dslr rig on one dive at Wolf and that was enough, I needed two hands to hold on the rocks at Wolf and Darwin.

Elmer

Thanks, Elmer

I have a trip booked for next year..... will be pretty disappointed if I can't take the D-SLR on Wolf and Darwin dives, but yes, safety is the priority. Will probably do a few dives w/o the camera first and see how it goes.........

The problem is that a DSLR with a 8' or 9' dome and two strobes is a big sail in current/surge at Wolf and Darwin. It is virtually impossible to steady it with one hand and hold on to a boulder with the other. If you let go of the boulder to take a pic you are swept away. A small video setup or a gopro is easier to handle.

Regular neoprene gloves get shredded on the boulders and are soon useless, get kevlar gloves.

To be honest, when I was there the current wasn't so bad, we had loads of hammers and 13 whalesharks during our time in Wolf and Darwin (it was first week of Nov) I don't recall if it was half moon or not but the currents were nothing compared to Blue Corner or the Tuamotus or Komodo or such.. I would have no hesitation bringing the DSLR rig with me on the dives. However, saying that, currents change all the time and you will just need to look at the conditions before dive time and make the decision then. I would certainly bring the whole rig so as not to avoid disappointment.. Bring a good reef hook

Yes, will bring everything (10-17mm/mini-dome & 12-24mm/wide dome) and decide on the spot. Leaving strobes behind would help reduce the drag, too, since I think the hammers are generally off in a distance...

I'm curious, Elmer- what time of year did you go? Mike was in Nov; I'm going in May, end of the warm season.

I've seen some predictions that 2016 will be an El Nino year, not sure how this will affect currents (vs temperature).

Hope this doesn't drive the HHs down too far.

I went to the Galapagos the later part of July at the peak of the whale shark season.

At Wolf and Darwin we had current and surge. If you turned your head sideways and your mask was not on tight it would flood.

As Mike has said, the currents can vary, but everyone who I know who have dove there has commented on the current at Wolf and Darwin. One dive site at Wolf is named "the washing machine" due to its changing surge. The merging of different currents bring in the pelagic fish. You will really enjoy the amount of fish life there, just be aware of the possible conditions. I should also point out that the water temperature at Wolf and Darwin is around 70-72 degrees.

Last time I went there in June 4 years ago I saw big hammerheads got flushed by sudden change of current and forced to spin round and round at Wolf.

It may be a coincidence, but I just noticed two pretty harsh reader reports in Undercurrent about the Carib Dancer in the Bahamas. It may be totally unrelated I'm just speculating, but perhaps they are getting bad press and need to offer big discounts to regain their reputation and do damage control. I've been to Galapagos twice but not on an Aggressor or Dancer. I have been on 4 or 5 Dancers/Aggressors around the world and I've generally found them to be very good.