TRAVEL SPECIAL
SBelow : Bartolome Island
URight : Giant tortoise , Santa Cruz island
This is a story of two weeks in which the sites revealed their different aspects as the currents shifted from south to north . For the first week I was joined by my friend Sophie , a National Instructor , while for the second I buddied up with various members of Kingston and Elmbridge BSAC , who were on a grand tour of central America . They were superb company and greatly enhanced my enjoyment of the trip .
After an uneventful buoyancy check dive at Los Lobos , we sailed to Isla Pinzon , which offers a great introduction to the type of diving you do in the southern islands of Galapagos . Although the water was cool ( about 23 ° C ) and relatively dark , there was plenty to see , including a vast school of striped salemas and the endemic yellowtail surgeonfish . The reef itself was dominated by forests of black coral and draped with various sponges , home to smaller fish such as triplefin blennies and longnose hawkfish .
As we neared the corner of the reef , the current took hold and swept us over the top with unexpected violence . Holding my camera out of harm ’ s way , I clung to the rock , but it was so strong it effectively pinned us into one place , all the while surrounded by a swirling school of salemas . On the second week I braced myself for more of the same , but the dive concluded with a sedate drift .
Later , we visited Cousin Rock , where you can see anything from schooling barracuda to seahorses . On the first week I set up my camera to shoot the resident white-tip reef sharks , but I was swimming past all sorts
DARWIN
WOLF PINTA
Pacific Ocean
MARCHENA
GENOVESA
EQUATOR
Punta Vicente Roca Cabo Douglas
SANTIAGO
Rocas Cousins BARTOLOMÉ
FERNANDINA
BALTRA RABIDA
Rocas Gordon
Pinzon SANTA CRUZ
PINZON
SAN CRISTÓBAL
ISABELA SANTA FE
Isla Lobos
TORTUGA
ESPAÑOLA
FLOREANA
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