.June 10th -19th
10 days island hoping, not ever enough time. Scuba diving, surf and exotic animal chilling. Dani and I had a full plate ahead of us and nothing booked. Lol, I love that we had nothing planned. This makes the adventure that much more exciting. Lucky for us it was low season, so we knew we would be able to walk around booking dives and things as we wanted. Dani is a friend and old boos of mine from Utila. She is an amazing lady. She always makes me laugh and tells me how it is straight to my face, I appreciate it. So landing on Cristobal in the afternoon we head to find a hostel and book for some diving. We are on a mission to dive Gordon rock and Kicker rock. Leaving the airport you can walk about 10 minutes into town or grab a taxi. The taxi ride on any of the islands should only cost a couple dollars depending on where you go. Don't get ripped off, check the price of taxi rides with your hostel. After getting settled we eat some local food and check prices at several dive shops. It's always good to bargain and compare prices, with everything. Kicker rock mañana it was. Finding a package deal for $150 USD. Seems like a lot, because it is. But this is a very good price for diving the Galapagos. The day includes boat transportation, 2 dives, gear, towel, lunch, snacks, and a couple hours at the beach. Our evening was simple. Hike to the beach and sea lion sunset. The sea lions are everywhere, super cool to lay on the beach next to your spirit animal. We make way to our hostel and crash early.
6am rise and SHINE!!! Taking breakfast in the room, fueling up for the day and double checking we have everything. The anticipation is rising. It is possible to see hammerheads on this dive but no guarantee. I keep my mind open to anything, diving the Galapagos is enough to get this girl going. The ride out is about an hour. And the. You see it, this massive rock in just of the coast. It's dark and easy looking. The rock is split by passages. The water is cold, 17°c cold. So to help we wear a 5ml wetsuit, an option to wear 2. I decide to not double up on the first dive. A mistake I was aware of when my body hit the water. The cold water runs through your suit, giving you a real wake up call. I suck it up and start to descend. My body is cold making it hard for me to control my breathing. Then finally after a few minutes of real concentration my mind and body are calm and breathing has slowed. Diving through the dark passage to the other side we don't see anything. Then there was light, light at the end, followed by sharks, sharks for day. Then sea lions dive bombs us out of no where. They swim so fast it's hard to keep track of where they are. Coming in close for a look then whisking away. We saw black tie, white tip and the Galapagos shark. Along with tropical fish and sea turtles. Ohhh I love the ocean and all its life. I could sit underwater and watch the animals dance an play for dances. I'm tantalize day the movement of their bodies, the way light reflects of their colorful bodies, and the curiosity they have for humans. Then end of the dive is near and the current is strong. So strong we switch direction. Ascending between 2 rock formations that tower over you as you get pulled back to the boat by the current. An effortless way to return. On boat we are presented with hot tea, warm towels and CHOCOLATE BREAD!! Yea I ate a lot of that shit. I lay in the sun catching some rays to warm my body. My second dive I decide 2 wetsuits is better than one. Our surface interval time is about an hour. Passing time sun bathing and hoping the shivering stops. The second dive is done on the other side of the rock. We descent and wait on the edge of the rocks in hope of catching a climps of hammerheads, today wasn't the day. We swim on into a dark dark passage, looking down there is endless blackness. The ocean goes on for days, you look to the wall and diver in front of you for guidance. Swimming on into a cave. We take position at the bottom and watch as sharks fill the view above. I find peace in watching these magnificent creatures swim with such grace. It's beautiful. Spending only a couple minutes in the cave we head out to our safety stop location. I check my air and realize I'm down to 200 PSI. Wtf happened, and then one of my hoses starts spewing air. I keep calm, finishing my safety stop with just enough air. We regroup on the boat for lunch. Family style is my favorite way to eat. Nothing better then a group of strangers eating, laughing and sharing experiences. Following lunch we head to the beach to catch some rays and a little shut eye. The hot sand feels good on my body, it puts me into napping mode. I make my way back to the boat and pass out until we reach the harbor. Diving can be exhausting, just sucking the energy right outta you. Back on Cristobal Dani and I head to the hostel for more napping followed by dinner. We plan to head to the beach in the morning and take the afternoon Ferry to Santa cruz. The ferry cost $30 dollars each way. Nothing cheaper, a set price.
Waking up we head to the beach for a couple hours. The beach is decorated with iguanas. Not just any Iguana but the only free diving marine Iguana. They are black and kinda scary looking. We swim, play with the sea lions and a little us time. Catching up and planning for the future. Time passes and off to Santa Cruz we go. The ferry ride is a couple hours. I am gifted with the ability to sleep anywhere, so I do so. Passing Ferry time in dream land. We arrive in the evening with reoccurring goals, hostel and dive shop. Dropping our stuff off at our hostel we walk down the strip stopping at dive shops, then Galapagos People appeared. We get the best vibe and perfect price, and they are going to Gordon rock tomorrow. We book the day of diving, transportation and food for $140 USD. An average price for the excursion. The shop is run by this funny older man. We can't stop laughing and looking forward to the following day. Another early start was in our future.
6am , yogurt and granola for breakfast. We have a 2 hour journey to kicker rock. 45min or so, with an hour boat ride out. We make friends with our fellow divers. Gordon rocks consists of several rock formations off the shore of Santa Cruz. The currents can be strong, we are prepped and ready to rock and roll. Descending you can feel a slight current, but on this day we were luckily and weren't caught in a washing machine. The ocean can really fight its self, pulling you in all directions. We make our way down. Immediately 3 turtles greet us as we enter the water. Swimming deeper into begin to scan in all directions for sharks. Then there it is, a hammerhead. Such a majestic creature. One after another we spot hammerheads swimming solo. My heart is filled with joy. Throughout the dive we spot several more along with sting rays and enormous schools of fish. While at our safety stop the dive master and I are goofing around taking videos. Then we spot Dani below us and she is going wild. Giving us the hammerhead signal. We see nothing. Then at the surface she is yelling in excitement. She saw the SCHOOL!! Holy fuck how did we miss that. Well good thing we have another dive ahead of us. The second dive is upon us and we are determined to find the school that Dani witness. Descending off the other rock and down to about 15 m. Swimming along the rock wall, eyes peeled for dark shadows off in the deep blue. Then there is it, our dive master signals us, we swim out and it is unforgettable. Easily over 30 hammerheads. It's so amazing I think I started to cry tears of excitement. We watch them swim past, then one hammerhead whips around and heads right for us. Oh shit, not something you want to see. We back petal, swimming in the opposite direction with our eye on school. Continuing our dive we are quickly faced with more hammerheads. Swimming so close you could, if you wanted, actually reach out and touch them. Dani and I last longeLonger on our air so we keep diving. We spot 2 more sharks, one Galapagos and another I'm not quite certain what it is. Coming up from our dive in disbelief, the school we saw the school. Today has been such a great day and it's only begun. The boat ride back is long. We fill time with lunch and sun bathing. Returning to shore we are beat. Getting back to town late afternoon we go for naps then regroup at the dive shop in the evening to review footage from the day. The videos from the go pro are fabulous. I'm so excited to receive the footage and watch the videos over and over. After hanging out for a minute we head to dinner with Danielle our other dive master. Hitting the local street food. You can eat a full filling meal for around $4 USD. Not bad for the Galapagos. Dinner is usually served with juice, soup and a main dish with meat of your choice. I go for fish or chicken, packing in the protein. We decide to treat ourselves and have ice cream before bed. Our plan was to wake up and go to the local beach, and I would surf with Danielle. Yes so excited to be back on a board, it has been a while.
The beach is close to our hostel, a five minute walk where I wait for Danielle to help carry the boards. The walk to the beach is hot, very little shade and takes about 45min. When you arrive it's perfect. Waves, the sand is so white and the beach completely empty. The current is strong, making it hard to petal out. Pulling you is different directions making it difficult to find the right entry point. I use her longer board first, we switch on and off so I can try to ride the short board. The waves aren't build for the shorter board, strong but all white wash. We finish and begin to head back, Dani just gets to the beach when we are on our way. She doesn't mind turning around, the sun and hot beach isn't really her thing. The walk seems to take even longer now that I'm burned out from surfing. With an open evening ahead of us we nap and then wander the town. We also book for the morning Ferry to Isabela. Stopping off to check out the street jewelry and chat with locals.
The ride to Isabela is long, almost 3 hours. I nap as much as I can. Isabela is beautiful, the beach is so white, calm waters and the perfect breeze. Spending the first day on isabella chilling, eating food and book for Los Tunels. A tour for the following day where you get to snorkel, see lots of different wild life, and the tunnels created by Lava flow. The tour is early in the morning and last about 5 hours. It takes time to get out to our first location. Where we get off to walk around on the rock formations left from the Lava flow. We spot blue footed BOOBIES, a cool bird I honestly don't know much about other then the fact is has blue feet. After sometime we head to the spot we will be snorkeling. Getting the chance to be up closer and personal with penguins, sea lions, sharks, sting rays and an enormous amount of turtles. The sea turtles were everywhere, I love it. The stoners of the sea, who knew they'd be one of my favorites. Our tour finishes and we head back. The plan is to get back to santa cruz the following day. Booking your ticket in this situation is important. There is limited space on the boats so do yourself a favor and book at least a whole day in advanced. We decide to take the afternoon Ferry giving us more time on isabella to stroll around, see the pink flamingos and giant land turtles.
I spend the morning on the beach and wandering around town. Walking to the turtle sanctuary. There are so many turtles. So many babies. The turtles grow slowly, so slow that by the time the babies reach an adult age I will no longer be on this planet. Kinda crazy to thing about. Walking back I stop off to watch the flamingos play in the water. They get their color from the colorful pink algae that grows in the water.
Returning to santa cruz in the late afternoon I head out to visit Galapagos People.. We get to talking and then the owner puts me up in his hostel. I would be spending tnext 2 nights here. I wanted another day on Santa Cruz to see the volcanic fracture and Alemana beach. A day to myself to explore and relax on the beach before my long journey to Montanita. So I did just that. Heading out to the beach early in the morning, I run into a surfer friend from Isabela. He decides to join me, cool I like friends. We spend the day swimming, watching juvenile manta rays play in the shore line and diving into the water that fills the volcanic fracture. The water is crystal clear and goes on for days. This is typically a local watering hole. You find people jumping of the high cliffs when park monitors are not around. My surfer friend and I head back for dinner. We make arrangements to meet back at the harbor. I head to my hostel to make my own food and head back out. The harbor at night is full of aquatic life. Literally hundreds of baby black tip sharks, sea lions and manta rays come to the harbor to feed at night. I could watch them for hours. A great way to end my journey to the Galapagos. I head home to sleep early, I had a big travel day ahead of me.
A long day it is. Waking to catch the ferry around 5:30am to Cristobal, followed by an hour or 2 of sitting around waiting to head to the airport. Where I catch my flight back to guayaquil. Followed by a 4-5 bus ride to Montanita. What do you do on travel days..well you read, write, sleep, watch movies if you can and listen to music. I make to Montanita finally around 10pm. I head straight to Chichi Babylon, the hostel I will be helping out at for the next week. I couldn't be happier to be somewhere. The next week would be filled with surf and chilling. The best way to end your travels before you head back to the states. Lucky for me I was only going for a month. To catch up with family, friends and put in work.
10 days island hoping, not ever enough time. Scuba diving, surf and exotic animal chilling. Dani and I had a full plate ahead of us and nothing booked. Lol, I love that we had nothing planned. This makes the adventure that much more exciting. Lucky for us it was low season, so we knew we would be able to walk around booking dives and things as we wanted. Dani is a friend and old boos of mine from Utila. She is an amazing lady. She always makes me laugh and tells me how it is straight to my face, I appreciate it. So landing on Cristobal in the afternoon we head to find a hostel and book for some diving. We are on a mission to dive Gordon rock and Kicker rock. Leaving the airport you can walk about 10 minutes into town or grab a taxi. The taxi ride on any of the islands should only cost a couple dollars depending on where you go. Don't get ripped off, check the price of taxi rides with your hostel. After getting settled we eat some local food and check prices at several dive shops. It's always good to bargain and compare prices, with everything. Kicker rock mañana it was. Finding a package deal for $150 USD. Seems like a lot, because it is. But this is a very good price for diving the Galapagos. The day includes boat transportation, 2 dives, gear, towel, lunch, snacks, and a couple hours at the beach. Our evening was simple. Hike to the beach and sea lion sunset. The sea lions are everywhere, super cool to lay on the beach next to your spirit animal. We make way to our hostel and crash early.
6am rise and SHINE!!! Taking breakfast in the room, fueling up for the day and double checking we have everything. The anticipation is rising. It is possible to see hammerheads on this dive but no guarantee. I keep my mind open to anything, diving the Galapagos is enough to get this girl going. The ride out is about an hour. And the. You see it, this massive rock in just of the coast. It's dark and easy looking. The rock is split by passages. The water is cold, 17°c cold. So to help we wear a 5ml wetsuit, an option to wear 2. I decide to not double up on the first dive. A mistake I was aware of when my body hit the water. The cold water runs through your suit, giving you a real wake up call. I suck it up and start to descend. My body is cold making it hard for me to control my breathing. Then finally after a few minutes of real concentration my mind and body are calm and breathing has slowed. Diving through the dark passage to the other side we don't see anything. Then there was light, light at the end, followed by sharks, sharks for day. Then sea lions dive bombs us out of no where. They swim so fast it's hard to keep track of where they are. Coming in close for a look then whisking away. We saw black tie, white tip and the Galapagos shark. Along with tropical fish and sea turtles. Ohhh I love the ocean and all its life. I could sit underwater and watch the animals dance an play for dances. I'm tantalize day the movement of their bodies, the way light reflects of their colorful bodies, and the curiosity they have for humans. Then end of the dive is near and the current is strong. So strong we switch direction. Ascending between 2 rock formations that tower over you as you get pulled back to the boat by the current. An effortless way to return. On boat we are presented with hot tea, warm towels and CHOCOLATE BREAD!! Yea I ate a lot of that shit. I lay in the sun catching some rays to warm my body. My second dive I decide 2 wetsuits is better than one. Our surface interval time is about an hour. Passing time sun bathing and hoping the shivering stops. The second dive is done on the other side of the rock. We descent and wait on the edge of the rocks in hope of catching a climps of hammerheads, today wasn't the day. We swim on into a dark dark passage, looking down there is endless blackness. The ocean goes on for days, you look to the wall and diver in front of you for guidance. Swimming on into a cave. We take position at the bottom and watch as sharks fill the view above. I find peace in watching these magnificent creatures swim with such grace. It's beautiful. Spending only a couple minutes in the cave we head out to our safety stop location. I check my air and realize I'm down to 200 PSI. Wtf happened, and then one of my hoses starts spewing air. I keep calm, finishing my safety stop with just enough air. We regroup on the boat for lunch. Family style is my favorite way to eat. Nothing better then a group of strangers eating, laughing and sharing experiences. Following lunch we head to the beach to catch some rays and a little shut eye. The hot sand feels good on my body, it puts me into napping mode. I make my way back to the boat and pass out until we reach the harbor. Diving can be exhausting, just sucking the energy right outta you. Back on Cristobal Dani and I head to the hostel for more napping followed by dinner. We plan to head to the beach in the morning and take the afternoon Ferry to Santa cruz. The ferry cost $30 dollars each way. Nothing cheaper, a set price.
Waking up we head to the beach for a couple hours. The beach is decorated with iguanas. Not just any Iguana but the only free diving marine Iguana. They are black and kinda scary looking. We swim, play with the sea lions and a little us time. Catching up and planning for the future. Time passes and off to Santa Cruz we go. The ferry ride is a couple hours. I am gifted with the ability to sleep anywhere, so I do so. Passing Ferry time in dream land. We arrive in the evening with reoccurring goals, hostel and dive shop. Dropping our stuff off at our hostel we walk down the strip stopping at dive shops, then Galapagos People appeared. We get the best vibe and perfect price, and they are going to Gordon rock tomorrow. We book the day of diving, transportation and food for $140 USD. An average price for the excursion. The shop is run by this funny older man. We can't stop laughing and looking forward to the following day. Another early start was in our future.
6am , yogurt and granola for breakfast. We have a 2 hour journey to kicker rock. 45min or so, with an hour boat ride out. We make friends with our fellow divers. Gordon rocks consists of several rock formations off the shore of Santa Cruz. The currents can be strong, we are prepped and ready to rock and roll. Descending you can feel a slight current, but on this day we were luckily and weren't caught in a washing machine. The ocean can really fight its self, pulling you in all directions. We make our way down. Immediately 3 turtles greet us as we enter the water. Swimming deeper into begin to scan in all directions for sharks. Then there it is, a hammerhead. Such a majestic creature. One after another we spot hammerheads swimming solo. My heart is filled with joy. Throughout the dive we spot several more along with sting rays and enormous schools of fish. While at our safety stop the dive master and I are goofing around taking videos. Then we spot Dani below us and she is going wild. Giving us the hammerhead signal. We see nothing. Then at the surface she is yelling in excitement. She saw the SCHOOL!! Holy fuck how did we miss that. Well good thing we have another dive ahead of us. The second dive is upon us and we are determined to find the school that Dani witness. Descending off the other rock and down to about 15 m. Swimming along the rock wall, eyes peeled for dark shadows off in the deep blue. Then there is it, our dive master signals us, we swim out and it is unforgettable. Easily over 30 hammerheads. It's so amazing I think I started to cry tears of excitement. We watch them swim past, then one hammerhead whips around and heads right for us. Oh shit, not something you want to see. We back petal, swimming in the opposite direction with our eye on school. Continuing our dive we are quickly faced with more hammerheads. Swimming so close you could, if you wanted, actually reach out and touch them. Dani and I last longeLonger on our air so we keep diving. We spot 2 more sharks, one Galapagos and another I'm not quite certain what it is. Coming up from our dive in disbelief, the school we saw the school. Today has been such a great day and it's only begun. The boat ride back is long. We fill time with lunch and sun bathing. Returning to shore we are beat. Getting back to town late afternoon we go for naps then regroup at the dive shop in the evening to review footage from the day. The videos from the go pro are fabulous. I'm so excited to receive the footage and watch the videos over and over. After hanging out for a minute we head to dinner with Danielle our other dive master. Hitting the local street food. You can eat a full filling meal for around $4 USD. Not bad for the Galapagos. Dinner is usually served with juice, soup and a main dish with meat of your choice. I go for fish or chicken, packing in the protein. We decide to treat ourselves and have ice cream before bed. Our plan was to wake up and go to the local beach, and I would surf with Danielle. Yes so excited to be back on a board, it has been a while.
The beach is close to our hostel, a five minute walk where I wait for Danielle to help carry the boards. The walk to the beach is hot, very little shade and takes about 45min. When you arrive it's perfect. Waves, the sand is so white and the beach completely empty. The current is strong, making it hard to petal out. Pulling you is different directions making it difficult to find the right entry point. I use her longer board first, we switch on and off so I can try to ride the short board. The waves aren't build for the shorter board, strong but all white wash. We finish and begin to head back, Dani just gets to the beach when we are on our way. She doesn't mind turning around, the sun and hot beach isn't really her thing. The walk seems to take even longer now that I'm burned out from surfing. With an open evening ahead of us we nap and then wander the town. We also book for the morning Ferry to Isabela. Stopping off to check out the street jewelry and chat with locals.
The ride to Isabela is long, almost 3 hours. I nap as much as I can. Isabela is beautiful, the beach is so white, calm waters and the perfect breeze. Spending the first day on isabella chilling, eating food and book for Los Tunels. A tour for the following day where you get to snorkel, see lots of different wild life, and the tunnels created by Lava flow. The tour is early in the morning and last about 5 hours. It takes time to get out to our first location. Where we get off to walk around on the rock formations left from the Lava flow. We spot blue footed BOOBIES, a cool bird I honestly don't know much about other then the fact is has blue feet. After sometime we head to the spot we will be snorkeling. Getting the chance to be up closer and personal with penguins, sea lions, sharks, sting rays and an enormous amount of turtles. The sea turtles were everywhere, I love it. The stoners of the sea, who knew they'd be one of my favorites. Our tour finishes and we head back. The plan is to get back to santa cruz the following day. Booking your ticket in this situation is important. There is limited space on the boats so do yourself a favor and book at least a whole day in advanced. We decide to take the afternoon Ferry giving us more time on isabella to stroll around, see the pink flamingos and giant land turtles.
I spend the morning on the beach and wandering around town. Walking to the turtle sanctuary. There are so many turtles. So many babies. The turtles grow slowly, so slow that by the time the babies reach an adult age I will no longer be on this planet. Kinda crazy to thing about. Walking back I stop off to watch the flamingos play in the water. They get their color from the colorful pink algae that grows in the water.
Returning to santa cruz in the late afternoon I head out to visit Galapagos People.. We get to talking and then the owner puts me up in his hostel. I would be spending tnext 2 nights here. I wanted another day on Santa Cruz to see the volcanic fracture and Alemana beach. A day to myself to explore and relax on the beach before my long journey to Montanita. So I did just that. Heading out to the beach early in the morning, I run into a surfer friend from Isabela. He decides to join me, cool I like friends. We spend the day swimming, watching juvenile manta rays play in the shore line and diving into the water that fills the volcanic fracture. The water is crystal clear and goes on for days. This is typically a local watering hole. You find people jumping of the high cliffs when park monitors are not around. My surfer friend and I head back for dinner. We make arrangements to meet back at the harbor. I head to my hostel to make my own food and head back out. The harbor at night is full of aquatic life. Literally hundreds of baby black tip sharks, sea lions and manta rays come to the harbor to feed at night. I could watch them for hours. A great way to end my journey to the Galapagos. I head home to sleep early, I had a big travel day ahead of me.
A long day it is. Waking to catch the ferry around 5:30am to Cristobal, followed by an hour or 2 of sitting around waiting to head to the airport. Where I catch my flight back to guayaquil. Followed by a 4-5 bus ride to Montanita. What do you do on travel days..well you read, write, sleep, watch movies if you can and listen to music. I make to Montanita finally around 10pm. I head straight to Chichi Babylon, the hostel I will be helping out at for the next week. I couldn't be happier to be somewhere. The next week would be filled with surf and chilling. The best way to end your travels before you head back to the states. Lucky for me I was only going for a month. To catch up with family, friends and put in work.