Trip: Galapagos Islands onboard the Aggressor III. 16 Divers. 10 Aggressor crew.
Dates: April 25-May 2, 2019
Itinerary: 7-day cruise in Galapagos starting and ending at Baltra. 6 days of diving with hammerheads, eagle rays, turtles, sea lions, and a lot more. 2 scheduled hikes.
Price: $5505. (if you go to Aggressor III website, you will see advertised trip price for April 2019 to Galapagos is $6,295; you will never go to Galapagos on a dive trip for this price). www.aggressor.com
Includes: All diving, tanks, weights, air refills. All meals, snacks, beverages (alcoholic [local beer and wine] and non-alcoholic). Cabin accommodations. Transport to and from Baltra Airport to Aggressor III.
Tentative Itinerary for air travel. April 3, 2019, Wednesday, fly to Guayaquil International Airport, Ecuador. Overnight stay in Guayaquil. After breakfast April 4, Thursday, meet at airport (Aggressor rep will be onsite to assist with documentation) for flight to Baltra Island airport where Aggressor III crew will meet us and transport us to Itabaca Channel (Canal) where we will board the charter. Checkout dive that afternoon. April 11, 2019, Thursday, after breakfast onboard Aggressor III, transported by crew to Baltra airport (8am-ish). Early flight to Guayaquil. Connect to final destination. If you wish, the Aggressor travel office will assist you with airline flights - flights from your originating city to Guayaquil, hotel stay, Baltra, and return. Aggressor books/reserves charter flights from Guayaquil to Baltra well in advance so this piece of your travel planning may be easiest to coordinate with the Aggressor travel rep. As we get closer to summer/fall of 2018, we will start coordinating this. Prices are not available yet on Guayaquil-to-Baltra flights or Guayaquil hotels.
Dive Training. No specific or advanced training is required for this trip or diving in the Galapagos. However, this is not the Caribbean, warm, calm water that we know and love. The dives will be deep, cold (high 70s water temp), and some will have current. There will likely be dives where we use a reef hook and fight current as we watch the schools of hammerheads. If you haven't been in the water for awhile, or you have been wanting to complete Nitrox or Advanced Training, you may want to consider following through with your plans for additional training in 2018. Nitrox is not required but will be available for those that are certified to use it. You will also read that a 5m suit is recommended, unless you have a tendency to stay cold - then you may consider a 7m suit. In short, you probably want to try to go diving before next April and be comfortable and confident with your diving and gear by the time you arrive at Baltra. Finally, four dives will be offered on most days, however, you don't have to dive every dive (if you hear something in the dive briefing you are not comfortable with).
Does Not Include: Airfare. Rental dive gear; Nitrox (if used). Dinner final evening (on land). Crew gratuity (10%-15%). Anything purchased onboard (hats, tshirts, etc.). Trip insurance (recommended) and DAN insurance (recommended). Specialty dive courses. Park fees/taxes ($120). Also, this trip is a dive trip to Galapagos...there are only two times we will be on land. The Galapagos "land adventure" is a completely different trip with different destinations and routes for sightseeing and snorkeling, and unfortunately we are not able to combine sea-and-land excursions. However, if you are interested in the separate land vacation to Galapagos, you can visit the islands prior to or after the Aggressor's itinerary.
