Dive Review of Aggressor I in
Galapagos Islands

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Aggressor I, Aug, 2008, by Sean Bruner, Arizona, USA ( Contributor 16 reports with 2 Helpful votes). Report 4315.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity	N/A
Dive Operation		Shore Diving
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$	N/A
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	This was my second trip on the Galapagos Aggressor. After a check-out dive to get our weight straight (extra weight due to water salinity and new wet suit), we headed for two dives at Mosquera Island. Lots of very playful sea lions, green turtles, moray eels, horse-eyed jacks, sting rays, garden eels and a few white tip sharks. We did a land tour, seeing baby sea lions, lots of land iguanas, some marine iguanas, blue footed boobies, frigate birds, sea gulls, etc. We saw a school of mobula rays on the surface feeding, which was nice, but we would have rather seen them from in the water. The guide, Jaime, borrowed from the Peter Hughes boat for this trip only, was very informative and knowledgeable. Then off to the northern islands. After the long crossing, we arrived at Wolf Island in time for four dives. Big currents and tons of sharks: hammerheads, Galapagos sharks, black tips, silkies and even a tiger shark, captured in a photo and verified. Also saw some eagle rays, but not a big school, yellow fin tuna, and large schools of jacks. On the fourth dive, my wife, Laura, got separated and was with Jaime and they saw a whale shark. Next day, on to Darwin Island for four dives. Again, lots of sharks and current. On the second dive we saw at least two different whale sharks. On the fourth dive a group of five divers got separated and spent a long time, 10-15 minutes, with a whale shark, an amazing encounter. Some of the same divers ran into a school of hammerheads on the third dive that numbered in the hundreds. The next day we did two more dives at Darwin and one at Wolf, but didn’t see the whale sharks. Back to the main islands for two dives at Cousin’s Rock and one at Gordon’s rock and another land tour at the famous site overlooking the bay where a scene in Master and Commander was filmed. Again, lots of turtles, sea lions, some sting rays, a few sharks, a school of salemas which we saw a sea lion feeding off of, large school or barracuda and two sea horses. Overall impression: very good. The diving is exciting and the boat and crew is good. The food is decent and plentiful. Nice touches: hot towels after the dives, hot chocolate after the morning dive, DVD players in the cabins (although ours worked only sporadically) and a CD with photos from the trip for free (the DVD cost $65). The bad news: for some reason, the Aggressors I and II were on identical schedules. Here we are out in the middle of nowhere (Darwin and Wolf) with 30 plus divers in the water at the same time! They could have had one diving at Wolf while the other was at Darwin. Why don’t they include the add-ons in the price? $100 for Nitrox (but air isn’t an option; they only have Nitrox), $100 “fuel surcharge” (although Ecuador is an OPEC country and the gas is subsidized: $1.50 a gallon), $70 “port fee.” They provide each diver with a GPS locator device in case you surface far from the boat. Laura tried to open hers on the first day at Wolf and it was stuck shut. The next day at Darwin, they were still stuck shut and when the five divers chasing the whale shark surfaced, they were so far from the boat that they tried to activate the GPS. They were all stuck shut. Finally, one was opened and after waiting 20 minutes (with five silkies circling underneath!) they were able to signal the boat and were picked up. The next day, the GPS’s were all greased and opened easily. Overall, however, this is a highly recommended trip and you need to book early, like more than a year in advance, because of the limitations that have been put on Galapagos diving by the Ecuadorian government. We went to Sacha lodge in the Ecuadorian Amazon following the diving. I won't go into it other than to say that if you go all the way to Galapagos, don't miss the opportunity to see the Amazon, it's amazing!
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	501-1000 dives
Where else diving	Indonesia, Palau, Islas Reviagigedo, Sea of Cortez, Fiji, Hawaii, Cozumel, Bonaire, Papua New Guinea
Closest Airport		Getting There
Dive Conditions
Weather	cloudy, dry	Seas	choppy, currents
Water Temp	68-74°F / 20-23°C	Wetsuit Thickness	7
Water Visibility	25-75 Ft/ 8-23 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	no
Enforced diving restrictions	One hour max, Nitrox limits, buddy teams
Liveaboard?	yes	Nitrox Available?	N/A
What I Saw
Sharks	Lots	Mantas	None
Dolphins	1 or 2	Whale Sharks	> 2
Turtles	> 2	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter		Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's		Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	large camera table with compressed air, separate rinse tank, staff very consciencious about camera gear.

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Dive Review of Aggressor I in Galapagos Islands

Aggressor I, Aug, 2008,

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Overall Rating

Reporter and Travel

Dive Conditions

Dive Policy

What I Saw

Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Dive Review of Aggressor I in
Galapagos Islands