Dive Review of Buddy Dive in
Galapagos Islands

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Buddy Dive, Jan, 2013, by Stephen Kouri, WA, US ( Contributor 12 reports with 4 Helpful votes). Report 6855.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity
Dive Operation		Shore Diving	N/A
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	Diving in the Galapagos (G) is all about large marine life drawn by the nutrient rich currents. Smaller marine life is abundant, but the big stuff is so amazing that it is the primary focus for most divers. We are tropical divers and found the water to be cold, mostly 65 to 72 with one spot down to 57. That said, the coldest dives were the best (MOLA MOLA cleaning station!). Most dives were done as a group (8 on our boat), beginning around 30-40 ft then moving deeper to anchor against the current and look for schooling sharks, rays, barracuda, tuna, etc etc etc. Sometimes we would move to a better spot and then end the dive as a drift dive. We found the currents heavy and unpredictable. This isn't a good spot for new divers. The bottom line is that this is best diving we have ever done. We saw an amazing amount of sharks and had wonderful close up experiences with Mola Molas, sea lions/fur seals, rays, eels, sea horses, batfish and too many other wonderful critters to name. The Boat is new and spacious. Our cabin on the upper deck was nicer than our Guayaquil hotel room, and had more closets and and drawers than we could use. Like many boats it has random issues with plumbing and air conditioning. We found the dive deck a little crowded, but staggering the panga departures might have solved this problem. The most irritating restrictions on diving (3 dives a day, no night diving and no land excursions from the dive boats) are forced upon these guys by the Ecuadoran Parks department. The crew on this boat is amazing. Special praise to the chef Alfredo: not only was the food outstanding (lobster dinner!), but he helped out on the dive deck AND made the worlds best hot chocolate for each and every dive.
Websites	Buddy Dive
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	101-250 dives
Where else diving	Caribbean, Hawaii and Indonesia
Closest Airport		Getting There
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny	Seas	calm
Water Temp	57-74°F / 14-23°C	Wetsuit Thickness	7
Water Visibility	30-60 Ft/ 9-18 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	no
Enforced diving restrictions	Limited to 60 minutes or 700 psi as per park regulations
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	Lots	Mantas	1 or 2
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	None
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	N/A	Boat Facilities	N/A
Overall rating for UWP's	N/A	Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments

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Dive Review of Buddy Dive in Galapagos Islands

Buddy Dive, Jan, 2013,

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 Buddy Dive in
Galapagos Islands