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Ecuador Diving on Motor Yacht Sky Dancer
Diving on Motor Yacht Sky Dancer - 8 Day Cruise
important information
- Departure Days:
- 8 days: Saturday
- Capacity:
- 16 passengers in 8 double cabins
Motor Yacht Sky Dancer is a Dive Live board. The nine-person crew includes your captain, 2 dive instructors or dive masters / naturalist guide, and 6 crewmembers on hand to ensure that your Galapagos voyage transcends into a treasured adventure. The dazzling realm beneath the sea captivates curiosity as much as the islands themselves. Discover both onboard of the Sky Dancer a 16-passenger, 100-foot first class. Custom-designed in 2000, the Sky Dancer offers the newest and best-equipped vessel for scuba diving in the Galapagos. The Sky Dancer's accommodations include eight comfortable staterooms located on two decks. Each cabin features twin beds, private head/ shower, mirrored cabinet, wardrobe, full-length mirror, window or port light view, bathrobes, hairdryer, toiletries and fresh towels every day.
The Sky Dancer is fully air-conditioned. Its interior features teak paneling and furnishings, a dining area, a fully stocked bar, and a main salon with an audio/video entertainment centre. On deck, ample space is allocated for personal dive gear storage, a photo and video film lab, light tables, daily E-6 processing, and open deck space for sunbathing. Divers appreciate the large dive platform with fresh water showers, fresh water rinses, dive deck assistance and photo and dive equipment rental services. Zodiacs will ferry you between exquisite dive sites and the anchored yacht. Most underwater forays are drift dives. The Sky Dancer offers up to four dives per day on a pre-planned, yet flexible itinerary. Fine dining, a Sky Dancer specialty, offers both international and Ecuadorian cuisine.
| Sky
Dancer - Specifications |
| Type |
Type
Luxury Motor Yacht |
| Length |
100 Feet (30 Meters) |
| Beam |
24 Feet (7 Meters) |
| Speed |
12 Knots |
| Capacity: |
16 passengers |
| Electricity: |
110 / 220 Volt |
| Crew |
7 Plus 2 Dive Master or Instructors and Naturalist guide |
| Accommodation |
16 passengers in 8 cabins, each with a double bed or two twin beds / private bathroom |
| Overview Itinerary |
| Sunday: |
Island San Cristobal - Isla Lobos - Leon Dormido |
| Monday: |
Island North Seymour / Island Bartolome |
| Tuesday: |
Wolf & Darwin |
| Wednesday: |
Wolf & Darwin |
| Thursday: |
Wolf & Darwin |
| Friday: |
Isabela Island - Cape Marshall / Island Santiago - Puerto Egas |
| Saturday: |
Gordons Rock / Island Santa Cruz - Charles Darwin Station |
| Sunday: |
Island San Cristobal " Interpretation Center - return flight |
Detailed Itinerary:
Sunday: Flight to Galapagos - Island San Cristobal " Lobos Island " Kicker Rock
In the morning flight to the Galapagos Island San Christobal from which you will start your cruise. After paying the National Park Entrance Fee, a crew member will accompany you to your yacht which anchors at Baquerizo Moreno harbour. After arrival on board, check- in and explanations in general, lunch will be served. Afterwards there is a mandatory check dive at Lobos Island, which is located in the front of Island San Cristobal. It is a seasonal nesting location for the blue footed booby and frigate birds. During your check dive you will encounter sea lions. At sunset you will follow the route of Charles Darwin, so you will sail around the massive tuff-rock called Leon Dormido or Kicker Rock, which is a nesting site for a lot of sea birds. Because of its steepness you cannot find a landing stage but bravely snorkelers can watch out for sharks and rays. -/L/D
Monday: North Seymour Island / Island Bartolome
In the south side of Seymour Island and no deeper than 50 feet deep, the northern channel is superb. It features an enormous field of garden eels, stingrays, a school of spotted eagle rays, white tipped reef sharks, and thick schools of grunts, snappers & goatfish. When Dr. Silvia Earle described Galapagos as the fishiest place in the world, she had probably dove this dive site. After lunch, arriving at Bartolome you will ascend a lookout point from where you can admire the spectacular panorama of the Sullivan Bay and the famous needle shaped rock, the so called Pinnacle Rock. The beaches at the foot of the Pinnacle Rock boast some fine snorkeling spots from which you can discover the marvelous underwater world with a good chance to encounter penguins or the softly gliding turtles. B/L/D
Tuesday to Thursday: Wolf and Darwin Islands
You spend the next three days diving Wolf and Darwin with up to four or five dives per day before returning to the central islands. Most experienced divers will agree Wolf and Darwin are the best diving sites in the world! Sightings of the whale shark are common here. There are no land visitor sites here, just serious diving. At the Northern Arch at Darwin, Hammerhead sharks are not uncommon, nor are bottlenose dolphins. The reef contains many warm water varieties of fish found nowhere else in the Islands and is the most consistent place to see hammerheads.
Darwin Island:
Considered by many experienced divers as the very best dive site in the world; the arch at Darwin Island honors its reputation. It is warmer by a few degrees than the central islands. In one single dive you can find schooling hammerhead sharks, Galapagos sharks, large pods of dolphins, thick schools of skipjack and yellow fin tuna, big eye jacks, Mobula rays, and silky sharks. From June to November, you can almost guarantee whale sharks in numbers of up to 8 different individuals in one single dive. The presence of occasional tiger sharks, black and blue marlin and killer whales, adds on to this amazing diving experience. If you still have time to look for smaller stuff, you’ll find octopus, flounders, and an enormous variety and abundance of tropical fish. Darwin Island is the biggest jewel on the Galapagos Crown.
Wolf Island:
One of those magical islands with several dive sites to choose from. If you want to see sharks, you are at the right spot. This is a place for schooling hammerhead sharks, large aggregations of Galapagos sharks, and occasionally whale sharks. Seeing dolphins, large schools of tuna, spotted eagle rays, barracudas, sea lions and sea turtles is common. The bottom is littered with hundreds of moray eels, many of them free swimming. Being several degrees warmer than the central islands, you can look for many representatives of the Indo-Pacific underwater fauna.
Friday: Isabela Island - Cape Marshall / Santiago Island - Egas Port
At Cape Marshall on the eastern side of Isabela Island, you encounter rocky volcanic cliffs that drop down to the ocean floor as an almost vertical wall. You might see large animals like manta rays, marbled rays, hammerhead sharks mola mola (sun fish) and marine turtles, but also Chevron barracuda, snappers, yellow fin tuna, rainbow runners, wahoo and groupers. There are also a lot of smaller fishes like creole fishes, parrot fishes, scrawled filefishes, pacific box fishes and tiger snake eels. In the afternoon make a wet landing at Santiago Island, also known as James, or San Salvador Island, which is the fourth largest island in the archipelago. The influences of the former salt mine workers and their imported animals are still alive on the island. The last tries to populate Santiago Island were given up forty years ago. Visit the dark sand beach with a lot of marine iguanas at Puerto Egas after a wet landing. After a short walk of about 2 km along the coast you will reach the cliffy lava coast with natural pools where sea lions take a bath and herons and other sea birds are as well local. Additionally you can encounter a small group of sea bears. The surrounding area is good for spotting and observing colonies of sea lions, red sally light-foot crabs, lava iguanas, Galapagos buzzards and lava herons. During the night dive at a depth of no more than 30 feet you may find the red-lipped bat fish. B/L/D
Saturday: Gordon Rocks / Island Santa Cruz - Charles Darwin Station
Gordon Rocks, off South Plaza Island, an advanced dive, is famous for white-tipped, hammerhead and the Galapagos shark, large moray eels, spotted eagle rays, golden rays, sting rays, fur sea lions, sea turtles, Amberjacks, reef fish, sponges and black coral. Dive with Wahoo, tuna, sailfish and other big pelagic fish. Divers consider the wall at Gordon Rocks one of the best dive sites in the central islands. The current is strong and the maximum depth is 100 feet. In the afternoon you will arrive at the harbour of Puerto Ayora on Island Santa Cruz. Beside its rank as homestay for sea lions and pelicans, the marina is a popular starting point for round-the-world-yachtsman. The island itself has come to be both touristic and scientific center of the archipeleago. The Charles Darwin Research Station and the Galapagos National Park offices are based on Santa Cruz Island. The station encompasses an information centre, a museum, a library and the tortoise breeding station as well. Here you will have an opportunity to visit some of the best scientists of the Galapagos. Park rangers and park managers among others, who make huge efforts to preserve this Unesco World Heritage Site, conduct the conservation of the islands. In the tortoise breeding and rearing centre you can encounter tortoises of different subspecies, which are prepared for reintroduction to their natural habitats. The most popular inhabitant of this island is probably Lonesome George. He is the only survivor of his specific turtle species. In the past all approaches to find a partner for him failed. But in July 2008 the scientists found a carved nest wit nine eggs from a female tortoise. Three of them could be saved and now accordingly to strict instrcuctions they are incubated syntheticly. B/L/D
Sunday: Island San Cristobal - Interpretation Center flight back to mainland
On your last day you will come back to Island San Cristobal. At the port of Baquerizo Moreno, which is the capital of the province Galapagos, you will visit the Interpretation Center. The center will give you a good impression of the history of the Galapagos Islands.
Around midday you will fly back to mainland of Ecuador. Enjoy the last view back to the enchanting islands, this unique paradise with its fascinating nature. B
B: Breakfast / L: Lunch / D: Dinner
Prices per person for 2010:
Double cabin Master per person: USD 4,564.-
Double cabin Deluxe per person: USD 4,351.-
Hyperbaric chamber fee: USD 35.-
Diesel supplement per person: USD 200.-
Non-diver discount:
Non-divers travelling on a live aboard with a diver are eligible for a 10% reduction in the rate.
Included in the price:
all transfers, 8 days cruise aboard of the M/Y SKYDANCER in double cabins with private bathroom, full board, water, coffee or tea during the cruise, naturalist guide and dive master
Not included in the price:
Flights mainland to/from Galapagos USD 429.-, Entrance fee to Galapagos National Park USD 100.-, Transit Card USD 10.-, beverages, single supplement, dive equipment, gratuities, personal expenses, International flight airport tax (USD 44.- per person) and insurances.
NB Itinerary is subject to change without previous notice, due to weather conditions, operational matters, National Park Authorities advice, or Captain decision for passengers security.
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