February 8, 2025
estrella-de-mar1
General Information 2011
Departure Days Price per Person
8 Days Monday USD 3,995
Capacity 16 passengers

 

Overview Itinerary
Monday: Flight to Galápagos / Island San Cristóbal – Lobos Island
Tuesday: North Seymour Island (2 dives)
Wednesday to Friday: Wolf and Darwin Islands (3-4 dives each day)
Saturday: Island Santiago – Cousins (2 dives) / Bartolome
Sunday: Island Santa Cruz – Charles Darwin Station
Monday: Island San Cristóbal – flight back to mainland

 

Overview Itinerary
Monday: Flight to Galápagos / Island San Cristóbal – Lobos Island
Tuesday: North Seymour Island (2 dives)
Wednesday to Friday: Wolf and Darwin Islands (3-4 dives each day)
Saturday: Island Santiago – Cousins (2 dives) / Bartolome
Sunday: Island Santa Cruz – Charles Darwin Station
Monday: Island San Cristóbal – flight back to mainland

The eighty feet motor yacht Estrella del Mar cruises the Galapagos seas looking for this enchanting areas to give divers a great combination of comfort and underwater natural beauty. The yacht has four decks and offers a great atmosphere and comfort combined with a good attention of seven crew members and dive masters. All cabins are air-conditioned with bunk beds and hot water. Its spacious interiors, from the comfortable lounge to the dining room are designed to please.

The eighty feet motor yacht Estrella del Mar cruises the Galapagos seas looking for this enchanting areas to give divers a great combination of comfort and underwater natural beauty. The yacht has four decks and offers a great atmosphere and comfort combined with a good attention of seven crew members and dive masters. All cabins are air-conditioned with bunk beds and hot water.

Its spacious interiors, from the comfortable lounge to the dining room are designed to please. Its ample sun decks provide wonderful open and shaded space to take in the Galapagos breeze and equatorial sun. During this cruise you will see the beauty of the Galapagos Islands with the professionalism you are looking for.

Sky Dancer – Specifications
Type Tourist Class Motor Yacht
Length 24.28 m
Beam 6.50 m
Speed 9 Knots
Capacity: 16 passengers (15 divers)
Electricity: 110 / 220 Volt
Crew 7 crew members + naturalistic dive master and live master assistant
Accommodation 16 passengers in 8 double cabins, each with private bathroom

Detailed Itinerary:

Monday: Flight to Galápagos / Island San Cristóbal – Lobos Island

In the morning flight to the Galapágos Island San Cristobal 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 Cristóbal. It is a seasonal nesting location for the blue footed booby and frigate birds. During your check dive you will encounter sea lions. -/L/D

Tuesday: North Seymour Island (2 dives)

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, you will have the land visit of North Seymour. After a dry landing, you will have a short walk along the coast of Seymour. You can encounter swallow tailed gulls, sea lions and cliff crabs. This site is also known for being a major nesting colony of blue footed boobies, and the largest colony of the magnificent frigate bird, a species different to the great frigate bird. You can also spot both endemic species of iguanas, the marine iguanas and land iguanas. You will enjoy this relaxing hike around the nesting sites. B/L/D

Wednesday to Friday: Wolf and Darwin Islands (3-4 dives each day)

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.

Saturday: Island Santiago – Cousins (2 dives) / Bartolome

In the afternoon you will land 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. At the so called “Cousins Rock”, a small islet in the northeast of Santiago Island, you will have two dives. Dive along a precipitous wall, which is overgrown by black corals. Here you can encounter seahorses, frog fishes and other heroes of the small underwater fauna. During your dive around the west cap often you can explore eagle rays, sea lions and tropical fishes as well. Arriving at Bartolomé 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

Sunday: Island Santa Cruz – Charles Darwin Station

Today you anchor 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 Galápagos. 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

Monday: Island San Cristóbal – flight back to mainland

Today 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 2011:

Charter: USD 50,000
Fuel surcharge per person: USD 150
Decompression chamber: USD 35 per person

If you would like to dive with Nitrox there is a supplement of USD 90 per person.


Included in the price:

All transfers in Galapagos, 8 days cruise on board of the GALAPAGOS EXPLORER in double accommodation with all facilities, english speaking naturalist guide, purified water free to drink.

Not included in the price:

Flights mainland to/from Galapagos (e.g. Quito – Galapagos – Quito USD 420.- per person), entrance fee to Galapagos National Park USD 100.- per person, migration card USD 10.- per person, beverages, tips, personal items, insurance.

NB

Itinerary is subject to change without previous notice, due to weather conditions, operational matters, National Park Authorities advise, or Captain´s decision for passengers security.