Scuba Diving Blog & Forum
You can dive the Galapagos as a beginner diver, but the most spectacular sites like Darwin and Wolf Island are off limits for beginners, as dive conditions are too challenging. You should get certified as an Advanced Open Water diver before diving the Galapagos, and log at least 50 dives beforehand.
The best time of year to scuba dive Galapagos is June through October, as the nutrient rich waters results in an explosion of marine life including giant mantas, turtles, eagle rays, large fish schools, whales, sea lions and larger numbers of hammerheads and seeing the arrival of adult whale sharks.
If you vomit while scuba diving, keep your regulator in and vomit through the regulator exhaust vents. Unless you are vomiting huge chunks of food, it should flow out the exhaust vents without a problem.
When choosing a liveaboard, you first need to decide on a destination, and then check customer reviews for liveaboards with itineraries to this place. Once your search has been reduced to liveaboards with acceptable reviews, narrow your search further to include liveaboards within your price range.
If you sneeze while scuba diving this could disrupt your mask and create water leaks, or you could dislodge your regulator at the same time as momentarily affecting your buoyancy. During the sneeze you should hold on to your mask and regulator to minimise the affect of the sneeze while scuba diving.
A scuba diving negative entry means you enter the water negatively buoyant, so you have no air in your BCD to allow a fast descent. Negative buoyant entries are often done as a backward roll from a RIB or Zodiac, but can be done using any entry technique including a stride entry from a hard boat.
April is the best time to scuba dive Komodo, as you get 30+m (100f) visibility, still good for mantas, a good time to dive north and central Komodo dive sites, calm seas, the start of dry season and a good time to see Komodo dragons. But for mantas, then January through March is the best time.
You should rinse the inside of your buoyancy control device to remove saltwater or chlorine depending on your most recent diving activity, to clean out any sediments and to prevent bacterial growth. Proper maintenance of your BCD by regularly rinsing the inside with water will help your BCD last.
Diving in the Red Sea is safe, but only when you follow normal safe diving practices and only when you dive to your level of certification and experience. Safety considerations when diving the Red Sea include diving in currents, scuba diving with sharks and other sea creatures, plus night diving.
The best way to improve buoyancy control is to use your buoyancy control device effectively, master your breathing and perfect your weights. Maintaining a better body position and fine tuning your finning technique also helps, but one of the best ways to improve buoyancy control is to dive more.
To get from Los Angeles to Galapagos, first book a flight from Los Angeles LAX Airport to Ecuador’s Guayaquil Airport. Then book an internal flight from Guayaquil to Seymour Airport on Baltra Island or San Cristobal Airport on San Cristobal Island depending on your liveaboard departure port.
To get from NYC to Galapagos, first book a flight from New York JFK or Newark Airport to Ecuador’s Guayaquil. Then book an internal flight from Guayaquil to Seymour Airport on Baltra Island or San Cristobal Airport on San Cristobal Island depending on your liveaboard departure port.
