Galapagos Islands is one of the best remote liveaboard destinations in the world. While there are some resorts they are mostly located in the central islands, those around San Cristobal Island. While the diving there is very good and offers some the thrills offered by the liveaboard, they cannot meet the intensity of the trips to the northern islands. The island chain has two airports one on Baltra island and one on San Cristobal Island. It is important to insure what island your liveaboard is leaving from as there is no service between the airports. Seven to ten day trips are the most common with some longer.
Darwin and Wolf Islands are the prime destinations in the Galapagos Islands. Diving in Galapagos islands is unmatched anywhere the world, Excellent diving is everywhere in the islands. So why a liveaboard will make an overnight trip covering 350 km from San Cristobal to dive two small islands when the diving is so great closer to the main island?


The answer deals with the varied of species and the bio-mass. Bio-mass is the weigh of the marine life in a column of water. The more fish there are and the larger they are the greater the bio-mass. Scientist have shown that the amount of marine life around Wolf and Darwin islands is twice that of the next concentration. It is also 10 times that of the famous Great Barrier Reef. Wolf island is the southern most of the two islands. Three dive sites are found at Wolf island, which is protected and you are not allowed to land on. The sites are the Caves, Landslide, and Shark Bay. On each of these sites you are just about guaranteed to see sharks, rays, dolphins and turtles on each dive.

The landslide dive site is named for the appearance of the slope of the site. The site has the appearance of a fresh landslide. However, a closer extermination will show you it is not fresh. Divers gather into their group at about 10 meters depth before starting further down the slope. Moray ells and reef fish are plentiful at this depth on the slope and in the water in front of you, you will likely see turtles, snappers and tuna as they rise from the depth. When the current is running, it likely that you will see schools of Hammerhead sharks as well as Galapagos sharks.

The Caves dive site is a series of swim-through and a small cave. As you exit each you will be greeted by sharks and rays that tend to stay by the exits.

Shark Bay is about diving with sharks. Diving in the Galapagos island is always by guided groups and at this site the groups general form at the 8 to 10 meter depth along the slope. You allow the current to take you along the slope and you can enjoy a variety of sharks and rays as you pass by.

Darwin Island has just one dive site starting at the Darwin arch. Darwin Island has an unusual mixture of warm and colder water species and they are in abundance on this site. The arch has three different diving profiles depending on your direction of travel.

The only way to experience these two islands are on a liveaboard. The Galapagos Liveaboard website can help guide you in planning your trip.