You just have to experience it to understand.   You have to be surrounded by the swirling schools of fish.  You have to feel the rush of hundreds of massive sharks swimming straight at you … and the whoosh of the current whisking you along.  Then you can truly comprehend the enchantment. In the world of diving, we would venture to say that only 2 other destinations hold the same intensity of “charge” as Darwin & Wolf in the Galapagos – and those would be Cocos & Malpelo Islands, the other two points in this formidable Pacific triangle.  On your first dive at either Darwin or Wolf, roughly a 12-hour journey north of the Central Islands, you’ll begin to understand what the fuss is all about.

First and foremost, in terms of impressions, are the gigantic throngs of hammerhead & scalloped hammerhead sharks – hundreds of individuals in each group.  Picture it.  Right there.  In your face.  Sharks and sharks and then more sharks … with stunningly svelte, powerful bodies and simply inconceivable head structures!

Then you notice the manta rays & eagle rays & sea lions, the Galapagos sharks & whitetip sharks & silky sharks, the frolicking bottlenose dolphins … sometimes pilot whales, melon-headed whales … and if you’re there from July through November, the frosting on the cake is the presence of the immense, graceful and captivating whale sharks.

Perhaps due to the sheer overwhelming numbers of sharks and rays in the water around you, you might be tempted to place all your concentration on the “big guys” of the oceans, but really, you won’t want to miss the other delights on offer.

The extent of coral life, surprising to many divers, attracts an unexpected variety of reef fish which add a terrific splash of color to the endless and profound blue of the ocean experience. You get trumpet fish, hogfish, butter¬fly fish & angelfish, grunts, tangs, surgeonfish, snappers, scorpionfish & pufferfish. You find lobsters, countless turtles and a variety of moray eels ….

Then, of course, there are the ever-present dark, moving clouds of jacks, trevallies and barracuda creating the excitement of perpetual motion in the atmosphere.

When you surface, and while you’re on the boat, enjoy the show put on by the bird life – the red-footed boobies & masked boobies, the frigates, the pelicans and the swallow-tailed gulls and keep an eye out for passing whales. Humpbacks, sperm whales and even orcas can be spotted during their migratory passages.

You’ll begin and end your Galapagos diving cruise in the Central Islands, so this region will initiate you in the wonders of the archipelago …. and will be your final taste before you regretfully say “adieu”. Above water there will be flightless cormorants, blue footed boobies, possibly red-footed boobies, frigate birds, and the magnificent, absolutely prehistoric-looking brown pelicans.  You’ll see the underwater volcanic slopes for the first time and will be introduced to high-spirited sea lions and ubiquitous turtles, fur seals and the weird and wonderful marine iguanas of the Galapagos.  The possibility exists that you may catch sight of mobula rays, marble rays, Galapagos sharks, bottle-nosed dolphins, mola-mola & hammerheads.

Certainly there will be barracudas, jacks, snappers, groupers, salema, sting rays & eagle rays … along with the always-entertaining Galapagos penguinsAlmost beyond the shadow of a doubt, you’ll add to your check-list of creatures seen: Galapagos horn sharks, red lipped batfish & creole fish …

Plus it’s rare to exit the water without having seen scorpion fish, frogfish, seahorses, shrimps, slipper lobsters, king angel fish and pufferfish.

It staggers the imagination.   And, it’s just the starter course.   The main course follows – at Darwin & Wolf.