LAYOUT

SPECIFICATIONS

Construction date:  2002
Material:  steel
Length: 100 ft.  (33m)
Beam: 24  (7m)
Passengers: 16
Cabins 8

Cruising Speed: 12 knots
Range: 2,400 miles
Fuel Capacity: 8,000 gallons
Water Capacity: 6,000 gallons
Desalinator Production: 4,500 gallons per day
Voltage: 110 and 220 volts

CREWS

M/V Galapagos Sky will supply an expert dive Instructor and a dive master who are also naturalist guides certified by the Galapagos National Park Service. The guides are qualified divers with essential knowledge of specific diving locations with their respective interest and dangers.

MACHINERY

4 compressors - two high pressure / two low pressure
Nitrox membrane system
Watermaker with ample storage
Support dinghies with outboard motors for shore excursions and scuba diving

NAVIGATION

Color radar
Echo sounder
Furuno Global Positioning Systems (GPS)

COMMUNICATIONS

VHF and HI-SUB radios
The Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS)

SAFETY EQUIPMENT

EPIRB (emergency position indicator radio beacon)
Complete First Aid Kit and medical supplies
Life jackets equipped with lights and whistles for all passengers and crew
Full Complement of Safety and Rescue Equipment

Itinerary for Galapagos Sky.   Up to 4 dives per day including Darwin & Wolf.  The exact itinerary is always weather and conditions dependent ... however, this itinerary is valid unless conditions dictate a change and the plan will always be to visit the following sites

M/V Galapagos Sky (7 Night Cruises) Sample Itinerary:

Galapagos Sky includes 3 land visits in the itinerary  You'll enjoy panoramic views as you climb to the top of Bartolome. Views will include those of Pinnacle Rock in the bay and also lagoons in the distance. You will also visit the Highlands in Santa Cruz in search of the Galapagos Tortoises in their natural habitat & follow an unguided visit to the Charles Darwin Research Center during free time in the port area.  Lastly on Sunday morning guests will explore the Interpretation center in San Cristobal where much about Galapagos history and conservation efforts can be learned. This visit occurs just before your return flight to Ecuador

Sunday (embarkation day): Isla Lobos- Check out dive

This will be your first underwater introduction to Galapagos sea lions and fur seals.  Even on the first day of your liveaboard cruise – you begin to see the myriad and diverse land formations & marine species which make the Galapagos Islands so popular.

Monday: Bartolome – 1 dive and land walk  ... Cousins 2 dives

Bartolome – Bartolome offers a great land tour where can can climb to the top of the hill to for breathtaking views.  In the water, Galapagos penguins are the top thrill.

Cousins Rocks– Dive a beautiful wall with corals, frog fish, sea horses, scorpion fish and octopus. It is also a great dive for large schools of Barracuda and hammerhead shark sightings.  Sea lions will be your companions upon entry and on the safety stops.

Time now to heard toward the most isolated, northernmost part of the Galapagos Islands – the uninhabited, untouched, twin cathedrals of world class diving – Wolf and Darwin Islands.

Tuesday-Thursday:  Wolf & Darwin
Tuesday - 4 Dives a day at Wolf plus a night dive
Wednesday - 4 dives at Darwin
Thursday - 3 dives total, 2 at Darwin and 1 afternoon dive at Wolf before the long transit back to central islands

Diving Wolf and Darwin

Wolf and Darwin can provide some of the best diving encounters in the world.  Whale sharks are common here from mid-May through November.  At The Arch at Darwin, you will see hammerhead sharks either individually, in small groups or large schools. Bottlenose dolphins are common. The reef contains many warm water varieties of fish found nowhere else in the Islands.

Darwin Island:  Diving here is considered by many divers as the very best in the world. 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, dense schools of skipjack and yellow fin tuna, big eye jacks, mobula rays, and silky sharks. From June to November, it is not uncommon to encounter whale sharks in multiple numbers on one single dive. The presence of occasional tiger sharks, black and blue marlin, and killer whales adds 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.

Wolf Island:  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. On a night dive here you will also enjoy spotting and watching the Red Lipped bat fish walk along the bottom of the sea!

Friday:  Cabo Douglas 1 dive (marine iguana dive)  …  Punta Vicente Roca up to 2 dives

Cabo Douglas:  You can expect to see Galapagos penguins, marine iguanas, flighless cormorants, sea lions, seahorse, sea turtles, horn sharks, red lipped batfish, and occasional hammerhead sharks and white tip sharks. Also keep an eye out for chevron barracuda, snappers, yellow fin tuna, rainbow runners and wahoo. There are also a lot of smaller fishes like creole fishes, parrot fishes, scrawled filefishes, pacific box fishes, and tiger snake eels.

Punta Vincente Roca:  This is a steep, deep vertical wall covered in soft coral, sponges, and endemic black coral. Regular sightings of mola mola (oceanic sun fish,) sea horses, bullhead sharks, red lipped bat fish, various shrimp and many other marine invertebrates.  If time allows, you’ll have a panga ride which offers great topside photo ops for penguins, flightless cormorants, marine iguanas, sea lions, blue footed & Nazca booby Birds, magnificent frigates and noddy terns.

Saturday:  Isla Pinzon/Islote Dumb- 1 dive  …  Puerto Ayora/Highlands tour

Isla Pinzon –   Diving here includes encounters with a variety of species of sharks, sea lions, mantas, eagle rays, and moray eels … plus many species of fish and tropical fish, including yellow tailed surgeonfish, king angelfish, moorish idols, steel pompanos, snappers, grunts, creole fish, and barracuda.

After this dive, you’ll be taken to land & transferred by bus to visit the Highlands of Santa Cruz to see the Galapagos Tortoises in their natural environment; and visit to Puerto Ayora.   It’s then back to Galapagos Sky for dinner on board and The Sky will then return to San Cristobal for Sunday morning departure.

Sunday Morning: Land Tour and Interpretation Center.

You’ll arrive at San Cristobal to visit the Interpretation Center where an interesting human history of Galapagos is presented, you’ll have a town walk (last chance for shopping) and prepare for late morning departure.