8 Jul 2026

Ugh, I did not sleep well.

Several other groups of people came in overnight, one of which was quite chatty, and while my makeshift floor bed was more comfortable than expected (other than the fact that I forgot my pillow), I might be getting too old to sleep on airport floors.

I had every intention of snapping some pictures of the common areas of the lounge- there are bathrooms with showers and a little kitchenette with drinks and snacks, but suddenly I was outside and crossing back to the airport, so this Quito sign will have to do:

There are a few extra steps to get to the Galapagos- a transit control card and extra baggage scan, but eventually, we were on the plane heading toward the islands!

I didn’t know it at the time, but my boat is that little dark dot in the harbor:

Moody clouds when we landed:

But fortunately, no rain

Things were less orange than I remembered:

Outdoor cactus:

Indoor cactus:

Things have gotten expensive here- the entry fee is now $200 (I’m pretty sure it was only $100 last time I visited and I think the Transit Control Card cost doubled as well).  As glad as I am to have the opportunity to go back, I can’t help but think of “better” uses for my money- other trips and locations I haven’t experienced yet…

But I have missed this island and its critters, like this land iguana:

Driving down to the harbor:

That’s our boat in the background!

Another land iguana:

I probably should have busted out the big camera to get a better picture, but the pangas had arrived to shuttle us over to the boat:

Welcome to the Galaxy Diver II:

Dive deck (before we set up):

Dining room:

Lounge/briefing area:

My room was upstairs:

En suite bath:

And up one more level is the sun deck:

That faux grass was surprisingly soft!

Today is a short day, but we do get to get in the water later today!

Lunch consisted of several (very tasty!) courses, starting with this soup:

Then we had the first of many briefings:

Before jumping in the water for our first dive!

That’s my camera on the left! There’s no camera room on this boat, just a series of tables near the dive deck… not sure how I feel about that.  I don’t like charging my batteries outside- water shouldn’t be able to reach them here, but I don’t trust the humidity, so I’ll be toting them back and forth to my room every day.  Not my favorite set up.

Dive #1 – Baltra Northeast

This is just a short check-out dive to make sure our gear is working and our weighting is right (I added 2 kilos to account for the thicker rental suit, but I’ve also got some new boots and they’re quite floaty- ankle weights would come in handy!).

Mexican goatfish:

I like the way this Banded serrano was perched on this rock:

Bullseye puffer:

Razor surgeonfish:

Galapagos gregory:

King angelfish:

This guy is still fairly young- he’s still got the stripes of youth.

Posing Coral hawkfish:

Starry grouper:

I forgot how rocky it is here- not much in the way of pretty coral, but still found some fun fish!

Water here is much warmer than expected- the Galapagos is currently experiencing a rather strong El Niño event.  At this time of the year, water temps in Baltra should be in the low 70s- it was about 79 for this whole dive.

So while I probably could have gotten away with just wearing my own 5mil suit (as opposed to the rental 7mil that isn’t the best fitting) and I definitely won’t be needing the extra layers I packed, it does mean we are less likely to see some of the larger critters we’re hoping to see, as they’ll stay deep where the cooler waters are.

But we’ll see what the week brings!

Good night, Galapagos!

Goodnight, pelican on our panga!