11 Jul 2026

Good morning from Darwin Island, the northernmost part of the Galapagos, and the westernmost point of South America.  The rock structure here used to be an arch (Darwin’s Arch), but it collapsed in 2021:

Another full day of diving today!

All our dives will be off of Darwin’s Arch- we’ll drop based on what the current is doing:

Dive #8 – Darwin’s Arch

Creolefish napping on a ledge:

Chompy parrotfish always look so happy!

This is another hold on and see what comes through dive:

but water temps are even warmer up here- 81ºF/27ºC, so while a few hammerheads cruised by, the things people were hoping to see (mola molas and whale sharks) didn’t make an apperance

I got bored waiting, so I found some fish to distract me, like these Galapagos ringtail damselfish:

Trumpetfish hiding among some snappers:

Black triggerfish- I love it when they show their colors!

Turtle:

A massive ball of fish!

It was so dense that they blotted out the sun- it was like swimming under a cloud!

Venus girdle at our safety stop:

as well as a comb jelly:

Pancakes were back for breakfast (so far we’ve been alternating between pancakes and waffles- I approve of both 🙂 ):

Dive #9 – Darwin’s Arch

This Flag cabrilla has a little goby on his nose!

Lots of garden eels here:

They’re braver than most I’ve seen and didn’t immediately tuck back into their holes as I approached:

So.Many.Seastars!

Goatfish rooting for food and a hogfish hoping for a free snack:

Backrolling off the panga with my camera isn’t the easiest, and we’re supposed to be doing negative entries (hit the water and descend immediately so as not to get swept away by the current), which makes going back to the boat for my camera after I roll less than ideal, so I took the float arms off and just mounted my strobes directly to the handle.  It’s a bit heavier underwater this way, but WAY easier to roll with and when the current is rip-roaring like it has been on a few dive so far, my camera doesn’t act as sail-like (there were a few early dives that I struggled to hold onto a rock with one hand and aim the camera in the other).  But it does mean I’ve got less flexibility in my lighting, so a lot of my shots from this trip are either blown out or under-lit, as is the case with most of the shots today.  Not sure how to fix that other than put the arms back on.

I couldn’t get the timing quite right, but this Guineafowl puffer was chomping on that coral- you could actually hear him!

Moray eel:

Darwin Island:

and Darwin’s Arch:

as seen from the water as we waited for the panga to pick us up.

Birds were back on our boat again:

Today is turning out to be absolutely gorgeous!

Dive #10 – Darwin’s Arch

Back into the sea of fish:

and back to my garden eels:

This time, we hung out in this area for a bit, so I was able to get some better shots:

(still not great as my lighting is off, but closer than I’ve gotten in the past)

Parrotfish with a mustache?

Goatfish:

Looking back toward the surface, there were still so many fish!

School of Razor surgeonfish:

Leather bass:

A pair of Rockmover wrasse:

(and yes, they were actually moving rocks)

King angelfish:

and a second:

Orangeside triggerfish:

Guineafowl puffer (spotted):

Guineafowl puffer (yellow):

I tended to see the same dozen or so species on every dive, so I kept taking their pictures (while still looking for new-to-me critters), but it did get a bit repetitive after a while (though I’ll never not take photos of puffers- I love them!)

Moray eel:

These guys wouldn’t come closer for a picture, but there were so many pairs of trevally swimming around- always one light, one dark:

A slightly different angle on the “arch” and island:

For lunch, Chef taught us how to make cerviche:

though the raw fish still weirds me out (I know they say the lime juice “cooks” it, but I just can’t get past the raw part).  Fortunately, this was just one of several courses:

so I didn’t go hungry 🙂

This boat once again differs from the other boats I’ve been- breakfast is a buffet, but every other meal is plated. Beautifully plated, but smaller portions than I’m used to seeing on a liveaboard, where I often have to ask for half portions so I’m not wasting as much food. And for now it’s enough, but I do find myself getting hungry throughout the day and this boat doesn’t have anytime snacks (every other boat has had a jar of cookies or crackers or something to munch on between meals). The food’s been amazing, but way fancier than I need.

Dive #11 – Darwin’s Arch

Another sit and see what comes through dive:

So I found this juvenile Galapagos ringtail damselfish:

and this Yellowtail damselfish:

A little white-tip reef shark came through, but everything else was just too far for my camera to pick up:

A sea of trevally:

Me in the middle of fish soup:

As soon as we surfaced, dolphins came through! And they were seriously playful- weaving in and out between us and our panga, and jumping and getting some serious air! I had a hard time tracking them from the panga (as you can see in this picture, the waves were pretty tall), but I did manage to get one shot of a dolphin jumping near another group:

Dinner tonight included birthday cake for Reef and Max!

And tonight’s sunset just kept getting better:

Good night!