Galápagos Islands – Day 2: Team Whale Shark
GALÁPAGOS ISLANDS
Day 2: Team Whale Shark
October 23, 2025
PART I
And finally, the long-awaited day had arrived. The thing I had been planning for years was about to happen. But before that, I had an entire morning to kill.
With the weather still being a bit iffy, I decided to forgo my second attempt at visiting El Junco Lagoon altogether and instead opted for a more relaxed walk around town, which eventually led me to Playa Mann. Known for its soft golden sand and calm turquoise waters, the beach is practically overrun with sea lions that can be found playing, napping and swimming all around it.
As wondrous a sight as this was, I have to admit that the stench of the sea lions kinda demystified the experience. It took me right back to my days in Antarctica, with the aroma of guano and poop wafting across otherwise picture-perfect landscapes. And the sounds they made… It was like being surrounded by hundreds of Ricks from Rick and Morty, their constant belching and grunting almost bringing me to the brink of retching myself. They might be incredible creatures, but they’re certainly not elegant or graceful!
All Aboard the Calipso
And just like that, it was finally time. I checked out of my hotel, made my way to Muelle Tiburón Martillo and readied myself for yet another adventure of a lifetime: a liveaboard diving cruise around the Galápagos Archipelago!
As with every other liveaboard I’d been on, the pre-cruise jitters got the better of me. I always found myself waiting on the dock, repeatedly checking the date and time just to make sure the boat hadn’t already left without me. When I saw the Calipso staff making their way towards me, I could finally breathe and relax. I would be boarding the boat after all!
Along with Belle and Jean, a French couple living in Boston, and Brook and Craig, an American couple living in Philadelphia, I was introduced to Jimmy, who would be our guide for the entirety of the cruise. These people, I was sure, would go from being complete strangers to a family over the coming days. And so, after the usual pleasantries, we hopped onto a Zodiac which took us to the Calipso – our home for the upcoming week.
As always, the first thing I did after boarding and receiving our welcome drinks was explore the boat and get the lay of the land:
- Lower deck: This housed the crew quarters and some of the guest cabins.
- Main deck: This featured the dining room, lounge and briefing area. Outside was the diving platform.
- Upper deck: This contained more guest cabins, as well as shaded outdoor seating areas that were perfect for relaxing (and smoking) between excursions.
- Sun deck: The highest level was equipped with lounge chairs and a jacuzzi, offering panoramic views of the islands and the Pacific. It looked like the perfect spot for sunsets and stargazing after a day of diving.
As Jimmy gave us a short briefing about the boat and its amenities, a group of ten Chinese divers joined us. Lunch served as a good icebreaker. It turned out that Brook was a physician assistant working in dermatology and, serendipitously, a fellow Underwater Visioner – having completed her PADI Rescue Diver course with Noah as her mentor! Craig, her husband of one year, worked as an accountant. Belle and Jean were both software engineers and had been together for nearly 40 years, with diving being a shared passion and a welcome break from their everyday lives.
After lunch, we were shown to the diving platform so we could start preparing our equipment. We’d be going on a short check dive later that afternoon to make sure we were all set before heading deeper into the archipelago. I couldn’t friggin’ wait.
PART II
Meet Team Whale Shark
Brook, Craig, Belle, Jean and I had been grouped together and would be diving as Team Whale Shark throughout the cruise, with the other group being Team Mola Mola. Miāo and Yun, two of the Chinese divers, would also be joining us since Team Mola Mola was already full.
After getting geared up, we boarded the Zodiac and made our way to Isla Lobos, which translates to Sea Lion Island. It had been over a month since my last dive, so you can imagine how excited I was to get underwater again, not to mention in one of the greatest diving destinations in the world. And so, with a “One, two, three, GO!” we all back-rolled into our first adventure.
Not a second after we began our descent, I spotted a huge green sea turtle. A few kicks later, there was an enormous stingray. And let’s not forget all the marine life I had grown accustomed to seeing on tropical dives, including pencil urchins, Cortez sea stars, parrotfish, snappers, groupers, butterflyfish, surgeonfish and everything in between. I was already over the friggin’ moon. Just a couple of minutes in and I was living my best life.
And that was when a sea lion hurtled through the middle of our group! As it twirled and spun through the water, its acrobatics left every one of us in awe. It would choose one diver at a time and dart towards them before turning its attention to someone else. At one point, it came within a foot of me, except for that one time when it actually nipped at my fin! It was so, so cool, especially when I started twirling and spinning alongside it as if we were performing some kind of underwater duet.
The Galápagos sea lion, Jimmy later explained, is one of the archipelago’s most iconic and playful animals. Closely related to the Californian sea lion, the species is found almost entirely around the Galápagos Islands, although a small breeding population also exists off mainland Ecuador. Adult males weigh around 250 kilograms on average and can be distinguished by their thick necks and prominent forehead bumps, while females are considerably smaller and lighter. Their streamlined bodies and powerful front flippers make them extraordinarily agile underwater. They can dive to depths approaching 600 metres and remain submerged for more than ten minutes while hunting for fish. They’re also highly inquisitive, often approaching snorkellers and divers to investigate or play – much like the one that had suddenly appeared beside us.
It was the perfect check dive and an incredible start to the cruise. If this was merely a taste of what the Galápagos had in store for us, I could hardly begin to imagine what the rest of the week would bring.
A Bitter Briefing
After the check dive, we indulged in a fancy dinner that had our mouths watering. Then came the evening briefing.
We started with a safety drill, which sent my anxiety levels through the roof. The fate of the Sea Story, which capsized not long after Amelia and I had taken our own Red Sea liveaboard trip, was still fresh in my mind. I remained hyper-focused throughout the drill, fully aware that major maritime incidents actually can happen and aren’t confined to Hollywood films. I still remembered reading Sarah Martin’s harrowing account of her survival after she was rescued from the capsized vessel.
If that wasn’t enough to make the briefing feel like torture, it also seemed endless. Jimmy kept going and going for what felt like hours, with everyone snoozing and on the brink of falling asleep. Luckily, we were eventually handed welcome cocktails, and the crew introduced themselves, finally giving us a chance to wake up from our collective slumber.
After we had all introduced ourselves, Jimmy asked whether anyone had any questions. Having heard nothing about night dives, I quickly enquired about when and at which sites we’d be doing them. He told us that there wouldn’t be any because the national park authorities had imposed rules prohibiting them.
That explanation didn’t quite add up. Fellow divers told me they had recently completed night dives in the Galápagos and I could find no evidence of a blanket ban. More importantly, night dives were still included in the programme I had booked. Calipso’s own published information also stated that night diving was permitted at certain sites during particular times of the year. When I raised the discrepancy, all Jimmy could say was that he wasn’t involved in such decisions and that if the website hadn’t been updated, it wasn’t his fault.
I understood that activities within a protected marine reserve could change because of permits, environmental restrictions, weather or operational concerns. That part was perfectly reasonable. What irked me was the lack of warning. If an advertised activity was no longer available, surely we should have been told before boarding. Night dives had always been one of the highlights of my diving trips. Being promised a couple and then being told – only after boarding – that we wouldn’t be doing any left me feeling both gutted and livid. Whether the omission was deliberate or not, the whole thing felt incredibly unprofessional and misleading.
The travel brochure also recommended a tip equal to an eye-watering 10% of the total cost of the cruise. Perhaps that part of the programme was open to interpretation too, huh?