Diving on the famous Darwin Island 6/3/11

Got to Darwin early in the morning, about 630 and we were ready for our first dive of four today. The island is smaller than Wolf and you can see The Arch from our boat. There are three kinds of Boobies, Red Footed, Blue Footed, and Nasca (very interesting bird). We descended quickly because the current was supposed to be strong- it wasn’t a problem though. The sandy bottom illuminates the water and it’s nice to lie on without having to worry about a Scorpion Fish or Eels. The first dive we swam a lot looking for a Whale Shark. The group was swimming too fast and they eventually lost Andy and I so we did our safety stop and ascended. I was irritated but vis was crap at the end so we didn’t miss much. Many people in the group had to come up because they ran out of air, and the Columbian woman was on Patricio’s octopus again- not a safe way to dive.

On the next dive after breakfast we sat on the sandy bottom with the Garden Eels and a Sea Turtle came so close to my face I moved back. It just stared and then swam away. Then we saw TONS of Hammerheads all around us, it was incredible! Andy was playing with the camera and a Hammerhead came within 4 ft of him. Nuts! I looked up through the sun beaming in the water and saw hundreds of Gringos, Hammerheads, and Sea Turtles. On the third dive we were on the bottom again, I turned around and a freakin Galapagos shark was right behind me! It hung out for a few checking me out then then it swam off. Those things freak me out. Another turtle came very close, we could have touched it, and Andy got it on vid. The last dive after lunch I came within 7 mins of my no deco limit. At the end of the dive Dolphins came up to us. I actually played with one, swimming in a circle with it! I was so pumped! We’ve seen a lot of Dolphins at Darwin, but I couldn’t believe we were finally swimming with them. Unfortunately after the Dolphins left along came the Silkies and we decided it was time to go. They freak me out and there was a school of them. During dinner people got up and ran to see the juvenile Whale Shark by the boat. We wanted to jump in but the Silkies were following it eating the food the boat was pumping into the water. It was then time for some wine and cocktails, we passed out at 9.