Scuba Diving at Gordon Rock's

  Gordon Rock's, Galápagos, Ecuador Tuesday, December 8, 2015

With Gordon's Rock being one of the top ten dive sites in the world, I had it on my list to dive there.  So first I had to find a dive shop to go diving with. Puerto Ayora has a number of small dive shops littered around the streets so there quite a few to choose from but which ones are the best to go with?? Finally I decided to go diving with Academy Bay Diving after getting some recommendations, it turned out to be a good choice.  Travelling around the Galapagos is very controlled in order to protect the environment, as is the scuba diving. Each school has its own allotted dive site and which days it can go there. This does mean that you end up being the only group of divers at a site when you visit and it restricts the numbers daily to avoid damaging the fragile environment. Before diving at Gordon Rock's, I wanted a few simpler dives first - mainly to get used to the equipment and gage the competence of the staff really. So the first days diving was going to be around North Seymour Island.  First we visited a sheltered cove to do a buoyancy check for those who hadn't been diving in the last six months, and the rest had to dive to 5 metres so the staff could check our skills.  It was good to see this happening as many dive schools just take you on your word that you can dive.  Whilst we were waiting a sea lion swam passed, oh wow! Then we headed to the first dive site. Out here the sea was quite choppy so a backwards roll into the water was needed and down we went, in the seas around Galapagos. Wow I had to pinch myself that I was really here! "The North Seymour topography consists of gradual steps off the island shoreline declining 8 meters to a beautiful rock reef, before reaching the sandy bottom at 16 - 18 meters. Diving at Seymour provides the opportunity to swim with many White and Black Tip Reef Sharks, as well as being a favourite resting place for large numbers of Green Sea Turtles. Though Seymour does not have the notoriety for Hammerhead Sharks, it is still possible to see small schools at both Seymour sites, swimming through the channel and around the point through the current. Large schools of Barracuda, Snapper and other reef fish are also in abundance, and the rock reef is an excellent place to search for the well camouflaged octopus. My personal favourite however, are the schools of Spotted Eagle Rays that glide through the channel along the sand, occasionally joined by Devil and Manta Rays." This was a truly amazing dive, with most dives you expect to see one may be two amazing things, but this dive you get to see everything on the list, White Tipped Sharks, Hammerhead Sharks, Eagle Rays, the list goes on, and not just one you get to see lots of them. The next day I had signed up for a second day of diving with Academy Bay again. The wind had picked up so the dive site today would be Pinzon, a remote island where humans were not allowed to step foot on. "Pinzon is a small island located off the western coast of Santa Cruz, about 1 hour from Puerto Ayora. It is a great spot for beginners and experienced alike depending on the site. For the beginners there is a tranquil bay full of playful sea lions, turtles and Red Lipped Batfish. The deep drop off wall is for divers with a bit more experience, and is a great spot to see seahorses, rays, different species of sharks and lobster." This was another amazing dive, especially with the sea lions who came down to 15 metres to play with us, swimming around and around, just breathtaking to watch. A few days later it was time for Gordon Rocks. "Gordon Rocks is an extinct volcanic crater with a sandy bottom at 32 meters, and a wall drop off around the outside of around 65 meters. It has 3 exposed rocks that surround the crater and 3 pinnacles ranging from 5- 6 meters under the surface along the northern edge of the crater with one larger pinnacle approximately 21 meters below the surface in the centre. The strong currents that frequent Gordon Rocks make it the most accessible home to schools of the famous Hammerhead Sharks. Schools of up to 30 sharks (or more if you are lucky) can be found circling the rocks through the current giving repeated views of the amazing creatures. White and Black Tip Reef Sharks also frequent the area as well as Green Sea Turtles, Sea Lions, Stingrays, Eagle Rays, large schools of Barracuda and Snapper and the occasional majestic Manta Ray." The sea was choppy again, so another backward roll into the sea and the descend directly down to 20 metres, Hammerheads, oh wow at 30 metres, not just one quite a few, then Eagle Rays went flying passed like gentle giant birds in the sky.  The current was strong in parts and you had to hold on the rocks in some places to get passed the current, one of the less experienced divers lost her fin, which was recovered by another diver.  This is why the dive school does not allow anyone with less than 50 dives to come to this site. Definitely not for novices. Then we headed into the channel this was now a drift dive, and we headed directly into the path of four White Tipped Sharks, there was nothing you could do except drift towards them, then a turtle swimming through the channel, this was amazing.  Then we exited the channel into the deep blue, this is the end of the dive as now you see just blue waters, suddenly we were four, where was the Aussie girl?  Worry then started and we were all looking around the deep blue for her, did she go up or did she go down? The sea around here was 65 metres deep and we could not see her anywhere.  Upon reaching the surface we signalled for the boat and they notified us she was onboard. She had lost her fin again and could not control her assent.  This just proves that this dive site is only for experienced divers. On the second dive this day, I dived with four experienced divers and this dive was much more relaxed and enjoyable, still the currents were very strong, we ventured around the other side of the rock, and came face to face with a huge group of Hammerhead Sharks swimming by. I was was memorised by them, then about 10 White Tipped Sharks came up to us swimming in to the current, within a metre of us.  We held on to the rocks to be memorised once again by these beautiful creatures swimming around us. Oh did I mention a number of turtles too, so many things to see it was just amazing, we surfaced after spending 60 minutes underwater, a dive I will never forget. By Bryan Avery December 2015 Galapagos   [gallery columns="4" ids="12815,12819,12821,12824,12828,12831"]