Bit of a noisy start to the day with some early departures ... I got up early and left for to go for my scuba expeditions! Margaret had a leisurely breakfast and went for a walk ... coming back thinking that the sandy cove or beach in front of the hotel could do with a daily spruce up.
After a lazy morning thereafter involving the Kindle and a hammock she had lunch, then after a rest swam until a rain storm drove under shelter to watch a duck take over the pool! Rained all afternoon and walked over to the jetty to find me at around 5pm ... no luck but saw a yellow crowned night heron, a blue-footed booby as well as a seal lion and a finch ... not bad going for a short walk! I didn't get back until about 6.30pm ...
My day involved travelling by compact pickup truck to Itibaca for the twin engine boat ride out to Cousins Rocks...
The Galápagos dive sites I would visit are Cousins Rocks, Bartolome and two at North Seymour - all neatly filmed by the Dive masters from Scuba Iguana! Here's a .jpg of the nearest Galapagos sites to Santa Cruz.
Approximately 2 1/2 hours from Puerto Ayora, Cousins Rock is a wall dive with strong currents (so advanced and expert divers).
First dive was just over 18 m (60ft) with a bottom time of 60 minutes ... air temperature was 29 C and the surface was just 5 degrees lower. Visibility was about 15 metres or maybe 30-60 feet with a moderate current. Cousins Rock is a little, shark-tooth shaped islet north east off the east coast of Santiago north and west of Bartolome. We back rolled, met at the bow and then descended to a ledge around 10m deep then down to our maximum depth - moving gently anti-clockwise ... saw Sea lions, Green Sea Turtles, Barnacle Blennies, black juvenile corals, Galapagos Seahorse, Galapagos White Tip Reef Sharks, an Eagle Ray and a shoal of Barracudas.
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