Lietuviskas aprasymas zemiau
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Day 98: Galapagos. Underwater
May 16, 2006
Ask any experienced diver about his/her dream diving destination, and you will hear "the Galapagos!" What makes this dream hard to follow is its high price - literally: at least $300 for a plane ticket from Ecuador, another $100 to enter the National Park Territory, living on the islands is not very cheap either, not to mention that in order to fly to the islands, you have to first somehow get to Ecuador… Diving itself is quite expensive, too. The most common deal is $130 for a day trip with 2 air tanks, but it is possible to come across a better offer, like the same $130 for a 3-tank trip. However, if you are already there, missing diving would be unjustifiable.
There are plenty of dive sites around the islands, but ask anyone where to go if you can afford just one trip, and you will for sure be advised to choose Rocas Gordon. The reasoning is simple: there are very strong currents around the Gordon Rocks, the currents bring food, food attracts impressive marine life - like big schools of hammerhead sharks - and sharks attract divers :) No wonder that the majority of dive shops in Puerto Ayora offer daily trips to Rocas Gordon, while other dive sites are much less popular.
A typical trip to Rocas Gordon includes a 1.5-hour ride on a nice boat (sometimes bus & boat) to the site, all the diving equipment, 2 or 3 air tanks (depending on the deal), and lunch onboard. In other words, it is a perfect deal… except if you are a freshly certified diver with little experience, like us :) The problem with beginner divers is that in order to dive at Rocas Gordon, you must have a record of at least 20 dives in your diver's logbook. 25 dives would be much better, while 30 is the recommended minimum. We tried showing our logbooks with the rich history of 17 dives to a number of dive shops, but all of them gave us the same answer: sorry, diving in the strong currents is very dangerous, it takes special skills and more experience than you currently have. The fact that we had previously dived only in the calm waters of the Caribbean made the things only worse. All things considered, we were told to forget about Rocas Gordon.
It was quite a leap of faith when having booked a 3-tank package to other
dive sites we ended up diving at the Gordon Rocks! :) (A big thanks to the
divemaster, who had his heart hopelessly set on Rocas Gordon and, after putting
us through a test, decided we deserved a chance to see his favorite place).
Now that we have been there, we can only agree with the existing restrictions:
diving in strong currents is quite unusual indeed, and it is only for your
own good that you are not allowed to dive there if you do not have enough
experience. The general rules are simple: jump into the water, stay calm,
go down as fast as you can and immediately cling to the rocks to avoid being
carried miles away from the boat. Then relax and enjoy the company of turtles,
sea lions, whale sharks, hammerheads, white tip reef sharks, sting rays, golden
rays, eagle rays, invertebrates, morays, garden eels, reef fish, pelagic fish
and even whales in the right season!
Unfortunately, neither going down fast nor staying calm underwater is easy
- the currents around there are so strong that no matter how hard you try
to keep your poor self attached to the rocks, sooner or later you get tired,
let go and start drifting away from the fellow divers at an impressive speed.
Forget about the relaxation - what you are doing down there is mostly trying
to survive!!
The second and third dives were much better - we somewhat got used to the currents and had an unforgettable experience hanging on to the rocks and watching huge hammerhead sharks circling right above us. The visibility was not very good, which was actually for the better, because seeing fewer sharks was less scary :)
Tip #1: Ninfa Tours offer 3-tank dive trips for the price of 2. For $130 you get two dives at the same site (on most days Rocas Gordon), and one at a different site. Located across the street from TAME. Brand new equipment, nice boat, friendly staff and tasty lunch :)
Tip #2: Most dive sites are far away from Puerto Ayora, so get ready for a long and bumpy boat ride. Don't forget those motion sickness pills, ginger or whatever gets you through those rough waters.
Tip #3: Some cruise ships double as dive boats. It is a great idea
to combine diving with a cruise. This way you have more fun on the cruise,
save the time which you would otherwise waste getting to the dive sites on
daily dive tours, and get a chance to dive at more remote sites that cannot
be reached from Puerto Ayora. Free Enterprise is a dive boat. You have to
book the dives in advance because they have to bring the equipment aboard.
Click on the pictures to enlarge
(since
we do not have any underwater pictures of our own, we borrowed all of them
from the below indicated sources):
|
The divers
Narai |
A mystery fish (borrowed from Awoosh.com)
Neatpazinta zuvis |
Galapagos fur seal (borrowed from Oceanlight.com - a large gallery of marine life photos by Phillip Colla)
Gauruotasis ruonis |
|
Whale shark, the biggest known fish on the planet (Borrowed from Scubaland.com)
Banginis ryklys - didziausia zuvis pasaulyje |
Hammerhead shark smiling :) (Borrowed from Sharkdiving.us - a website dedicated to diving with sharks)
Kujagalvis ryklys sypsosi :) |
Marine iguana grazing on algae (Borrowed from Oxford Scientific - an imense collection of nature photos)
Juru iguana smaguriauja skaniaiais dumbliais |
|
An awesome underwater photo gallery with over 500 pictures from Galapagos by Brandon Cole |
||
|
Pacific seahorse
Ramiojo vandenyno juru arkliukas |
Smoothtail Mobula rays
Peledines rajos |
Spiny sand sea star
Juru zvaigzde |
Nuvesk pelyte virs paveiksliuko, spustelk
jos kaire ausele, ir paveiksliukas padides
(sios dienos nuotraukos - ne musu.
Kadangi patys po vandeniu fotografuoti dar nemokame, pasiskolinome jas is
profesionalu)
98-oji diena: Galapagai. Povandenines sroves.
2006 m. geguzes 16
Dar Roatane paaiskejo, kad didzioji kiekvieno naro svajone yra bent karta panardyti Galapaguose. Kadangi tokia svajone - brangi (tiesiogine prasme: maziausiai $300 uz skrydi i salas + $100 Nacionalinio parko mokestis + nepigus pragyvenimas Galapaguose + $130 uz vienos dienos isvyka nardyti su 2 oro balionais (su vienu balionu po vandeniu iseina prabuti apie valanda), jau nekalbant apie tai, kad, norint skristi I salas, pries tai reikia kazkaip nusigauti iki Ekvadoro, nes is kitur skrydziu I Galapagus nera), daznai ji ilgam lieka "turtingesniu laiku" planuose. Todel, pasisake, kad skrisime I Galapagu salas, turejome prisiekti bendranardytojams roatanieciams, kad jokiu budu nepagailesim pinigu ir nepraleisim unikalios galimybes ten panardyti; o grize pateiktim detalia ataskaita apie tai, kaip sekesi ir ka matem. Ilgai ikalbineti musu nereikejo - nardymas Galapaguose jau seniai buvo vienas is sios keliones prioritetu - jau net tada, kai dar nemokejom nardyti… (begediskai meluojam - is tikruju, nieko apie nardyma Galapaguose anksciau nebuvom girdeje :)); azartas "pagavo" tik tada, kai pamatem, kaip nuo zodzio "Galapagai" suziba daug povandeninio pasaulio maciusiu naru akys.) Taigi - bet kokia kaina :)
Nors aplink salas yra daugybe ispudingu (is aprasymo) nardymo vietu, visi turu organizatoriai, kaip susitare, siulo plaukti I viena ir ta pati - Rocas Gordon. Bandome issiaisinti, kas per stebuklas yra tos Gordono uolos. Paslaptis, pasirodo, slypi srovese - pro sias uolas prateka labai stiprios sroves, kurios atnesa planktona ir smulkias zuvytes, kurias megsta stambesnes zuvytes, kurios patinka didelem zuvim, todel aplink Gordono uolas visada labai daug rykliu; o ryklius megsta narai, todel ten visada daug naru. Kartais (kada sroves buna silpnesnes ir neatnesa pakankamai maisto) simpatiju grandineje ivyksta siokie tokie pakitimai, ir narai ima labai patikti rykliams… (tokiais atvejais patyre nardytojai pataria skubiai persizegnoti ir visu greiciu nerti I virsu), taciau rykliu uzpuolimu Galapaguose uzregistruojama palyginti nedaug :)
Pasiduodam masinei psichozei ir puolam ieskoti turo I Rocas Gordon. Ir vel siurprizas - pasirodo, nardymo pradinukams nardyti prie Gordono uolu - grieztai draudziama. Priezastis - tos pacios sroves. Nerti I dideli gyli stipriu sroviu zonoje yra labai pavojinga, nes srove gali netiketai is didelio gylio mesti nara I virsu, I apacia, I sona (bet kuris is variantu gali buti mirtinas, ypac staigus skrydis I virsu, kurio metu nuo per greitai padidejusio oro turio truktu plauciai). Vienintelis budas, kaip Galapagu turizmo agenturos gali apsaugoti narus nuo nelaimiu, yra neparduoti pradinukams galimybes nardyti prie Gordono uolu. Todel taisykles - grieztos - neturedamas bent 25 nerimu istorijos, apie Gordono uolas gali net nesvajoti. Kitaip tariant, turtingoji musu nardymo patirtis (17 nerimu, is kuriu visi - ramioje Karibu juroje :)) nepadare ispudzio nei vienai Puerta Ayora agenturai, ir buvome paprasyti kol kas nardyti maziau pavojingoj aplinkoj :)
Jeigu gyvenimas graziausias tada, kai pilnas netiketumu, tai siandiena buvo graziausia diena musu gyvenime! Isivaizduokit - pralakste visa vakardiena po turizmo agenturas ir nerade nei vienos, kuri priimtu mus I Gordono uolu tura, galiausiai pasiduodam ir isplaukiam nardyti I kazkokia pradinukams tinkama vieta; bet pakeliui grupes vadovas staiga apsigalvoja, suorganizuoja nardymo gabumu patikrinimo egzamina, kuri sekmingai islaikome, ir laivelis pakeicia krypti - plaukiam nardyti I Rocas Gordon!! (Aciu vadovui-avantiuristui, kurio isitikinimu, nepanardes prie Gordono uolu, apskritai negali sakyti, kad nardei Galapaguose).
Turime pripazinti, kad grieztieji Gordono uolu apribojimai nera sugalvoti be priezasties. Ramuji vandenyna toje vietoje galima vadinti kaip tik nori, tik ne ramiu - sroves nesioja I visas imanomas puses kaip paselusios. Nardymas tokiomis salygomis panasus I mums pazistama nardyma Karibu juroje tiek, tiek drybsojimas karibu pliaze primena kopima I kalna per puga! Vadovo nurodymai elimentarus: issokus is valties, kuo greiciau nerti po vandeniu, nes pavirsiuje labai varto bangos. Panerus, visu greiciu leistis zemyn ir kuo greiciau stipriai isikibti rankomis I uolas, nes kitaip sroves akimirksniu nunes kelis kilometrus nuo valties i sona, zemyn, arba I virsu. Svarbiausia - nepanikuoti! Jeigu pasiseke laimingai nusileisti ir "prisitvirtinti" prie uolos, galima atsipalaiduoti, nes daugiau nieko sudetingo daryti nebereikes - stiprios sroves pacios atnesa gyvunus, tad tereikia tik nepamirsti tvirtai laikytis rankomis uz uolu ir zavetis gyvunais: ivairiarusiais rykliais (dazniausiai aplink Galapagus pastebimi - juokingieji kujagalviai, baltagaliai (white tip shark ??) ir Galapagu rykliai), didziuliais juru vezliais, rajomis, unguriais, juru liutais, milzinisko dydzio zuvu buriais, o sezono metu - net banginiais!
Lengva nebuvo. Pirmojo nerimo metu apie nepanikavima ir atsipalaidavima nebuvo
net minciu. Tai, ka dareme, labiausiai primine zutbutini bandyma isgyventi
- stipriose srovese sukomes ir vartemes kaip kojines skalbimo masinoje, nuo
itempto laikymosi uz uolu galiausiai paskaudo raumenys, eme tirpti rankos
ir kilo didelis noras pasileisti. Streso busenoje visa oro baliona iskvepavome
per pusvalandi (paprastai uztenka valandai), ir nepamateme beveik nieko :)
Kiti du bandymai buvo kur kas sekmingesni - pasirodo, net ir prie tokiu nardymo
salygu galima priprasti! Galiausiai sroves nebekele panikos, ismokome "taisyklingai"
laikytis uz uolu, ir likusi laika po vandeniu praleidome idemiai stebedami
virs musu besisukiojancius kujagalviu rykliu burius. Tiesa, matomumas nebuvo
labai geras, bet del to smarkiai nepergyvenom - adrenalino uztektinai prigamino
net ir tie rykliai, kuriuos pasiseke iziureti :)
