Last month I brought my first group to Malpelo on a half-boat charter onboard Ferox. I wanted to have like-minded, solid divers with no ego so that I could focus on my work as a guide and do what I am good at.
I had the best divers! We all had the right attitude and we ended up having the best trip!
Please continue reading for the Malpelo dive log of my trip.
Malpelo Dive Log
Day 1 ~ April 20th
Altar de Virginia
It was a good start with occasional hammerheads, Galapagos sharks and the “resident” school of barracudas. It was a warm 28 C.
Castaway
We watched the whippersnappers and some hammerheads. A nice drift dive from west to east.
La Nevera
The school of hammerheads were there, but they were a bit out. Some of them came to the cleaning stations.
Day 2 ~ April 21st
El Naufrago
Solitary hammerheads and couples in the west part; there was an eagle ray eating barnacles on the bottom, which we followed for a good while. The whippersnappers made their presence known from 25 to 10 meters; we spent time with quite some time with them. We drifted with the current to deeper water and finished with a big school of bonitos.
D’artagnan
Had a good current with a snowstorm of big-eye jacks and a lot of mullet snappers. This was as good as it could get. WOW!!!
La Nevera
Was quite murky. We saw the wall of hammerheads but not very clearly. We drifted south, saw the wall of hammerheads again when we stopped at the corner; then we took a bumpy ride up and down in the current and got carried around the corner of David. In the channel between David and La Gringa we got a glimpse of the hammerheads again.
Day 3 ~ April 22nd
La Gringa
Since the sun was out, we decided go to La Gringa. There was quite a bit of current. We went through the big tunnel, which was nice. We had jacks, mullet snappers and big Cubera snappers in the northern part. There was too much current outside the tunnel to go to El Bajon, but we passed just behind it and a place I call La Arena, where there use to be a lot of Galapagos sharks. We didn’t see any sharks all the way to El Bajo de Escuba.
El Monstruo
There was a cold thermocline at around 24 m; above it and out in the blue we saw a massive school of 100+ hammerhead sharks.
La Nevera
Good hammerhead sightings, but most of them were in the cold thermocline that went up and down. The big Galapagos sharks and the wall of hammerheads were there, but they were hard to see.
Day 4 ~ April 23rd
Due to the heavy rain and wind, we canceled the first dive and went at 1030H for our first dive.
La Nevera
Clear clear water with thermocline at 10 m and a slight current going to the south. We scored with a big school of 100+ hammerheads above us and beside us. There were a lot of cleaning activities, so we got a chance to see the behaviors of the sharks and their cleaners, the barberfish and King Angelfish.
When bottom time was running out, we went out to the blue and also had several encounters with the big group of hammers. We got one solid hour with hammerhead sharks.
David
Very mild current that went slightly to the southeast. We dropped on the northern side of David. At 25 m, just at the foot of David, is a huge cleaning station of barberfish. It was full of leather bass as well as blackjacks, which you don’t see in many places.
The thermocline was freezing at 25 m, so we stayed at the corner at around 30 m looking to the west of Sahara and scored again with a massive group of female hammerheads coming directly toward us. Very impressive! I had forgotten to bring my camera, of course…
In the evening it was blue sky again!
Day 5 ~ April 24th
La Catedral
We dropped outside the entrance of La Catedral and scanned the sandy patch on the bottom. At 30+ m is where Galapagos sharks like to come in, but we didn’t see them this time. There was very little surge so The Cathedral was a nice choice. It was full of whippersnappers and yellow-and-blue-striped snappers. On the back side, in the canyon on the sand bottom, a huge Galapagos shark and a couple of hammerheads went by. We went over to the east side of the channel, turning south and back again. The cleaning stations on the north side were full of the yellow-and-blue-striped snappers.
An eagle ray passed by and in between the two of the Three Musketeers. There was almost no current, so we swam over to D’artagnan. When we got to the pinnacle south of D’artagnan there was not much life, we decided to go blue. While my group liked it, I thought it was a bit poor because of lack of current and visibility.
La Ferreteria
Not a lot of current except close to the surface, so it was a pleasant dive. There was a lot of life in the cleaning stations with the young Almaco jacks getting cleaned by barberfish. Hammerheads came by one by one, as well as big Cubera snappers and schools of fish. This place really vibrated of life! There were also big colorful scorpionfish that were very well-disguised. Brent and Trent, whom I first met at God’s Pocket said it looked like a part of BC! On the way up a massive school of hammerheads passed by.
Puerta del Cielo to La Nevera
Even if the current was going south, I thought this was our chance to take two dive sites in one since there was not a lot of current. We went a good way in to Puerta del Cielo; we found whippersnappers and some good-sized snappers hiding inside. Looking out you understand why they named this place Puerta del Cielo… We reached La Nevera by swimming along the wall and doing horizontal rock climbing. The big school of hammerheads came by again. On the table 4 Galapagos shrks (one was very big) were circling and getting cleaned. I thought they would stay, but they did not. We saw them later though. It was very misty, so there was a lot of life out there that we did not see.
Today it was windy (up to 20 knots) and wavy, so it was harder to board the skiffs and get up on them; but doable. Less rain and more sun until the evening.
Day 6 ~ April 25th
This morning there was very little wind, but there was strong current that had changed 180 degrees; it was now coming from east to west, with green water.
La Nevera
It was high tide with blue water up to 12 – 15 m. The current was very mild and going north. We started on the wall south of La Nevera and, looking down, there was already a school of hammerheads. We stayed at El Mirador for 20 minutes, having a big school of hammerheads passing in front, over and under us. Viz was not the best, so it was a bit hard for photos. Continuing to the cleaning station we saw hammerheads enjoying their day at the spa. There were a bunch of Galapagos at La Mesa, but they went away when we came. They came back when I called them in. We had about 10 of them in different sizes. It was a very good dive even if the viz was not crystal clear.
La Cara del Fantasma
We went down to 30 m and I immediately saw the shadows of the hammerheads. But they were in the green thermocline, so they looked more like shadows. They passed 3 times, the third one being the best view of them.
We continued up the slope to the place that is like a little aquarium of life. It was crystal clear and blue above 24 m. We got a Mobula birostris! A giant Pacific manta visiting us! A few hammerheads came up to get cleaned and Galapagos came when I called on them, but not as much as this morning. We had the school of barracudas and beautiful school of whippersnappers doing synchronized swimming with the barracudas. Lots of eagle rays, leather bass and lots of other fish.
The sun was up and very clear. One hour of fun diving!
Altar de Virginia to La Cara del Fantasma
We went to check out La Nevera, El Mirador and D’artagnan, but it was milky in all three, so we ended up in Altar de Virginia. We saw no sharks, so headed over to the north part of La Cara del Fantasma. We had a school of a 15-20 hammerheads, but in low viz. Above 20 m it was blue and clear, so spent our dive looking at the rich smaller fish life. We still got a good and nice dive. Don’t expect the big stuff all the time.
The night was clear and filled with stars.
Day 7 ~ April 26th
Last day of diving. We were going to do 2 dives leave after mid-day. Sunny and flat seas, but still a lot of green water.
D’artagnan
Very little current, which meant the life was not as great. The current was running from east to west, which was the opposite of how it was the last time we did D’artagnan. Still, there was life to see; a Galapagos shark was swimming around the rock. Another one briefly came up, but we didn’t see the big-eye jacks; just a handful of mullet snappers. But while drifting towards the Aquarium we got to see the big school of mullet snappers. Not the greatest dive, but it was ok.
Our last dive of the trip was a solid hour with hammerheads and Galapagos sharks. Viz was not the clearest, but it was a bloody good dive!
Hi Sten, Want to let you know what an awesome dive adventure I had, I had high expectations & and this trip more the then met them!!! The Ferox was awesome, and so was the staff!!!! You are the Shark Whisperer!!!! All the other divers were super good and fun to hang out with…definitely recommend your group diving, and you as the Dive Guide!!! Stay in touch,
Brent McAvoy
Thanks, Brent! It was a fun mix… and to have had the privilege diving with you both in BC and then Malpelo! Let’s see where the next one is!
Thanks for the trip report Sten. 😁
Wish I could’ve seen all those hammerheads, my favourite !
Sounds like the group had a wonderful time !
Thanks, Franny! Let’s see if we can meet up in Canada this autumn!