Scubareefing
Whale sharks, big fish
Fly to Quito or Guayaquil on the Ecuadorian mainland. From there catch a domestic flight to the Galápagos.
June through October (for whale sharks)
Galápagos Islands, Ecuador
Aggressor Fleet (aggressor.com), Lammer Law (lammerlaw.com), Peter Hughes Diving (peterhughes.com)
Go thereSign up to receive travel updates to Darwin's Arch, Ecuador.
Diving opportunities in Darwin's Arch, Ecuador are available.
By Eric Cheng (Adapted from "passport to diving the world")
Most people go to Darwin's Arch to fulfil a life-long dream to see a whale shark.
Darwin's Arch is one of the easiest sites to dive in the world. Once you have brave the potentially large swells and raging currents on your way down to the main platform, which is a rocky ledge 20m below the surface, you can just sit there and wait for things to swim by. The ledge isn't nicknamed "The Threatre" for nothing: schools of jacks, tuna, eagle rays, Galápagos sharks, scalloped hammerhead sharks, and the occasional dolphin are common sights. But most people go to Darwin's Arch to fulfil a life-long dream to see a whale shark. On my first trip to The Arch, our group had no less than 45 whale shark encounters in 18 dives.
(Ok enough with the stories, I'm itchin' for a dive)