Galapagos is probably on most divers “Must Do” list for it’s spectacular big fish dives on Wolf and Darwin islands. Now getting there is becoming a little easier:
LAN Ecuador will commence daily flights to the remote and unique Galapagos Islands from September. This will be the airline’s fourth destination in Ecuador, joining Cuenca, and the cities of Quito and Guayaquil from which the new Galapagos flights will operate using modern Airbus A320 aircraft.
“This is a big milestone for us,” said Rodrigo Contreras, General Manager Australia, New Zealand & Asia for LAN. “The Galapagos Islands have been growing in popularity, but until now have been poorly served by air,” he said. “Our new flights will make it much easier to access”.
ECO PARADISE: THE GALAPAGOS ISLANDS
It’s 1,000 kilometres from mainland South America to the Ecuadorian territory of the Galapagos Islands, but it feels like a world away. These 13 remote islands boast a rich mix of flora and fauna, and breathtaking volcanic geography ranging from lava tunnels to soaring peaks.
Local wildlife ranges from the Galapagos Hawk and the Swallow-Tailed Gull to Galapagos Marine Iguana and Sea Lions, making this one of the world’s most authentic eco-tourism destinations. Galapagos wildlife also played an important part in the theory of evolution espoused by the famous anthropologist Charles Darwin, who arrived on the island of San Christobel in 1845. Darwin noted physical differences between Galapagos creatures and similar mainland varieties, and concluded that the Galapagos wildlife had physically adapted to the local environment.
Quito and Guayalquil in Ecuador can be reached with easy connection opn LAN Chile from Sydney.
Fortunately for the reef, its inhabitants and of course scuba divers the site of the incident is about 1000 to 1200 km away from our top dive sites in the Ribbon Reefs and the Coral Sea. As you know the entire length of the Great Barrier Reef is about 2000 km. We therefore expect no direct effect on the reef, however, there are a lot of wquestions to be asked. I hope this review can provide clarity there.
Shark fishing in Australia Australia’s oceans play host to a rich and largely unique variety of sharks and wider members of the shark ‘family’ known as condrichthyans (sharks, rays, skates and ghost shark). 300 of the 1025 species of condrichthyans are found in Australian waters, half of which are endemic – found nowhere else on earth. With this rich diversity comes a heavy responsibility to conserve the animal Australian surfers refer to affectionately as “the man in the grey suit”.
