Calipso Galapagos Liveaboard - Booking & Reviews - Bluewater Dive Travel

Calipso Liveaboard

4.875
(2 REVIEWS)
Calipso
Calipso
Calipso
Calipso
Calipso
Calipso
Calipso
Calipso

Calipso Galapagos Liveaboard, Ecuador

Galapagos Islands (7 Nights) | From $614++/night

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calipso Galapagos Quick Pitch 

The Calipso Galapagos is a beautifully constructed and modern dive liveaboard yacht in the Galapagos, offering exciting itineraries to the best dive spots in the Galapagos including Darwin and Wolf Islands. 

 

Why You'll like the Calipso

  • The largest Galapagos liveaboard, at 35.4 m (116 ft)
  • The only Galapagos liveaboard with wi-fi
  • Spacious cabins with large panoramic windows 
  • Excellent amenities including a sundeck with jacuzzi, a spacious dive deck with camera charging area, and a huge dedicated rinse tank
  • Nitrox available

Read about Bluewater Travel's Group Trip Advisor, Gillian Flaherty's, experience aboard the Calipso.


 

Location

You will need to fly from the mainland of Ecuador to San Cristobal, Galapagos (airport code SCY) on the morning of your departure.

 

Dive Overview

With 592 species of fish, 32 species of sharks, 4 species of turtles, 7 species of dolphins plus penguins, mola molas, orcas, mantas, and the sole marine iguana on the planet, only in Galapagos can you dive with such a sheer abundance of species and so many sharks. Darwin and Wolf have the largest biomass of sharks in the world, 17.5 tons of sharks per hectare (2.47 acres). Only in Galapagos can you dive with pregnant Whale sharks this big. Add massive schools of pre-historic-looking Hammerheads, the largest Galapagos sharks anywhere, and, sorry everywhere else, only Galapagos truly is the sharkiest place on the planet. And yes, the best dive sites in Galapagos are only accessible from a liveaboard.

[See: Galapagos Dive Travel Guide]

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Accommodations

Types of Cabins, Amenities and Photos

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Calipso diving liveaboard in the Galapagos Calipso diving liveaboard in the Galapagos

 

Calipso Cabin Overview

Calipso has 6 double cabins on the upper deck and 2 double cabins on the main deck. All of the double cabins are convertible to one bed. Double cabins have panoramic windows, as well as a window in the bathroom. Cabins have climate control, TV, hairdryer, closet, and an ensuite bathroom.  

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General Facilities

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 Calipso diving liveaboard in the Galapagos Calipso

Calipso's sundeck and dive deck 

 

Calipso Boat Features

  • Sun deck with a Jacuzzi
  • Spacious salon with a large flat screen TV for briefings and movies
  • Spacious dining area
  • Satellite Wi-Fi

calipso jacuzzi calipso dining area

Calipso's sundeck and dining area


Calipso Dive Facilities

  • Brand new dive deck
  • Nitrox
  • Camera Table w/ Air
  • Camera Charging Stations
  • Bi-level rinse tanks
  • Individual dive stations
  • Hot fresh water showers 
  • Dive deck head
  • Equipment Rental
  • 2 ribbed Zodiacs (pangas)
  • 2 dive guides (1 per 8 divers)
  • Private guides available

calipso showercalipso dive deck

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Food & Drinks Aboard calipso

Calipso provides a light snack prior to your first dive, then a full breakfast after the dive. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner are served buffet style for all you can eat. They serve international and Ecuadorian dishes prepared with fresh local produce and seafood. There is a snack and hot beverage after each dive. Fruits, candies, and snacks are available all day. A variety of teas, coffee and fresh juice is available all day, and the salon bar has a wide variety of wines, beers and spirits available for purchase.

calipso food and drink calipso food and drink

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calipso liveaboard Deck Plan

Calipso Galapagos diving liveaboard 

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Schedule, Rates & availability

Calipso Schedule & Rates

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Prices are in USD, per person and do not include park and port fees. 

[See also: Inclusions & Exclusions] 

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INCLUSIONS

  • Accommodation onboard for length of cruise
  • All meals, snacks & beverages (alcohol extra)
  • Weights, weight belts & tanks
  • Dive Alert, SMB, Nautilus Lifeline, Safety Noisemaker
  • Bilingual Park certified dive guide
  • Airport transfers in San Cristobal for official flight

 

Exclusions

  • Flights to Galapagos
  • National Park Entrance Fee: $100 pp
  • Transit Control Card (TCT): $20 pp
  • Recompression Chamber Fee: $35 pp
  • Nitrox: $150
  • Equipment Rental: $250 full kit, $100 computer
  • Dive Insurance
  • Travel-Health Insurance
  • Meal on final full day in town
  • Personal Expenses
  • 12% Sales Tax (VAT); credit card fee

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RATES & AVAILABILITY

For more information on other departure dates, rates, and on availability email us at info@bluewaterdivetravel.com or call us at +1-310-915-6677 and we will gladly help you plan your dream dive vacation!

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Dive Information & Itineraries

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Sample itinerary

  • Calipso diving liveaboard in the Galapagos
  • Thursday: Arrival
  • AM: This morning, you will fly from the mainland of Ecuador to San Cristobal, Galapagos. Our guides will be there to greet you and escort you to the yacht.
  • PM: After getting settled in, we will have lunch and briefings followed by a check dive at Isla Lobos. Lobo is Spanish for wolf and sea lion is lobo del mar in Spanish. Expect to see sea lions. We sail to Marchena overnight.
  • Friday: Punta Carrion and Seymour
  • AM: Punta Carrion is located on the island of Santa Cruz. Sometimes we get lucky and see mola molas here. It’s a good first dive to acclimatize to Galapagos diving.
  • PM: Seymour is an island known for having great dives. Sightings include mobulas, white tip reef sharks, Galapagos sharks, sometimes Hammerheads and many fish species.
  • Saturday: Wolf
  • AM: Wolf is one of the reasons Galapagos is on most divers’ bucketlist. Scientists have designated Wolf and Darwin (together as they are so close together) as the sharkiest place on earth because they have the largest biomass of sharks on the planet, 17.5 tons of sharks per hectare (2.47 acres).  Only divers visit Wolf. There is no chumming in Galapagos. This is where sharks come naturally. There are no land visits. Wolf is located 115 miles north of the central islands.
  • PM: Sightings include huge schools of Hammerhead sharks, Galapagos sharks,Whale sharks (in season), Silky sharks, Eagle Rays, Sea Lions, Fur Seals, Mantas, Turtles, Jacks, Trumpetfish, Butterfly fish, Morish Idols, Moray Eels and Dolphins. Some sites at Wolf are covered in coral and all of the tropical fish species that live on coral reefs. Dive sites include Shark Bay, The Landslide, La Banana and Islote La Ventana. On the island itself, there are hundreds of thousands of seabirds including all 3 types of boobies in Galapagos – Red footed, blue footed and Nazca. There are frigates, pelicans, lava gulls and red billed tropicbirds.
  • Sunday: Darwin
  • Darwin’s Arch is an icon, the symbol of diving the Galapagos. It is located 229 km / 142 miles north of the central islands. In addition to Wolf, this is where we find massive schools of Hammerheads. Huge, pregnant Whale sharks pass through Darwin each year for reasons unknown.
  • Darwin is the warmest dive site in Galapagos due to the tropical Panama current. You spend a lot of the dive stationary, on a platform that drops into the blue where Hammerheads swim against the current. It’s like being on the side of a Hammerhead highway watching traffic pass. You leave the platform to swim out into the blue when a Whale shark is spotted. That sometimes means swimming through the Hammerheads, a truly magnificent experience you will carry with you forever.
  • Monday: Darwin-Wolf
  • AM: We have 2 more dives at Darwin in the morning. 
  • PM: We have 1-2 more dives at Wolf in the afternoon. There is an optional night dive at the Anchorage site. Anchorage has a sandy bottom where you may see garden eels and the red-lipped batfish.
  • Tuesday: Isabela-Fernandina
  • There are  2 different itineraries for the western sites due to seasonal visibility.
  • Jan-June AM: Cabo Marshall / July-Dec AM: Cabo Douglas
  • Jan-June PM: Cabo Marshall / July-Dec PM:Punta Vicente Roca
  • Wednesday: Cousins-Santa Cruz
  • AM: Cousins Rock. Cousins is a small rock, the remains of an eroded crater sticking up out of the sea. On the eastern side, the rock cascades down in a series of recessed ledges strewn with black coral, which is bright green under the water. Taking cover in the coral, you may find Seahorses, Frogfish, Octopus, Turtles and the elusive Longnose Hawkfish. It’s not unusual to spot pelagics from Cousins including Mantas, Eagle rays, Mobulas and Hammerhead. Sea lions are fur seals are also at Cousins.
  • PM: We disembark head for a reserve in the Santa Cruz Highlands to see the iconic Galapagos Tortoise in its natural habitat.
  • After the Highlands, we descend into the largest town in Galapagos, Puerto Ayora. You may opt to visit the Charles Darwin Research Center in the Galapagos National Park or wander about town.
  • Our farewell dinner will be at a restaurant in Puerto Ayora. We then return to Calipso and sail to San Cristobal overnight.
  • Thursday: Departure
  • You will disembark and are free to visit the Interpretation Center or wander around port before to  the airport for your departure.

 

Diving conditions

High season is June - December when the polar Humboldt current brings its abundance of nutrients to Galapagos. This is when the massive, pregnant Whale Sharks migrate through Darwin and Wolf and are traditionally most abundant in August, September and October, thinning out after mid-November. Currents can be strong, seas choppy and visibility diminished at this time of year. Air temperatures are cooler and the sky is often cloudy, so jackets or sweatshirts are needed.

Low season is January - May when seas are calmer, water temperatures are warmer and visibility is better. No Whale sharks, but all other sharks and marine life are still present. February and March are the warmest months of the year. You won’t need a jacket and will appreciate the AC inside Calipso. Traditionally, late February to mid-April, Hammerhead populations are diminished as they migrate away before returning in huge numbers in May. Some call this Manta season. Visibility is better at this time of year at the sites where Mantas are common. 

You'll get sharks year round. If you want to see the most sharks, dive during high season. If you want some sharks, more Mantas, warmer water and better visibility, dive during low season.  

Diving in the Galapagos is advanced due to strong currents, varying visibility and cold water. Water temperatures can range from 56 F (13 C) to 80F (27 C) depending on the season and the dive site. We dive in 7mm wetsuits.

All divers must be certified as open water scuba divers by an internationally recognized certification organization. We recommend a minimum of 50 logged dives if you are traveling between December and May and 100 logged dives if you are traveling between June and November.  

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Other Information

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Boat Specifications

  • Build: 1991
  • Rebuilt: 2018-2019
  • Length: 35.4 m / 116 ft
  • Beam: 7.3 m / 24 ft
  • Hull: Naval Steel
  • Engines: 2 Cummins NTA855-M, 400 hp, 1800 rpm
  • Generators: 2 Cummins 6B-CP, 99 kw, 60 hz
  • Compressor: Bauer Verticus model VAC20-E3, 5000 PSI
  • Cruising Speed: 11 knots
  • Fresh Water: 5,000 gallons / 20,000 litres
  • Fuel Capacity: 7,200 gallons / 29,000 litres
  • Superstructure: Naval Steel, aluminum and fiberglass
  • Maximum guests: 16
  • Number of cabins: 8
  • Number of crews: 11

 

Practical Information

  • Time Zone: UTC-6
  • Local Currency: USD (US Dollar)
  • Language Spoken: Spanish & English
  • Electricity: 110 & 220 V
  • Payment Onboard: Cash & credit cards. All onboard purchases are subject to the 12% Ecuador sales tax (VAT). When using a credit card onboard, there is an additional 4% processing fee.

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Got Questions? Ready to Book?

Call us today at +1-310-915-6677 or email us info@bluewaterdivetravel.com

And let us book your dream vacation!

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Underwater Gallery 

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Calipso liveaboard Galapagos underwater photo Calipso liveaboard Galapagos underwater photo

Whale shark & silky shark

Calipso liveaboard Galapagos underwater photo Calipso liveaboard Galapagos underwater photo

Hammerheads & eagle rays

Calipso liveaboard Galapagos underwater photo Calipso liveaboard Galapagos underwater photo

Turtle & marine iguana

Calipso liveaboard Galapagos underwater photo Calipso liveaboard Galapagos underwater photo

Penguins & jacks

Calipso liveaboard Galapagos underwater photo Calipso liveaboard Galapagos underwater photo

Giant manta & mola mola

Calipso liveaboard Galapagos underwater photo Calipso liveaboard Galapagos underwater photo

Orcas & red-lipped batfish

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Reviews (2)

Fort Erie, ON
Canada
4
5
5
5

My week on the Calipso was magical. Magic needs everyone and everything to make it happen, and this trip had it all. First, the daunting waves that promised to wash you out of bed if you didn’t sleep on your back. You never forgot you were on a boat, heading Out There. The waves were still in force when we boarded pangas for the dive sites. Once we descended, the restless surface gave way to sea lions, hammerheads, turtles, huge schools of fish, rays, macro oddballs, and other critters seen nowhere else.

My favorite encounter happened at Wolf when, as I was mesmerized by the abundance of hammerheads in front of me, a movement near my left arm caught my attention, and I turned to face a large moray poking its toothy head from the very rock I clung to. All morays look disgruntled all the time, but perhaps a little more when they are a foot from your face. But there’s nothing I like more than being eye to eye with singular marine life, and I knew he was only breathing. I wonder what he thought about my breathing.

Back on the surface, my moray story was only one among the riveting stories from my fellow divers. They were told through daily meals that were endlessly delicious and served up by crew members for whom no request was too trivial or too much not to fill with a smile. The crew members all seemed to have three jobs, such as food prep, diver prep, and panga pilot.

Our topside excursions included a panga tour near the shores of Cousin’s Rock, where we were able to photograph Blue-footed Boobies and fur sea lions. The best, of course, was our visit to the Galapagos tortoises, where divemaster Peter became eco-tourist guide Peter and gave us an educated glimpse of the oddly beautiful and most famous animal in the Galapagos.

In spite of a couple of glitches in the schedule, we made it to the airport on time. I was sad to leave, happy for the privilege of the experience, and vowing to do it all over again.

Visited on 04/2023 - Submitted on 07/03/2023
5
5
5
5

The Calipso is one of the better boats in the Galapagos, and while I wouldn't class it as luxury, it is very well-appointed and excellent value for money. The boat has a spacious and airy feel, with modern decor, panoramic windows throughout, a large dive deck, and loads of room on the upper deck. The salon has plenty of space to sit 16 guests for meals in one sitting, as well as a comfortable lounge area and a bar. The upper deck has a full-length dining area, jacuzzi, and sun loungers. Cabins can accommodate a Queen or two single beds, with space to walk around. There is a hanging closet and shelves, with storage under the bed. The ensuite bathrooms have a good-sized shower with complimentary toiletries. There is also air con!

The food was delicious and plentiful - we didn't have a bad meal the whole trip. Breakfast is a buffet with eggs to order and fresh juice, and lunch was a choice of meat/fish or vegetarian with a salad, vegetables, and rice or potatoes. Dinner was similar, with cheese and desert. There wasn't as much choice of dishes as I've had on other boats, however, it was much healthier and tastier than I've experienced before.

The dive deck really impressed me - there are 16 numbered stations, each with an 80 and 100 cu ft nitrox tank. The seat of the dive station lifts to provide a storage locker underneath. Guests are given a numbered weight belt and hangar for wetsuits so that kit doesn't get mixed up. Diving is from pangas that comfortably fit 8 divers. We normally drove only a couple of minutes to each dive site and then rolled in as a group. The pangas only have 1 ladder which made it a bit crowded getting back in the boat after a dive, especially in choppy water.

Finally, I would class the staff service onboard as exceptional. Every crew member took the time to say 'Good Morning' or to assist with kitting up on the dive deck. The cabins were serviced twice or three times each day, and although meals were self-service, the barman was always on hand to fetch drinks, second portions, dessert, etc. Nothing was too much trouble for them.

Overall, this is an excellent choice for a Galapagos trip and you won't be disappointed,

Visited on 12/2022 - Submitted on 12/20/2022

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