The Galapagos Islands (Galapagos) is an archipelago in the Pacific Ocean, 972 kilometers west of Ecuador, consisting of 13 main volcanic islands, 6 small islands and 107 rocks and alluvial territories. The Galapagos Islands are named after the Spanish. Islas Galápagos (galápago - turtle).
The Galapagos Islands are territorially owned by the state of Ecuador. The population of the Galapagos is about 30 thousand people. The area is 7880 km².
The islands are known primarily for the large number of local species of fauna and the study of Charles Darwin, which served as the first impetus for him to create an evolutionary theory of the origin of species. Diving in the Galapagos
The best places for diving in the Galapagos are the islands of Darwin and Wolfe. There are excellent dive sites for advanced divers. Near Wolfe Island you can observe an unprecedented variety of fish, here is the most convenient place to watch hammerhead sharks, bottlenose dolphins are often found and white and bronze sharks constantly walk. Dive site Rocas Gordon, Fr. Santa Cruz (Rocas Gordon) is the best diving spot in the central islands. There is everything that divers need here - currents, depth, whirlpools and, most importantly, large sea fish. Another dive site, Cousins, is a reef located north of Santiago Island. A feature of this dive site is that it maintains amazing visibility throughout almost the entire year. You will see beautiful underwater coral walls, next to which marine life is in full swing: jacks, green turtles, sea lions and hammerhead fish. Diving in the Galapagos is fun for experienced divers. Tourist infrastructure in the Galapagos is poorly developed. There are no large dive centers, just as there are no specialized shops here. All diving equipment must be brought with you.

The best thing about the Galapagos said Paul Human - a famous photographer and author of the book "Fish of the Galapagos Islands": "The Galapagos is definitely the most tempting place for divers around the world. The reefs are incredibly saturated with a variety of marine life. The collision of the currents of the Antarctic and the tropical currents of the Pacific Ocean create an amazing combination of representatives of cold and warm seas. Mixing of warm and cold waters form wonderful pictures of beauty. Nowhere have I seen such a riot of underwater life than in the Galapagos Islands. For me, diving in the Galapagos is the most exciting adventure of my life.”

The Galapagos Islands are of volcanic origin (from basaltic lava) and today they are often shaken by tremors, foreshadowing new eruptions. Fiery tongues of lava spill out of menacing craters that adorn mountainous patches of land, lost in the expanses of the largest ocean on Earth. In total, there are seventeen volcanoes on the Galapogos, the highest is Wolfe on Isabela Island (1707 m).
The Galapagos Islands were never connected to the mainland, they appeared from under the water as a result of tectonic activity about one million years ago. The archipelago stretches from north to south for 300 km, its area reaches 8 thousand square meters. km. Now almost all of it has been declared a national park, and a marine reserve has been organized in the adjacent waters.

History of the Galapagos
In 1535, the Spaniard Berlanga, Bishop of Panama, saw the islands that appeared in front of him from a dense veil of fog. The spectacle that opened the eyes of the bishop seemed to him so fabulous and unreal that he gave the islands the poetic name Las Encantadas (in Spanish - "enchanted"). Berlanga later said that he met “stupid birds that didn’t even know how to hide” and huge turtles weighing up to 200 kg on the archipelago. Subsequently, it was from them that the modern name of the islands came - Islas de Galapagos ("Turtle Islands").
The brightest page in the annals of the Galapagos is associated with the name of the great Darwin, who lived on the islands for five weeks in 1835 and called the Galapagos "Paradise of evolution." It was the stay on this archipelago isolated from external contacts that prompted the young English naturalist to thoughts and ideas that later resulted in his famous scientific work On the Origin of Species.

Animals and flora
The flora and fauna of the islands is extremely unusual. The main plant in the Galapagos is the prickly pear cactus, which grows to gigantic sizes. Since not a drop of rain falls on the islands for 8 months a year, this desert dweller has practically no competitors here. Ten-meter cacti even have a real trunk covered with tree bark. There are only 9 species of mammals here, but they are all found exclusively in the Galapagos. Marine iguanas, similar to fossil pangolins, live here and get their food in the sea, sometimes at a depth of up to 10m. They are adjacent to sea lizards and the main decoration of the islands - giant Galapagos tortoises. Imagine a huge bone hemisphere meter in diameter, slowly moving on wide clawed paws along the slope and raising its head high on a long neck in search of a leaf or twig. Galapagos tortoises are among the longest-lived world record holders. They live for 200 or more years, so when riding such a “living tank”, one should not forget that, perhaps, the great Darwin himself once sat on it.
There are as many as 60 species of birds in the Galapagos archipelago, and half of them live only here. There are 13 species of finches alone here. Galapagos pigeons, Galapagos buzzards, Galapagos flightless cormorants, as well as funny and touching masked boobies are not found elsewhere. These amazing birds in the mating season give each other beautiful green branches as a symbol of love. But the most striking thing is that even a special kind of penguins lives on the islands.

The sea off the coast is also full of life. Not without reason in recent years, the Galapagos archipelago was chosen by diving enthusiasts. In addition to whales, dolphins and schools of thousands of tropical fish, huge flocks of fur seals and sea lions frolic off the coast, whose grace, flexibility and swiftness can only be fully appreciated in their native element.

Climate and conditions for diving in the Galapagos Islands
About the Galapagos, we can say that the season for diving here is all year round. Since the Galapagos Islands are located on the equator, seasonal temperature changes are very small. Although from June to November the chances of seeing sharks are highest, especially around the islands of Darwin and Wolf (Darwin and Wolfe), you can see sharks here throughout the year. The average annual air temperature in the Galapagos is 23°C. From December to May - the warmest time of the year, air temperature up to 31°C, water - up to 25°C. The sea is also the warmest and usually the calmest at this time. The dive sites have different water temperatures depending on the season. In May, the water temperature on the surface is maximum and is 20-24 ° C, and in the northern part of the Galapagos archipelago, near the islands of Wolf and Darwin, can reach 28 ° C. From August to November, the water temperature on the surface is minimal - 16-20°C. The thermocline is located at depths of 10-30 m. The water temperature under the thermocline is 16-18°C. December has the most rain and fog. January and March have the best visibility in the water. The driest season in the Galapagos Islands is from June to November, but these months are also Garua season. Garua is a mist that forms in the highlands of the islands. Oddly enough, during the garua season, the humidity on the islands themselves (in the highlands) is greater than during the so-called "wet season".

Main Islands of the Galapagos Archipelago
Isabela (Albemarle)
Galapagos Islands (Galapagos): land iguana. The largest island of the archipelago (4588 sq. Km) with five active volcanoes, one of which is Volcano Wolf (Wolf) is the highest point of the Galapagos Islands (1707 m). Pirates and whalers drew their routes on the rocky walls of Tagus Cave. Urbina Bay, located in the central part of the western coast of the island, between the Darwin and Alquedo volcanoes, is home to large multi-colored iguanas, penguins and the largest colony of giant tortoises. From the town of Punta Moreno in the southwest of about. Isabela offers amazing views of the Alquedo, Cerro Azul and Sierra Negra volcanoes. У Сьерра-Негра второй по величине кратер в мире, диаметр которого составляет 10 km. But the most tempting here is the many small lagoons, in general, similar to oases with birds of paradise, including flamingos, pelicans, frigates, hawks. Sharks, killer whales, ray fish, hammerhead fish, eels live in the waters.

Santa Cruz (Indefatigable)
The second largest and most populated island - 986 sq. km. It houses a research station. Charles Darwin, founded in 1959. One of the most important programs of this station is the control of the breeding of turtles, of which there are 11 species on the island. The island, overgrown with prickly pear and mangroves, is home to marine iguanas and finches. Each of the bays of the island has its own history. Thus, the Gulf of Whale is inextricably linked with the famous pirate Henry Morgan.

Fernandina (Narborough)
The third largest island (642 sq. km) is located in the westernmost part archipelago. The smoldering La Cumbre volcano makes you feel its strength and power with light jolts. At Punta Espinosa, among mangrove forests stretching out to sea, solidified black lava flows host the world's largest colony of marine iguanas, as well as pelicans and flightless cormorants. Urbina