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A brown sea lion swims upward through clear turquoise water over rocks, with snorkellers in wetsuits and fins behind it — Galápagos

Galápagos · Ecuador · Reef · Sand slope

Mosquera North

Endemic garden eels rising from a sand platform beside a sea lion islet

Area photo: Paul and Jill · CC BY 2.0

Mosquera is a sand and rock islet in the channel between Seymour and Baltra and a gathering place for sea lions. The northern dive is a shallow one over rock and sand, and divers come for the colonies of endemic Galápagos garden eels, dived in a current that runs moderate to strong.

Also known as Mosquera Islets, Mosquera.

Where it is and how deep

Depth profile of Mosquera North: typical dive to 12 m (to 40 ft) 18 m · Open Water30 m · Advanced40 m · Recreational limit12 mtypical dive
Depths on a shared scale to 40 m (130 ft); dashed lines mark common certification limits.

0.4048° S, 90.2780° WApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.

The dive

The rocky topography off the north side of the islet slopes down to 12 m, where the sand platform begins. The sand is the habitat of the endemic Galápagos garden eels, which crane out of their tunnels in their thousands to feed in the passing water, while sea lions gather around the islet itself. Following the coastal profile beyond the sand, the dive reaches a reef that serves as a cleaning station for blacktip sharks.

Marine life and season

  • Seals & sea lions
  • Reef sharks
Month-by-month season rating for Mosquera North
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
PrimePrimePrimePrimePrimeGoodGoodGoodGoodGoodGoodPrime

Season follows Galápagos: December to May brings warmer, calmer and clearer water; June to November is choppier and colder but better for ocean sunfish.

Know before you go

  • The current at Mosquera North runs moderate to strong across the shallow rock and sand.

Dive videos

Diving Mosquera - Galapagos Islands 4k · buchpetzer on YouTube

Sources

  1. Mosquera North dive site — Scuba Iguana
  2. Galapagos Dive Sites — Academy Bay Diving
  3. OpenStreetMap — OpenStreetMap

More dive sites in Galápagos

Wall

Bartolome

Sand and rock platform whose edge drops into cliffs where pelagic species pass

10–15 m · max 40 mintermediate

Drift

Gordon Rocks

Hammerhead schools at cleaning stations inside a volcanic crater

8–30 m · max 65 madvanced

Wall

Kicker Rock

A tuff cone split in two, its walls dropping straight to the bottom

to 20 mintermediate

Channel & pass

North Seymour Channel

Channel dive beside an island raised flat by volcanic uplift

to 25 mintermediate

Similar dives elsewhere

Reef

Shark Bay

Galápagos · Ecuador

Shallow rocky entry at 8 m, hammerheads scanned from 25 m

8–25 madvanced

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Punta Coco

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Boulders and sand under a frigate bird colony

6–22 mintermediate

Reef

Crescent Bay (Seal Rock)

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Young sea lions dropping down to divers at Seal Rock

to 8 mbeginner

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Blowhole

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Big smooth boulders scattered over sand patches

to 9 mbeginner