Galápagos · Ecuador · Cave & cavern · Wall · Drift
The Cave
Two swim-throughs, then a fast drift off a wall thick with fish
Area photo: Kai Squires · CC BY 4.0
The Cave is the swim-through dive at Wolf: short passages through the rock that open onto a boulder-strewn wall at 15 to 20 metres. Past the second exit the current picks up and carries divers along and away from the wall, and it is on that stretch that the fish aggregate — Peruvian and Galápagos grunts, amberstripe scad, jacks and wahoo in numbers.
Also known as The Caves.
Where it is and how deep
1.3825° N, 91.8150° WApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.
The dive
The dive runs through the rock first. A pair of short swim-throughs lead one into the other, and after exiting the second you come out onto a boulder-strewn wall at about 15 to 20 metres. The passages are the sheltered part of the dive, and they are short enough that the wall is in sight again quickly, so the group comes out onto it together.
Beyond the wall the current picks up and takes you at increasing speed along and away from the rock, and this is where the life explodes. Peruvian grunts and Galápagos grunts, amberstripe scad, jacks and wahoo aggregate in large numbers over the boulders and out into the open water. There is no working against the flow at this point: you go with it, keep the group in sight and finish the dive off the wall.
Marine life and season
- Reef fish swarms
- Trevally & jacks
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good |
Season follows Galápagos: Whale sharks pass from June to November; the sea is calmer, warmer and clearer from December to May.
Know before you go
- The current accelerates past the second swim-through and pushes divers away from the wall into open water, so a deployed marker buoy and a group that stays together matter on the ascent.
Sources
- Diving Sites Galapagos - Darwin & Wolf Island — Dive The World
- Wolf Island — Wikipedia
- Galapagos Islands — Wikivoyage
More dive sites in Galápagos
Hold position at 18–24 m while hammerhead schools pass the plateau
Reef
Shallow rocky entry at 8 m, hammerheads scanned from 25 m
Similar dives elsewhere
A twin-entrance overhang at 24 m below a 16 m cleaning station
An L-shaped cave in from 14 m and out of the wall at 22 m
The Cathedral cave sits in the same block of reef as the throat
A manta cleaning station on Isabela's shoreline, current gentler than Darwin or Wolf