Danubio Azul
The budget way to dive Darwin and Wolf. Same sites as the expensive boats, fourteen guests, buffet meals, and instructors who also work the premium yachts.
Price
The cheapest way onto Darwin and Wolf without giving up the sites themselves.
Guides
The instructors rotate through the premium Galapagos yachts. Same people, different hull.
Group
Fourteen guests in eight cabins, so the dive deck never turns into a queue.
What you are paying for
Danubio Azul does one thing and does it cheaply: she runs the same dive sites as every other liveaboard in the Galapagos — Darwin, Wolf, Cape Marshall, Cousin’s Rock — at a fraction of what the first-class yachts charge. Twenty-five metres, built in 2007, fourteen guests in eight cabins, tourist class. Meals are buffet style and the service is better than the price suggests.
Be clear about the trade: this is a two to three star boat, not a rebuilt first-class yacht. Cabins are simple, the finish is basic, and gear rental sits outside the fare. What does not change is the water. The hammerheads at Darwin do not know what you paid for your cabin, and the instructors running your dives are the same ones working the expensive boats the following week.
At a glance
The week
Arrival and Carrion Point
Fly into Baltra, board, and start gently: calm water at Carrion Point for the check dive, plus snorkeling and a panga ride.
Cape Marshall
Manta rays and devil rays along the wall, with turtles and sharks working the same water. Diving morning and afternoon.
El Arenal and Darwin’s Arch
Volcanic underwater terrain in the morning, then the reason you came: hammerheads and turtles at the Arch.
El Arenal and Shark Bay
A second day in the north. More dives at El Arenal, then Punta Shark Bay with hammerheads, sea lions and turtles.
Shark Bay and El Derrumbe
Diving and snorkeling with sharks, sea lions and rays, then El Derrumbe for one of the richest stretches of the week.
Vicente Roca and Cape Douglas
Cold western water and its oddities — penguins, seahorses — then Cape Douglas, where whales and dolphins turn up.
Cousin’s Rock and the breeding centre
Sea lions, penguins and reef fish at Cousin’s Rock in the morning. Afternoon on land at the Fausto Llerena centre with the giant tortoises.
North Seymour and departure
Blue-footed boobies and frigatebirds on the last morning, then back to Baltra for the flight to Quito or Guayaquil.
Departures run Tuesday to Tuesday. Sites shift with conditions, and nothing in the water is guaranteed — the animals above show up often enough to plan a week around, not often enough to promise.
What is and is not included
Included
- Diving naturalist guide
- Tanks and weights
- Lead belt and dumbbells
- Emergency oxygen equipment
- First aid kit
- All meals on board, buffet style
Not included
- Full gear rental — USD 350 (regulator, BCD, mask, fins, hood, gloves, 7 mm two-piece wetsuit)
- Nitrox — USD 150, and the nitrox course
- Chamber fee — USD 35
- 100 cf / 15 l cylinders and specialty cylinder rental
- Dive torch
- National Park entrance and transit card
Bring your own regulator, BCD and wetsuit and you save the 350 straight away — worth doing the arithmetic before you compare this fare with a boat that includes gear.
Where you sleep
Eight cabins for fourteen guests. Simple and functional rather than designed — a bunk, storage for a dive bag, and somewhere to be horizontal between four dives a day. If cabin comfort is what decides your trip, this is the boat to look past.
Meals on board
Buffet, served around the dive schedule rather than a set menu. Nobody sails this boat for the cooking, but guests come back saying the food and the service run better than the fare would suggest. Tell us about dietary needs when you book so the galley can plan.
Is this your boat?
Book it if
- The dive sites matter to you and the cabin does not
- You own your gear, or do not mind paying to rent it
- You want Darwin and Wolf at the lowest fare in the fleet
- You have the certification and the dives to handle current
Choose another cruise if
- You want a first-class cabin and finish
- You would rather everything be included in one price
- Part of your group does not dive
- You are new to diving or coming back after a long break
Want the same sites with a rebuilt first-class boat? Compare the Tiburon Explorer. Prefer landings and snorkeling over tanks? We arrange naturalist cruises across the archipelago.
Tell us your dates
Departures leave on Tuesdays. Send the week you have in mind and we come back with the cabins still open on the Danubio Azul and the full cost with rental included.