Tiburon Explorer

This 125 ft (38m) purpose-built, steel-hulled liveaboard, from the reputable Explorer fleet, operates 7 night diving cruises around the best sites of the Galapagos islands. Tiburon Explorer is a Green Fins (marine conservation) member.

Although there are 9 twin share ensuite cabins, all with TVs, there is a maximum limit of 16 guests on each trip. Elegance and comfort are emphasized on board with spacious well-appointed cabins and plenty of room to socialize and enjoy your surface time. The large and stylish saloon/dining area on the main deck is the place most guests tend to hang out. Here you can enjoy the TV and music system, or read up on some of the Galapagos’ extraordinary flora, fauna and history. All day coffee, tea and nibbles are also available here. This area has 2 rows of large picture windows running along both the port and starboard sides. This means the space is flooded with natural light and enjoys beautiful, ever-changing views.

If you prefer to chill out in the fresh air, the upper deck is the place to be. You can sip a cocktail by the bar or relax around the stylish tables in a shaded area. Sun lovers will prefer to stretch out on the sun loungers or slip into the hot tub for a relaxing soak after an amazing day’s diving.

The dive deck is large, well-planned and functions efficiently. Rows of tanks have individual diver bins beneath the seats for all your accessories. Tanks are filled in situ with air or nitrox. Photographers will appreciate the camera tables, recharging stations, and separate freshwater rinse tanks for kit. Once geared up you will step down onto the platform and into one of 2 RIBs, known locally as pangas. Upon returning, there are 3 large freshwater showers for immediate desalination, and a toilet for immediate relief.

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Notes: Galapagos is a popular destination with limited liveaboard spaces. We recommend you book well in advance to avoid disappointment.

Dive experience: A minimum of 100 logged dives is recommended.

Cruise price per person includes: Cabin accommodation with air-conditioning, breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, drinking water, soft drinks, hot drinks, local brands of alcohol, land tours, transfers to the boat from the local airport, dives (as detailed in the trips above), experienced English-speaking divemaster(s) (7-8 divers per DM), tanks, weights and weightbelts, DiveAlert, a surface signaling device, and an electronic beacon, all taxes.

Cruise price per person excludes (mandatory, unless customer provides own): Dinner on the final evening, scuba equipment (7 nights US$ 250), dive computer (7 nights US$ 100), diving insurance, Galapagos park and reserve entrance fees (US$ 200). With effect from 13 August 2022, a fuel surcharge will apply to all cruises (7 nights US$ 150, 10 nights US$ 215). Unless otherwise stated, all the listed items need to be paid on arrival (cash or credit card + 14% tax).

Optional extras: Alcoholic drinks, nitrox fills for enriched air certified divers (7 nights US$ 150), 15 liter tank (7 nights US$ 130), chamber fee (US$ 35). Unless otherwise stated, all the listed items need to be paid on arrival. Note: prices of items purchased onboard are subject to change.

How to get there: The Tiburon Explorer liveaboard dive tours depart from Baltra every Saturday at 12 noon. Guests fly into Ecuador and take a connecting flight, through Guayaquil or Quito, to Baltra in Galapagos, landing no later than 11:30 am. Passengers flying into San Cristobal must arrange their own transportation to Baltra. Both Guayaquil and Quito have daily flights to the islands, although Guayaquil is recommended with cheaper prices and better-timed connections.
You will need to overnight in Guayaquil or Quito before flying on to the Galapagos. To ensure easy flight connections, a 2 night stop-over is recommended. On the return leg you will probably need to overnight in Guayaquil or Quito since most international flights depart too early to make the connection possible. The flight from Galapagos arrives in Guayaquil (and then Quito) in the afternoon.
We will place your domestic flight requirements with the liveaboard operator who are responsible for booking the flights. We request your patience with this process since there are often waiting lists and slow confirmations of availability. You must inform us whether you are flying into Guayaquil or Quito before domestic flights can be considered. If you wish to extend your stay in Galapagos to enjoy land tours, please decide that early in the booking process to ensure flight availability.
For more details, including airlines, see our Galapagos travel information section. The last dive of the trip will be at around 11:00 hrs on the penultimate day, before returning to port for dinner, and then disembarking at 07:00 hrs on the final day. Please wait at least 18 hours before flying after diving.

Non-diver rate: None.

Single supplement (if you do not want to share accommodation): This is optional - single travelers may choose to share a cabin or pay a supplement of 80% of the published price.

Dive clubs and group discounts: Pay for 5 guests and 1 additional person can join the cruise free of charge.

Whole boat charter rate (per night): Pay for 14 guests and 2 extra persons can join free of charge, except December-May season: pay for 13 guests and 3 extra persons can join free of charge.

Add-on package: Galapagos is a once-in-a-lifetime destination and the above water creatures and environments are just as impressive as below. You can extend your time in this nature-lovers paradise by adding a 3, 4 or 7 night wildlife safari. These are non-diving liveaboard nature tours around some of the finest locations in Galapagos with naturalist guides, literature and presentations. Don't just leave after a week of diving! Get the full picture of this incredible archipelago.

Western Galapagos, Wolf & Darwin (8 Days / 7 Nights - 19 Dives)

Trip highlights: shark action, dolphins, manta rays, seals/sea lions, turtles, schooling fish & big pelagics, non diving activities, onboard experts on wildlife and natural history

Diving environment: advanced divers, beginner divers, cage diving, caverns, drift diving, healthy reefs, off the beaten track, very popular, wall diving, wreck diving

Dive sites and activities: Punta Carrion, Baltra North, Wolf Island (2 days), Darwin Island (1 day), Cabo Douglas, Punta Vicente Roca, Cousins Rock, 2 wildlife land tours: North Seymour and Santa Cruz Islands

Day 1
MV Tiburon Explorer liveaboard departs from Baltra in the afternoon. You will be met at Baltra airport and transferred to the boat. Upon boarding, there will be a boat briefing to introduce the cruise and the crew to you and the other guests, while having lunch. After lunch you'll take the short trip to Punta Carrion for a check dive during which the guides will test your underwater skills and dive gear. Back on board, dinner will be served while the boat departs for its journey to the destination of your first full day of diving.

Days 2-7
The diving days start with the 1st dive at 06:30 hrs followed by breakfast (eggs, ham, cereals, toast and fresh fruit). The 2nd dive of the morning is at around 09:30 hrs. Expect to see marine life...everywhere around you! Schools of pelagic fish will become a common subject of your underwater pictures, with big creature highlights such as manta rays, sea lions and hammerhead sharks. It is also not unusual to dive with dolphins and reef sharks. Your Galapagos diving safari will surprise you dive after dive.
Tired from the morning dives? Relax and refresh over lunch at 12:00 hrs, with a selection of international cuisine and local dishes mainly cooked with fresh fish and lots of different salads. Chill out on the sundeck or in the Jacuzzi and look forward to the 3rd dive at 14:00 hrs and the 4th dive at 16:30 hrs. Whale sharks are often seen in the Galapagos Islands from June through November. There will be plenty of excited talk about your tour on the Tiburon Explorer during dinner at 19:00 hrs in the air-conditioned dining area and over drinks at the bar.
Please note that on days with a long journey between islands, there may be only 2 or 3 dives a day. During the trip there will also be time for 2 land tours: one to North Seymour Island on Sunday and one to the tortoises in the highlands of Santa Cruz on Friday. Also on Friday you will enjoy dinner at a restaurant in Puerto Ayora, returning to the boat during the evening.

Day 8
You will have an early breakfast before saying goodbye to the amazing Tiburon Explorer and its experienced liveaboard crew. Transfers are arranged if flying out of Baltra Airport.

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Western Galapagos, Wolf & Darwin (11 Days / 10 Nights - 32 Dives)

Trip highlights: shark action, dolphins, manta rays, seals/sea lions, turtles, schooling fish & big pelagics, non diving activities, onboard experts on wildlife and natural history

Diving environment: advanced divers, beginner divers, cage diving, caverns, drift diving, healthy reefs, off the beaten track, very popular, wall diving, wreck diving

Dive sites and activities: Punta Carrion, Baltra North, Wolf Island (2 days), Darwin Island (1 day), Cabo Douglas, Punta Vicente Roca, Cousins Rock, 2 wildlife land tours: North Seymour and Santa Cruz Islands

Day 1
MV Tiburon Explorer liveaboard departs from Baltra in the afternoon. You will be met at Baltra airport and transferred to the boat. Upon boarding, there will be a boat briefing to introduce the cruise and the crew to you and the other guests, while having lunch. After lunch you'll take the short trip to Punta Carrion for a check dive during which the guides will test your underwater skills and dive gear. Back on board, dinner will be served while the boat departs for its journey to the destination of your first full day of diving.

Days 2-10
The diving days start with the 1st dive at 06:30 hrs followed by breakfast (eggs, ham, cereals, toast and fresh fruit). The 2nd dive of the morning is at around 09:30 hrs. Expect to see marine life...everywhere around you! Schools of pelagic fish will become a common subject of your underwater pictures, with big creature highlights such as manta rays, sea lions and hammerhead sharks. It is also not unusual to dive with dolphins and reef sharks. Your Galapagos diving safari will surprise you dive after dive.
Tired from the morning dives? Relax and refresh over lunch at 12:00 hrs, with a selection of international cuisine and local dishes mainly cooked with fresh fish and lots of different salads. Chill out on the sundeck or in the Jacuzzi and look forward to the 3rd dive at 14:00 hrs and the 4th dive at 16:30 hrs. Whale sharks are often seen in the Galapagos Islands from June through November. There will be plenty of excited talk about your tour on the Tiburon Explorer during dinner at 19:00 hrs in the air-conditioned dining area and over drinks at the bar.
Please note that on days with a long journey between islands, there may be only 2 or 3 dives a day. During the trip there will also be time for 2 land tours: one to North Seymour Island on Sunday and one to the tortoises in the highlands of Santa Cruz on Friday. Also on Friday you will enjoy dinner at a restaurant in Puerto Ayora, returning to the boat during the evening.

Day 11
You will have an early breakfast before saying goodbye to the amazing Tiburon Explorer and its experienced liveaboard crew. Transfers are arranged if flying out of Baltra Airport.

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Western Galapagos, Wolf & Darwin (11 Days / 10 Nights - 32 Dives)

Trip highlights: shark action, dolphins, manta rays, seals/sea lions, turtles, schooling fish & big pelagics, non diving activities, onboard experts on wildlife and natural history

Diving environment: advanced divers, beginner divers, cage diving, caverns, drift diving, healthy reefs, off the beaten track, very popular, wall diving, wreck diving

Dive sites and activities: Baltra North, Cabo Douglas, Cabo Marshall, Punta Vincente Roca, Cousin's Rock, Darwin Island, Wolf Island, 2 wildlife land tours: North Seymour and Santa Cruz Islands

Day 1
MV Tiburon Explorer liveaboard departs from Baltra in the afternoon. You will be met at Baltra airport and transferred to the boat. Upon boarding, there will be a boat briefing to introduce the cruise and the crew to you and the other guests, while having lunch. After lunch you'll take the short trip to Punta Carrion for a check dive during which the guides will test your underwater skills and dive gear. Back on board, dinner will be served while the boat departs for its journey to the destination of your first full day of diving.

Days 2-10
The diving days start with the 1st dive at 06:30 hrs followed by breakfast (eggs, ham, cereals, toast and fresh fruit). The 2nd dive of the morning is at around 09:30 hrs. Expect to see marine life...everywhere around you! Schools of pelagic fish will become a common subject of your underwater pictures, with big creature highlights such as manta rays, sea lions and hammerhead sharks. It is also not unusual to dive with dolphins and reef sharks. Your Galapagos diving safari will surprise you dive after dive.
Tired from the morning dives? Relax and refresh over lunch at 12:00 hrs, with a selection of international cuisine and local dishes mainly cooked with fresh fish and lots of different salads. Chill out on the sundeck or in the Jacuzzi and look forward to the 3rd dive at 14:00 hrs and the 4th dive at 16:30 hrs. Whale sharks are often seen in the Galapagos Islands from June through November. There will be plenty of excited talk about your tour on the Tiburon Explorer during dinner at 19:00 hrs in the air-conditioned dining area and over drinks at the bar.
Please note that on days with a long journey between islands, there may be only 2 or 3 dives a day. During the trip there will also be time for 2 land tours: one to North Seymour Island on Sunday and one to the tortoises in the highlands of Santa Cruz on Friday. Also on Friday you will enjoy dinner at a restaurant in Puerto Ayora, returning to the boat during the evening.

Day 11
You will have an early breakfast before saying goodbye to the amazing Tiburon Explorer and its experienced liveaboard crew. Transfers are arranged if flying out of Baltra Airport.

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[Information is best estimate in ideal circumstances and subject to changes beyond our control. The itinerary is a guide only and may be adapted to best suit the weather, tides, currents, availability and other prevailing events. Price is for the cruise, not for an exact number of dives].

There are 9 Standard double or twin bed cabins on this Galapagos Islands tour boat. The 6 main deck cabins all feature picture windows. 2 of them feature queen beds only, while the other 4 have twin beds that can be converted to doubles for couples. The lower deck has 3 such convertible cabins with smaller windows, but these cabins also have a lounge area with a sofa. All cabins have their own private TV with DVD/USB entertainment.

All the cabins have: No. of bathrooms / showers - 10 / 12 - hot water

Customer reviews:

"Excellent staff service, comfortable rooms, amazing food, safe diving - everyone worked hard to make our dreams come true!
Very helpful and responsive service from Vic and the Dive The World team as usual! " - Jo Nhan, UK, 28 December 2023 ...