Darwin Island

Verified2026-09-11 checkedPelagicDrift

Schooling hammerheads over a shallow platform in cold, fast, open-ocean water.

Depth: 12–30 m39–98 ft
Difficulty: Technical
Entry: Liveaboard
Typical current: Extreme
Coordinates: 1°40.698′N 91°59.748′W
Activities: Scuba · Technical

The platform off Darwin is the site the Galápagos is famous for: scalloped hammerheads in schools of hundreds, with whale sharks passing through between June and November. Divers hook or hold position on rock in strong current and cold thermoclines, watching into the blue. Conditions are demanding enough that operators require logged experience, and the arch itself collapsed in 2021 — the dive site is unaffected.

Liveaboard only, departing from San Cristóbal or Baltra; permits are limited.

Best season

ExcellentJun–Nov
FairDec–May

Before you get in

Recorded as a site with strong current. Settle your gas reserve, when you would call the dive, and your surface signal before you get in.
A drift dive: you do not come back to where you went in, so boat pickup and an SMB are part of the plan rather than extras.
Graded technical — it assumes equipment and procedures outside recreational training.

Taken from this site’s recorded depth, type and current, and nothing else. An empty list is not a safe site — the sea on the day, the local geography and the boat traffic are not in it. The briefing on the spot comes first.

Conditions

Water temperature: 29.1°C84°F
Wave height: 1.7 m6 ft
Air temperature: 26.9°C80°F
Wind speed: 19.4 km/h12.1 mph

Updated 2026-10-07 16:15 UTC · Source: Open-Meteo

Weather data by Open-Meteo.com (CC BY 4.0)

Conditions are reported for information only. Assess the site yourself and follow your guide and your training.

No live conditions for this site yet.

We only show numbers we can attribute to a source.

Sea state and tide

On a date

Tide · 10/7

Low05:18-0.05 m
Low17:40-0.09 m
High23:541.35 m

Forecast heights against mean sea level. Real tides in a bay, a harbour or over a flat can differ — check an official tide table before you get in.

Pick a day to see its tide

Only wave height and wind are scored, because those are what close a boat ramp or a shore entry. Water temperature is reported and never scored: 12°C is an ordinary dive in a drysuit and punishing in a 3 mm, and a number that cannot see your suit has no business marking it down. Stars do not decide whether you get in — you and your guide do, on the day.

Weather data by Open-Meteo.com (CC BY 4.0)

Marine life you may see

Scalloped hammerheadSphyrna lewiniCommon
Whale sharkRhincodon typusJun–NovSeasonal
Green turtleChelonia mydasCommon
Spotted eagle rayAetobatus narinariCommon
Galapagos sharkCarcharhinus galapagensisCommon
Silky sharkCarcharhinus falciformisCommon
Bottlenose dolphinTursiops truncatusSeasonal
Yellowfin tunaThunnus albacaresCommon

From divers

What people who were in the water reported. Not a forecast, and not a judgement about whether the site is safe to dive.

No recent reports from divers. If you dived here in the last two weeks, you can say how it was.

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