OVERVIEW :

Home of manta rays and colorful fish

The Daphne Minor is located just north of Santa Cruz. Its area is 0.07 sq km and it is maximum altitude is 38 m (123 ft). The island offers something a bit more unique. There our divers can observe the large quantity of benthic organisms that live on the underwater walls of the island, all of which create a multi-colored aspect to the undersea world. Sea horses can be observed around the black corals and Galápagos sharks and sometimes rays and sea turtles are present.

Diving journey starts with a 40-minute bus ride from the hotel to the Itabaca Channel. Then, a comfortable speed boat is going to take our guests to Daphne Minor Island, where our divers will be amazed by the peculiar marine wildlife at several diving spots. One of them is the platform that includes a small cave located about 6 m deep where divers will find white tipped sharks and sea turtles. During the diving excursion is possible to go through a pinnacle 20 m depth where there is usually pretty reef fish and from where our diving adventurers can observe the giant manta or Manta birostris. In the underwater platform in the east divers will find the famous salema banks that can have tens of thousands of individuals in formation. The smaller island has another diving spot as vertical walls covered with sessile organisms of various shapes and colors, these walls down to more than 40 m deep. If our divers are particularly lucky they are going to watch white and black tip reef sharks, Galápagos sharks, and sea lions hunting the large schools of black striped salemas and sardines along with blue footed boobies diving for their share. It is also possible to find turtles, yellow fin tuna, stin rays, eagle rays, marble rays, barracudas, jewel morays, large schools of king angelfish and much more. It is recommended to be knowledgeable that from July to December sea temperature are cooler here, from 65ºF - 75ºF (18ºC – 23ºC) with occasional thermoclines from 60ºF - 64ºF (16ºC - 18ºC). We provide with 5mm or 7mm wetsuits as well as hoods and also have some spare layers. And, January to June water temperature is up 24ºC.