Galakiwi Tours and Dive Shop

Diving, Shopping

V!VA User‘s Description

Located about a half block from the main street and ocean, Galakiwi is a small, friendly dive shop that offers day diving trips as well as longer cruises. The small business is owned by a New Zealander and his cheerful Galápagos wife (thus Gala-Kiwi). Their equipment is good, as is their staff and boats. The also rent kayaks and other fun ocean stuff. The only complaint is the included lunch, which was a disappointing bag of cookies, but you don't pay a dive shop for sandwiches. Ask them about their four-day cruises, which aren't limited to divers.

Traveler Reviews of Galakiwi Tours and Dive Shop

awful!!

Rating: 0%

this tour does not provide what it promises. firstly, it promises small groups, but i was in a group of more than 20. secondly, it promises a lot of activity. we spent most of our time sitting in an overcrowded boat. it promises mountainbiking, but that lasts all of 25 minutes. it promises kayaking, but that too lasts all of 25 minutes. beyond that, the trip is mediocre. i am vegetarian and they promised me before i booked that it wouldnt be a problem, but once i got there, they kept telling me what a problem it was. they skip things for no real clear reasons and make no effort to substitute skipped activities with other things. all in all, i'm not impressed. they are not careful at all about safety. we snorkeled in some very rough ocean waters and they had no clear plan of a place to meet in case the water got rough and people got separated. i do not recommend this tour at all.

By V!VA User from washington, dc, Sep 07, 2006

Watch out!

Rating: 25%

Buyer beware of this land-based tour: if you pay ahead of time, you may find that they later substitute to an inferior tour. This company states a limit for boat passengers, but after we paid, they overcrowded the boat by exceeding their stated limit. We were left worrying if the boat had exceeded its rating limit. They may tell you the number of dives you are buying. After we paid, however, they backtracked and simply skipped the best dives . . . and even then, the divemaster got lost on almost half the dives! Safe practices were also lacking. Nobody recorded our dive insurance information (much less even checked to see that we had dive certification cards), so if there had been a dive emergency, who know how that would have been handled. And if you encounter “scheduling” issues, and they substitute you to a different date, make sure you are paying the same as everyone else on the trip. We were re-scheduled to a different trip on which all the other travelers were paying hundreds less than we were paying!

By Nancy Drew, Apr 17, 2006