Scuba Diving with Sharks Is the Most Relaxing Vacation I’ve Ever Had

Nothing quiets the mind like a swim with 100+ hammerhead sharks.

Seventy foot below the aerofoil , I stick to slippery , alga - covered rocks as a fierce current whipped by . The sharks here front as if they were float in deadening apparent motion , idly wagging their trunk in a hulu - esque dance . I watched slump - jawed as one beautifully alien creature drifted in front of me — and then another . And another . We rest for 30 min , view at least 100 sharks snuff it . And this was just the beginning ; I had a whole calendar week of diving to go .

For some the great unwashed , dive with 100 - plus shark sounds like a incubus straight out of a summer B movie . But on a recent liveaboard sail in the Galapagos Islands , the first school of scallop hammerheads appeared more like something out of a dream . I ’ve never feel so simultaneously excited and relaxed , a turn like celebrating Christmas morning on Zoloft .

Despite my borderline obsessivepassion for scuba , this misstep onGalapagos Skywas my first liveaboard experience . aim - built for dive , liveaboard charter yield exclusive access to distant terminus , like Palau and Indonesia ’s Raja Ampat , that remain relatively untouched by overfishing , pollution , and otherdestructive human bodily process . This once - in - a - lifespan chance to search a far - flung corner of the instinctive domain ( the H2O ofthe Galapagos ) is initially what attracted me to Galapagos Sky . As a child , I pictured the ocean like a giant fish tank , but more and more you have to go off the grid to see hefty marine life .

hammerhead sharks swimming in ocean

Galapagos Sky

During our one - calendar week itinerary of non - stop diving , we stick three full daylight at Darwin and Wolf , two extinct volcano tops that social status as the most sequestrate island in an already sequester archipelago . A biodiversity hotspot and one of the sharkiest places on the satellite due to cold , nutritious - rich current , this nautical sanctuary offers bucketful list sighting like whale sharks , orcas , sea Leo , sea turtleneck , fur stamp , tiger sharks , dolphin , and — yes — century of blockhead . The island themselves are uninhabited by humankind , go to vast colonies of birds like Nazca and ruddy - footed dumbbell , as well as the capably - distinguish vampire finch , which uses its sharp beak to pierce and wassail the blood line of its unsuspecting , feathered neighbors .

After a match days on board , I fell into the calendar method of birth control of gravy boat life sentence . I began to realize an obscure benefit of diving event far , far away from the mainland : You become entirely , blissfully unplugged . It is n’t only that most liveaboards lack internet , although going dusty turkey on societal medium for sure helps you unplug from civilization . Rather , dive four fourth dimension a solar day leave no physical or mental space for anything else . How can you worry about a deadline when you extend out in your bunk , completely wipe , at 8 premier ? Do you have the vim to think about your mortgage or Britney ’s later Instagram mail with only 30 minutes to shower and force into your wetsuit again ? perfectly not . For seven days , I dive , sleep , chilled on the sundeck ’s mound , stuff empanadas into my face , and ignored all of my land - free-base responsibilities . It was the ultimate outflow from reality .

So much diving also evidence to be recuperative — like a visit to a natural watering hole I had n’t even noticed I needed . As someone diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorderliness and economic crisis , I ’ve personally found that time underwater quiets my runaway thinking like prescription drug , therapy , and listening to Fiona Apple on repeat never have .

And I ’m not the only frogman who thinks this way — In fact , it ’s become common , cliché even , for masses to discover the sport as “ meditative . ” standardised to yoga or speculation itself , scuba involve presence of judgement and deep , diaphragmatic breathingthat helps tranquillize the parasympathetic nervous organisation ’s fight or escape response . ( Granted that second bit is a mo more mission decisive when you ’re inhaling and breathe out pack together air out of a governor . ) While I had already experience this first - hand , and always suspected a week of free burning diving would be much more gratifying than a few immediate daytime tour of duty , there ’s a heavy remainder between knowing what ’s good for you and actually doing it . Finally have the leap led to the most relaxing holiday I ’ve ever had .

explore showsthat spending metre outdoors can lower stress and improve our temper , that something inside us seems torespondto the beauty and wonder of nature . Maybe it ’s because the wild helps us connect to something deeper and more primal . Perhaps these instant give us perspective , allow us — and our problems — to find small than the world around us . After a week in the Galapagos , I ’d argue that diving event straight into nature is the best matter you could do for your spirit . Hanging out with 100 hammerheads or swimming into a pulse bait ball of blacked - denudate salema is a slap-up way to grasp just how undistinguished you are .

disregardless of the reason , I often found myself hypnotized by the beauty of the Galapagos , whether misplace in a snarl of jackstones and barracuda , explore a garden of vivacious sea stars , or watching Rand sharks get their dentition cleaned by wrasse with dentist - like precision . Many dive ended in the troupe of the islands ’ resident sea lions and pelt seals who , much like puppy , worm in turmoil , begging to dally . With them , I briefly forgot who I was , my human status momentarily beyond my hold as I twisted and turned , clumsily responding to their invitations . As the seal weave through the waves , I struggled to keep up ( a losing battle ) , belly laughing into my governor whenever one slip up on another underwater diver to nip their Phoebe or popped their whisker face into my stream of bubble . Each time I reluctantly return to the surface , I could n’t suppress a single all - encompassing thought : This is freedom .

Liveaboard boat charter