I'll be in the Galapagos Islands the first week of January. I read that the average ocean temp is 74 degrees in January. That would be too chilly for me to enjoy. (I live in Hawaii and today's ocean temp of 78 was fine, but on the cool side for me.)
I don't plan on spending a great deal of time in the water. Probably just an hour of snorkeling once or twice. DH will probably just want to go in shallow water with a mask.
Do people rent wetsuits? Thanks!
Yes, people do rent wetsuits. Take the time to find one that fits well without gaps, but that doesn't squeeze you breathless, either.
I'm a total warm water wuss, and will wear a full length 5mil suit, with booties and beanie, while diving in 80+ degree water. Keeping your body, or at least your torso warm makes the experience much more pleasant so you can stay in the water longer. I wore the same outfit the last time I was in Galapagos, and being comfortable makes the experience much better. I wouldn't say I was "warm," but not shivering the whole time, either.
If you have a Lycra skin, wear that under a shortie for sun protection.
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23 helpful votes Dear JB,
underwater Galapagos is a very big part of the experience - so much going on. Do make the effort, you won't regret it. You can stay in as long as you want - there will be someone nearby who can get you back on the ship when you've had enough.
Warmest (indeed!) regards,
Heather Blenkiron
Welcome
weather and temperatures are relative and how acclimated the person is and how tolerant they are. Its relative to the individual.
here is a site i use for temperatures.... its an yearly average based monthly.
https://www.holiday-weather.com/galapagos_islands/averages/
note i was there 2 years ago in a September and el Nina? was suppose to be going on. It was suppose to be "warmer" too. I tried my wetsuit and after getting into the water, i decide to not use and just use the life vest. I found the life vest kept my upper body warm enough and we were not in the water for hours either.
To me and where i come from, the water was "warm" enough. But i will say one of the other passengers on our ship was from Hawaii and she was "cold". There was a mix of people using and not using the wetsuits.
Our ship offered to rent wetsuits, but it was either or, not cherry picking when.
on the islands i did see shops that offered to rent all of the stuff and including gopros. On the beachs i visited, i didnt see anyone wearing a wet suit. But its up to you.
good luck
Interesting. Thanks for the replies.
FYI, I will not be on a cruise ship, so I would need to rent on two islands. The weather site rc suggested has completely different info from the other one I checked. It says the avg ocean temp in Jan. is 77. That's cool for me, but doable w/o a wetsuit.
I 100% agree with you about cold water and our first jump off the boat it felt like ice water even with our wetsuits. That said, we got used to it because what we were seeing/experiencing was so amazing. Many people seem to not mind without them and I have been there three times now and went without the wetsuit the past two times. Regardless, I just want to say you won’t be warm either way but give it a good try and fight through it because as stated the underwater part of the Galapagos is huge and amazing and you don’t want to miss it.
Thanks so much!