David Leonard and his son Abraham venture to the Galápagos Islands and find it to be a magnificent shared bonding experience
After 2,500 dives, authoring articles for dozens of dive publications, and writing ‘the bible’ on diving in Micronesia, I hung up my regulator in 2008, when my first and only son was born.
I was 52, and I intended to put my all into fatherhood, doing the best I could to raise a citizen of the world who would always be part of the solution and never the problem. Having started diving in 1990, I felt I had seen the best of it.
In 2021, my son, Abraham – then 13 – declared, ‘Dad, I want to get certified!’ I was taken by surprise, but his close friend was travelling to Key Largo to do an SDI course, so we joined her and her dad for a week of learning and diving.
diving in Micronesia
To quote Michael Corleone, ‘Just when I thought I was out, they pulled me back in!’ I dusted off my dive gear and bought new equipment for the kid.
From the start, Abraham wanted to see big fish, so we started with a shark dive in the Bahamas and then headed to St Maarten. The following year, we spent a week diving the Pacific coast of Costa Rica, where Abraham took his Advanced course and Nitrox training.
For me, it was like riding a bicycle; Abraham is strong and smart, so his skills came naturally and quickly.
Abraham: ‘I was unlocking a new world, and I felt like I was late to the best party ever. My dad had been so deeply immersed in the dive world, but I was happy, now, at least, to join him and learn from him.
I enjoyed my beginner dives; it was fun just getting wet and breathing underwater. I loved the feeling of weightlessness, too. But I was ready for something more.’
School calendars rarely synchronise with a parent’s availability, but as an older parent, my schedule is flexible. I try to keep my son busy during the long breaks, so off we tend to go – but where? We’ve travelled to four continents and to 38 American states, but this time, we were facing four flights and a 24-hour journey to the Galápagos Islands.
Did I think he was ready? Not 100 per cent, but I knew that we could keep him safe, and that the experience would give him the skills and confidence to dive anywhere in the world – not to mention the opportunity to get up close and personal with an encyclopaedic variety of species.
From my first trip to the Galápagos in 2002, I remember the water as cold, the sky grey, the current strong. Although the islands left a mark on my heart, I never planned to return, but I have learned that doing things with my son brings new life the second time around. Seeing the world through his eyes makes it all new again and keeps me young.
On Father’s Day, we began the first leg of the trip to San Cristobal and an eight-day excursion that included Darwin and Wolf, the outermost islands in the archipelago.
During a layover, we spent the night at a shabby motel near the airport in Quito, Ecuador. All through the night, an anxious dog barked, airplanes took off and landed, trucks squealed, and as the sun rose, roosters shook us out of our dreams. We didn’t get much sleep, but we shared a lot of laughs in the semi-dark at the ridiculousness of it all.
From the time Abraham was able to roll his own bag, he has been a savvy and reliable travel partner. While his mother and I always looked forward to helping him along, the truth is that he is already starting to help us along.
I try to fool myself, but the truth is, at this advanced age, I’m not able to do everything I used to do, and certainly not as well, but being the father and best friend to this great kid keeps me younger than my years.
He bests me at almost everything, but I’m a willing sport and I enjoy the challenges.
‘When we travel, my dad goes into lock-down mode. He’s diligent about making sure we’re prepared, that our valuables are safe, what goes in what pocket, and that we’re on full alert.
I must say, in our 17 years on the road, I don’t think we’ve ever lost so much as a sock. Two idiot-checks in every hotel room; constant reminders to one another – “You have everything?” – early check-ins; there’s an art to it, and I’m fortunate to have learned all of this early.’
I knew Abraham would be blown away by the liveaboard experience. An older, stable hull, our chosen vessel, Galápagos Sky, had just spent six months in dry dock undergoing a complete refit, and she was gorgeous. The guests were from five different countries and represented every decade of life from their teens to their seventies.
There were three women and eleven men; some new divers and some seasoned veterans of the reefs. Abraham and I were assigned a cabin at the waterline.
‘It felt like a palace. It was an incredible ship – shiny, new, and extremely comfortable – everything you could possibly want and more. The crew made us feel like family. They did anything and everything to make sure we were happy.
We were given a full tour by our divemaster, Max, who explained the emergency procedures, daily schedules and the week ahead.’
Diving in the Galápagos Islands requires a bit more equipment than I’m used to, or that I like. Thick wetsuits, hoods, booties, gloves, safety sausage, air horn, EPIRB, torch and a reef hook demand a good deal of lead – in my case, about 22 pounds (10 kg)!
Donning a new 7-mm wetsuit, too, takes a lot of effort, but on this boat we quickly learned that you would have to fight to do anything for yourself.
While it might have been a bit off-putting at first, we soon learned to appreciate the assistance of a half-dozen crew members who left their posts and appeared on the dive deck, helping us don and doff our gear.
There are steel bars running along the ceiling that you can hold onto while they pull on the sleeves and wrap you up in too much neoprene. Nitrox is mandatory here, so we checked our mix, set our computers, and headed for the pangas.
‘We took hot showers on the dive deck, and after the first day, we never touched our dive gear again. The crew rinses your wetsuit, fills your tank and sets up your gear for the next dive while simultaneously serving hors d’oeuvres.
I could get used to this! My dad said that he had never seen service like this on any operation he’s ever dived with.
‘Even though I’m confident with setting up my own equipment, I welcomed the help with my gear. It’s a nice luxury to not have to fuss with everything three or four times a day. I appreciated, too, the generous fills; on many dives, I started with 3,400 psi, which is comforting to me as a new diver.
I was in a challenging environment with strong currents, cold water and large animals. That’s a lot to take in. The first time a sea lion swam up to me and went nose to nose, I think I blew through about 2,000 psi!’
Underwater, it wasn’t always easy to differentiate between the sea lions and the son; his air consumption is lower than mine, and his facility with his equipment is Cousteau-like.
We brought no camera gear on this trip. I felt that Abraham’s safety and enjoyment would be best served by a dive buddy who wasn’t preoccupied with F-stops and lighting.
I must say that after a lifetime of shooting hundreds of rolls of film and filling dozens of SD cards, there is great joy and relaxation to be found in just diving and being in the moment. Honestly, as a dad, my real enjoyment comes from simply watching my son experience these underwater adventures.
‘Being a newer diver, I had some troubles improving on my own without even a little external aid, and my dad does a good job of that by showing me techniques, sharing ideas, or finding for me little tools or accessories to make my time more pleasant underwater.
With our age difference, diving together can be both rewarding and challenging. Sometimes he knows exactly what I can do to improve my diving, but on the other hand, he may have different signals and ways of doing things.
‘Still, it’s kind of awesome sharing something this intense and extravagant with him – most people my age don’t get to travel somewhere this remote and dive with their dad.
We have different strengths, but that balance actually helps both of us. And yes, we may butt heads now and again, but having him there made the whole trip feel safer and way less stressful.’
Every morning, we were awakened by Max the divemaster’s dulcet tones and new age music coming through the public address system. I had warned my son that after this trip we would be exhausted, and we would need a vacation. Even at this early juncture, he started to believe me.
‘I had never been that tired or sore from a trip we had taken – ever. We were both dragging ourselves out of bed with the same heavy limbs and foggy heads.
There was almost no difference in how wiped out we were, despite the decades between us. If there was any difference it was my dad’s endless source of energy!’
Off the coast of Darwin, thousands of birds filled the sky in chaotic flight, dolphins breached everywhere. Quartering ten-foot seas, we white-knuckled the bucking pangas out to The Pillars (formerly Darwin’s Arch before the crossmember collapsed in 2021).
The grey swells mockingly awaited our entry, so we backrolled and dropped quickly through an honest five-knot current.
‘At 60 feet [20m], we gripped the rocks and barnacles and nestled into the crevices, tearing our neoprene to shreds, and looked out into the blue.
In 80-foot viz, a school of hammerheads circled and came close, rounding up a school of jacks; a few came in close to visit cleaning stations. And why not? After all, this is the largest recorded shark biomass on Earth!’
After some time, we let go and drifted through the blue, more than a mile back towards the boat. A whale shark with half a dorsal fin teased us with its spotted mirage, moving with the surge in and out of view, before it came close.
‘I was minding my own business, enjoying the blue, when I turned around to see a whale shark three feet from me.
He swam by slowly, it seemed to take forever for him to pass. It just kept coming and coming, like a train.
Dad had described this to me but until you feel the immensity of the moment, you have no idea.
The diving was everything I had been hoping for. The sharks were massive and they moved through the water like living torpedoes. No matter what you can imagine about diving, until you go under yourself, you’ll never understand how expansive it is, even on just one reef.
As for the current, it makes no sense to fight it, because no matter how hard you try, unless you’re tethered to the reef you are going with it. The divemasters made sure that no one was far from the group and that everyone stayed together, for safety.’
The large animals continued to stir our souls. That evening, during a cocktail party with the crew in their dress whites, a huge humpback whale breached and then swam right under our boat, companioned by fifty dolphins.
The fact that every single soul on board happened to be sitting on the deck to witness this sunset marvel was something very special. So special, in fact, that nobody thought to take out their iPhone!
A surfacing humpback and her entourage only ten yards away, and between twenty people we have not one shred of photographic evidence.
The last night on board, we packed our gear while the Captain sailed us back to San Cristobal where Abraham and I chose to spend a couple of days off-gassing and relaxing before heading home.
The diving had been spectacular. It’s an extraordinary journey that covers well over 500 miles of Pacific Ocean fabness. My son is a cool character who keeps his cards close to his vest, but I knew that he understood the magnitude of what we had just done. These islands are on many bucket lists, and with good reason.
But, for me, what we accomplish on these trips may be of a higher order. Perhaps I sense this more than many, but as an older dad, it is glaringly clear that time is precious; every moment counts.
We are building a lifetime of memories that will certainly outlast my own time on this blue planet, but this gift of travel is one that will carry forward into the next generations.
There are so many places to visit and things to see, both under and above the waves. Passing on a deep appreciation for humanity, diversity and nature itself is among the greatest and most important gifts we can present to our children.
This is the essence of experience. Furthermore, nurturing a young man who will be a good steward of the sea has never been more important. Our future may very well depend upon the oceans; we need to encourage in our children a deep respect for this lifeline. I hope that I’m doing my part.
‘I knew my dad does not like cold water and that he would not have gone to the Galápagos again by himself, but he wanted to show me this part of the world; he wanted to share with me this rare experience of seeing the most majestic collection of undersea life imaginable.
It’s a big trip; it never escaped my notice that I was lucky to be here. We’ve been home for a month, and I’m still processing the adventure.
Every now and again, I conjure an image of a booby standing on the dive deck, a sea lion sleeping on the sidewalk, a dolphin stopping in front of me and clattering, that whale shark that appeared out of nowhere, and I’ll be reminded of the depth of the experience my dad shared with me.
One day, I’ll do the same with my kids.’
The Leonards dived from Galapagos Sky – for more information visit: www.galapagossky.com
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