Wet Landing vs. Dry Landing and our Naturalist Guide’s technique

During our night briefings, Oswaldo informed us of the next day’s activity and specified the kind of landing we should expect on every place/island we were about to visit. For wet landings, he instructed us to bring one small/face towel provided in our cabin, wear sandals or aqua shoes or go barefoot, and carry our shoes and socks. Once landed, we should be prepared to get our legs wet, use our towels to dry up, and then wear our shoes before continuing our walk/hike. Wet landings happen where there are no docks in place, and travelers have to disembark/embark on the pangas on shore. Dry landings occur on islands where travelers can step directly from the pangas to the docks. The Naturalist guide always goes in and out of the pangas first to assist the travelers.
 
Oswaldo used this whiteboard system for our night briefings, where he wrote and discussed our excursions for the next day. This really works well, because we just had to take a picture of the board for our reference in case we forgot some details. We also have the Galapagos map pasted on the wall so we know which part of the island we are going.

He used the bell system whenever he needed to call us for meals, announcements, or if it was time for us to go on the excursions. It worked amazingly because even though we were sleeping, we were always awakened by the bell's ring. The whiteboard and bell methods are entirely up to the guide's preference. It's their own way how to do it.
 
Water activities offered are snorkeling, kayaking, and stand-up paddle boarding. But one thing to note is that Monserrat only provided us with short wetsuits. The water was very cold at that time (December), and the currents were quite strong, so we could only join a few water activities.