Thank you for all your tips and advice. We are travelling with a small British company run and owned by a husband and wife team that meets us the night before travel from Uk and stays with us the whole time, including nine days in Ecuador. They hire the entire boat for our duration in Galapagos, so hope fully they also look after us if someone gets mislaid!! They also organise all flights, travel, tips etc, etc. They appear to have excellent revues, so we hope we have got this right!,

I am thinking about getting a shortie wet suit. Not sure when else I would get to wear it though, so I might just struggle through. I have my own snorkel gear as I have prescription lens and will take the mask at least: my vision is quite limited without.

The advice on footwear is very useful. I will certainly be taking your advice on that. One pair of teva type and something a little more substantial sounds fine. Did you wear shoes on the boat itself or go barefooted, as I have heard that is acceptable? Were you troubled at all with mozzies or flying insects? Did you need insect repellent? Not read anything about that at all. How much storage did you have on the boat? As we will be away from home over three weeks and quite different weather conditions, we will be unable to travel too lightly.

Many thanks for your help. Can't wait.