Gordon Rocks

Gordon Rocks is a dive site near the east coast of Santa Cruz Island in the central Galápagos archipelago, formed from an eroded volcanic tuff cone — the exposed northern and southern rocks are the remnants of a caldera, with submerged pinnacles and a channel lying below the surface. It is widely known among Galápagos divers as "the washing machine," a nickname earned by the powerful water movement the site generates.

The site reaches a maximum depth of 25 m (roughly 20–128 ft as measured across the site's range), with the terrain consisting of rocky submerged pinnacles and a channel between them. The structure creates a reef-dive environment with significant vertical and horizontal relief. Visibility ranges from around 6 to 18 m (20 to 60 ft) depending on conditions.

Currents here are strong and can include surge and down currents — the channel between the pinnacles is the primary driver of these conditions, which are also responsible for concentrating the site's most sought-after marine life. Hammerhead sharks gather in large numbers, and the site also hosts Galápagos sharks, white-tip reef sharks, eagle rays, stingrays, marbled rays, manta rays, mobula rays, turtles, barracudas, Galápagos eels, and a variety of reef fish and invertebrates. The currents that make the site challenging are the same ones that bring the hammerheads through.