Galapagos Cruise: The Uninhabited Islands
Bite-sized trip
✓ Spend the night on a simple boat in a cabin with bunk beds and private sanitary facilities
✓ Small boat with a maximum of 16 people
✓ Travel efficiently and sail to a new destination
5-day Galapagos boat tour
In ‘Darwin style’ you take a cruise with a small international group along the special Galapagos Islands. There are numerous boats available at various price and quality levels, but we prefer to partner with small-scale boats with a maximum of sixteen passengers. While this may come at a higher cost, traveling with a small, intimate group really makes it a ‘once in a lifetime experience’. The animals are not shy but if you come to the island with a group of forty or more, they often give up. The quality of the boats varies a lot and that is why we only work with boats that we know and with which we have good experiences.
Tip
For the Christmas and summer holidays, we advise you to book your Galapagos trip far in advance. We recommend that you start planning your Galapagos cruise a year in advance so that the class still has enough availability as desired.
Day-to-day program Galapagos cruise
As a kind of expedition, you make a boat trip along the islands. At night, you’ll be sailing for miles, and by morning, you’ll wake up in a totally new environment. One day, you could be hiking with giant tortoises on Santa Cruz, and the next, you might be snorkeling with playful sea lions at Santa Fe. Please note that itineraries are subject to change. These changes can be made before and during the cruise. Check out a sample route here on this page to get a feel for what a 5-day Galapagos cruise could look like.
The daily schedule, unlike the route, is the same on every boat. Every day after breakfast and lunch you will have an excursion on the island. Often the boat sails during lunch so that you are in a completely different environment in the afternoon. On the boats, weather permitting, you go snorkeling almost every day.
Example day 1
You start your Galapagos trip by flying from Quito or Guayaquil. As soon as you get off the plane at Baltra airport, you get a summer feeling. Every Galapagos traveler pays an entrance fee on the spot. Because you enter a National Park and to limit the flow of tourists, it is high. In Quito you have already paid US$ 10 per person as tax and here you still have to pay US$ 100 per person. Please note that you have to pay in cash.
After you leave the airport, a minibus will be waiting to take you to the port of Puerto Ayora. On the way to the harbour, you usually make a stop at the tortoise reserve. After taking some picture, you’ll head to the harbour where your boat will leave.
Example day 2
On this penultimate day of your Galapagos adventure, you’ll explore two unique islands tucked between Santa Cruz and San Cristobal. The morning starts with a visit to Santa Fé, home to a species found nowhere else on earth, not even on the other Galapagos islands. All eyes will be on the Santa Fé land iguana, a rare sight you won’t forget.
While you enjoy lunch back on board, the captain sets sail for the islands of Plazas, which consist of two islands – North and South. The northern island is not open to visitors. You therefore go ashore on the southern island. Plazas is known for its many yellow, green and orange land iguanas, cacti and sandy beaches. On the coast you will find the groups of sea lions, you can hear the roar from afar. There’s also a steep cliff teeming with birdlife, from pelicans and Audubon’s shearwaters to masked and blue-footed boobies.
Example day 4
On this penultimate day of your Galapagos adventure, you’ll explore two unique islands tucked between Santa Cruz and San Cristobal. The morning starts with a visit to Santa Fé, home to a species found nowhere else on earth, not even on the other Galapagos islands. All eyes will be on the Santa Fé land iguana, a rare sight you won’t forget.
While you enjoy lunch back on board, the captain sets sail for the islands of Plazas, which consist of two islands – North and South. The northern island is not open to visitors. You therefore go ashore on the southern island. Plazas is known for its many yellow, green and orange land iguanas, cacti and sandy beaches. On the coast you will find the groups of sea lions, you can hear the roar from afar. There’s also a steep cliff teeming with birdlife, from pelicans and Audubon’s shearwaters to masked and blue-footed boobies.
Example day 5
Today is your last chance to soak up the magic of the Galapagos and get a final look at its incredible wildlife. Sadly, your trip is almost over, but there’s still one more highlight to enjoy. Just north of Baltra, North Seymour is often the last stop before heading home. It’s the perfect place to spot blue-footed boobies and frigate birds, with the males proudly puffing up their bright red throat pouches.
Back on board, you’ll enjoy lunch while the boat makes its way to Baltra. A minibus will be waiting to take you to the airport. Before checking in for your flight, it’s worth stopping by the shops to ask for a Galapagos stamp in your passport. It’s a fun little keepsake to show you’ve really been here.
Accommodation
