Traveling to the Galapagos Islands
View of Pinzón island from tour boat.
The Galapagos Islands were absolutely incredible, and I would highly recommend visiting! It does, however, require slightly more advanced planning than other trips. Here are my thoughts and recommendations!
Screenshot of our Wanderlog trip pins.
Overall Information
The two ways of visiting the islands are by a cruise or land-based island-hopping. We opted for island-hopping since I don’t handle being on boats for a long time very well, and it was more budget-conscious. There are definitely pros and cons of each method:
| Land-Based | Cruise-Based | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Pros | Cons | Pros | Cons |
| More budget-friendly | Harder to visit as many places in a short period of time | See more islands/wildlife easily | Can be very expensive |
| Better if you get sea sick! | Some hotels/accommodations are better than others | If you don't speak Spanish, this is a far easier way to do it | Fewer interactions with locals |
| More flexibility with schedules | Day trips to smaller islands/locations can require long boat times | Less planning required on your end | Quality of boats can vary a lot |
| More interaction with locals (practice Spanish!) | If you don't speak Spanish, it can be difficult sometimes | Not a great choice if you get seasick easily | |
| You have to arrange transport between islands | |||
Land-Based Overall Notes
There are three islands that you can stay on: Santa Cruz, Isabela and San Cristobal. All three are quite different, with Santa Cruz being the most touristy and Isabela being the least so. There are different ways to get to/from the islands:
| Santa Cruz | Isabela | San Cristobal | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| To | From | To | From | To | From |
| Plane (from Quito/Quiahil) | Ferry (to San Cristobal or Isabela) | Ferry (from Santa Cruz or San Cristobal via Santa Cruz) | Ferry (to Santa Cruz or San Cristobal via Santa Cruz) | Ferry (from Santa Cruz or Isabela via Santa Cruz) | Ferry (to Santa Cruz or Isabela via Santa Cruz) |
| Ferry (from San Cristobal or Isabela) | Plane (to Quito/Quiayil) | Plane (from San Cristobal) | Plane (to San Cristobal) | Plane (from Isabela) | Plane (to Isabela) |
Map of ferry options between islands from https://www.ferryticketsgalapagos.com/.
Flight options between the islands, from https://www.daytoursgalapagos.com/inter-island-aircraft-transport.
We chose to fly into Santa Cruz, ferry to Isabela, fly to San Cristobal, then fly back to Quito via Guayaquil from San Cristobal.
There are two airlines that go to the islands from the main land, LATAM and Avianca, with only a couple flights each day.
Notes on each mode of transport:
The flight from Isabela to San Cristobal is a tiny 6-person plane which has very strict limits on baggage. It was a little scary to see the plane and take off, but the flight was truly smooth and very fun! And it saved us a whole day of traveling via ferry. We used this company: https://esavairlines.com/.
The ferry system runs centrally from Santa Cruz. They leave at 7am and 3pm every day from each location, so if you want to go from Isabela to San Cristobal or visa versa, then you have to take the 7am to Santa Cruz and then the 3pm to your destination island. This takes up a whole day and so we wanted to avoid that and the flight was quite pleasant, while being more expensive ($30/person for the ferry, $180/person including luggage cost for the flight).
Getting to the Islands
You can either start your journey on Santa Cruz or San Cristobal since that’s where the Latam/Avianca flights come into from the main land. We chose to fly into Santa Cruz and leave from San Cristobal, which was great because we ended the trip with several very relaxing days on San Cristobal.
There are a few important things to note about getting onto the islands. Firstly, you need to purchase a $20/person transit card at your airport of origin before getting on the plane. You can either complete the paperwork at the airport and bring cash to pay for it, or you can pre-pay and file online at this link: https://siig-cgreg.gobiernogalapagos.gob.ec/tct/emission?lang=en. I highly recommend doing this in advance since it takes a while and there can be a line at the airport. If you already have filled it out, then you can go into a separate line and it’s faster (at least in Quito).
The second thing is that you need to pay $200 in cash per person upon arrival on the islands. This is the park entrance fee and is paid right after you get off the plane. There is no ATM available before you pay, so make sure you have the cash ahead of time. You also will need to have a declaration form filled out, which you can do here: https://declaracion.abgalapagos.gob.ec. They’ll also have paper versions that will be handed out on the plane but it’s nice to have it done in advance.
Note on ATMs: if you forget cash and realize this at the Quito airport, take out the minimum you can at the airport because there’s a huge ATM fee. There are lots of ATMs you can find on the islands that will only have a 4% charge rather than the ~20% charge at the Quito airport.
For more information on these forms/fees, these websites were super helpful:
· https://thinkgalapagos.com/the-galapagos-biosafety-sworn-declaration-all-you-need-to-know/
· https://thinkgalapagos.com/arriving-in-the-galapagos-islands-a-step-by-step-guide/
Where to Stay
Most of the lodging on the islands are hotels or hostels, ranging across different budgets. Here’s where we stayed on our travels and our reviews!
Santa Cruz: Hotel Cucuve - we loved staying here. Super great location, quiet, very clean, lovely breakfasts. They were super amenable with checking in early and leaving our luggage with them after checkout.
Isabela: Hotel Albermarle - absolutely do NOT recommend this hotel. We had lots of issues with the cleanliness of the hotel, and we were not impressed with any part of it. Full review here.
San Cristobal: Casa Playa Mann - cannot recommend this hotel enough! It was so lovely and at a great price point. Full review here.
Tours
It’s super important to know that because the Galapagos are a protected national park, a LOT of places that you would think you can visit independently will actually need a tour guide. For example, the breeding center on Isabela and El Greco [sp] ranch on Santa Cruz both required $10 tour purchases which isn’t much on its own but when you’re adding a couple extra tours a day that you weren’t expecting it can add up. There isn’t a way to avoid this for some places though, so just be aware.
That being said, there are several places that you don’t need a tour guide for, and some even had better snorkeling then some of our tours. I’ll talk about those below!
If you’re doing a land-based itinerary, you’ll probably want to book tours. Since we were trying to do a lower-budget trip, we tried to limit the number we did while also fully experiencing the islands.
You can either book your tours in advance or once you arrive on the islands. I was going to wait to book everything until we were there because you can get last-minute deals on most tours the day before, but then I got scared of waiting so long and booked all but one tour the week before we arrived. However, lots of people on our tours booked the day before so it’s up to you and your comfort level!
There are TONS of different tour agencies on each island, and all of them offer the same set of tours. It was very intimidating to try and find a good place to book the tours by just looking online, so I messaged each of our hotels in advance and asked them for recommendations of who to book with. I think that most places would be totally fine, but here’s who we booked our tours with:
Santa Cruz:
FDS Travel: https://fdstravel.com
A little chaotic, they didn’t run the boat but we bought the tour through them. This caused an issue because they didn’t give us wet suits and the rest of our tour group all had them, so we had to ask a few times to get one and then had to pay separately to the tour agency that the boat was run through. That being said, it all worked out!
San Cristobal:
Valeria Tours: https://galapagosyachtdaytours.myshopify.com
Our favorite tour in terms of the quality of the boat, the tour guide, and the food they served!
Isabela:
Pahoehoe Tours: https://pahoehoegalapagos.com
Not the best communicators, but we had good tour experiences!
Information about Tours on Each Island
There are set tours that happen from each island and so you’ll find that despite being different agencies, they all have the same ones. The biggest difference between agencies will be the quality of the boats you go on, and if there are any additional locations they bring you to in addition to the classic places.
Here are the classic tours from each island:
Santa Cruz:
· Bartolome Island
· North Seymour Island
· Pinzon Island – our snorkeling tour went here and La Fe which a cove on Santa Cruz
· Santa Fe Island
· Floreana Island
· El Chato (Highlands tour)
Isabela:
· Los Tuneles
· Sierra Negra Volcano – we went here but toured the sulfur mines instead of doing the whole volcano tour
· Tintoreras – we did this snorkeling tour
San Cristobal:
· 360 Tour
· Kicker Rock – we went here to snorkel and stopped by Playa
· Española Island – we wanted to go but didn’t end up going, heard that going to Punta Suarez is the best so check if the tour goes there or another place on the island
· Punta Pitt – we wanted to go here SO badly to see the red footed boobies, but they only offer tours here on weekends during the off-season, and we happened to be there Mon-Fri
Wildlife Bucket List and Where to See Them
| Wildlife | Tour/Location |
|---|---|
| Penguins | Isabela (Tintoreras tour or Tuneles tour); Fernandina Island; Bartolomé Island; Santiago Island (sometimes) |
| Hammerhead Sharks | Tortuga Bay has baby hammerheads; Kicker Rock; Darwin & Wolf Islands (advanced diving) |
| Other Sharks | Baby sharks swim around The Point restaurant at sunset on Santa Cruz; Pinzón had tons of sharks; Darwin & Wolf Islands |
| Sea Turtles | Playa Baquerizo on San Cristóbal; La Fe off Santa Cruz; Kicker Rock; Tintoreras on Isabela; Punta Cormorant, Floreana (nesting Dec-Jun) |
| Sea Lions | They're on every surface on San Cristóbal island, but also are on Isabela and Santa Cruz |
| Blue-footed Boobies | On all islands; North Seymour Island (largest colonies); South Plaza Island; Española Island; Mating dances best seen March-August |
| Red-footed Boobies | Punta Pitt, San Cristóbal; Genovesa Island (largest colony); Darwin Island; Wolf Island |
| Nazca Boobies | Española Island (Punta Suarez); Genovesa Island; Floreana Island; North Seymour Island |
| Giant Tortoises | Wild populations: Santa Cruz highlands (El Chato, Rancho Primicias); Breeding Centers: Charles Darwin Research Station, Santa Cruz; Breeding Centers: Arnaldo Tupiza Center, Isabela; Breeding Centers: Galapaguera de Cerro Colorado, San Cristóbal; Alcedo Volcano, Isabela (restricted access) |
| Marine Iguanas | Found on ALL islands |
| Waved Albatross | Only Española Island (Punta Suarez); Season |
| Magnificent Frigatebirds | North Seymour Island (largest colony); Genovesa Island; San Cristóbal Island |
| Great Frigatebirds | Genovesa Island; North Seymour Island; Floreana Island; Isabela Island |
| Flamingos | Floreana Island (flamingo lagoon); Isabela Island (various lagoons); Rabida Island; Santa Cruz Island (Dragon Hill lagoon); Santiago Island |
| Flightless Cormorants | Fernandina Island (Punta Espinosa); Isabela Island (Tagus Cove, Punta Vicente Roca) |
| Whales & Dolphins | Between Isabela and Fernandina Islands (Bolívar Channel); Punta Vicente Roca, Isabela |
Our Itinerary
We spent 2 nights on Santa Cruz, 2 nights on Isabela and 4 nights on San Cristobal. While we loved all the islands, Isabela was our least favorite due to the worst options for lodging. We would have GLADLY spent more nights on San Cristobal, and if I were to go back and not do a cruise, I would potentially just stay on San Cristobal. That being said, it was very fun being able to see the different islands.
Here's our itinerary:
Tuesday: Early morning to catch a flight to Atlanta, then the flight to Quito! Take a certified taxi from the airport into the city for $25 (they usually only take cash)
Wednesday: Breakfast at the hotel, then explored the historic center. We also went up the TelefériQo Cable Car.
A bust of Charles Darwin on Santa Cruz.
Swimming cove at Las Grietas on Santa Cruz.
Thursday: Early wake up and onto the airport to head to the Galápagos! We landed around 11am, then took the airport bus to the water taxi which brought us to Santa Cruz (cost $1/person). Then we took a ~20 min taxi ride ($30 in cash) to the city. We stayed at Hotel Cucuve and were able to check in early. We got lunch, then visited the Darwin Research Center and a couple beaches on the walk back. We went to Las Grietas (arrived by $1/person water taxi) and didn’t realize we could have swam, but paid for $10/person tour anyways. We got dinner at The Point which was lovely and saw baby hammerhead sharks swimming!
Friday: First tour! This was Pinzón y La Fe, and we went snorkeling at both places with lunch in the middle. The snorkeling was incredible, with tons of turtles. We had dinner at Bahía Mar and icecream after. We then looked around for souvenirs, and realized most of the shops all carry the same stuff.
Saturday: Woke up early and headed to Tortuga bay at 6am! We saw baby sharks, a blue footed boobie, a pelican, sea lions and iguanas. It was so peaceful. Then we headed to breakfast at the hotel, then caught a taxi to El Chato tortoise ranch and Los Gemelos. After that, we caught the ferry to Isabela. Here we stayed at Hotel Albermarle, and I will never recommend this hotel. Avoid.
Sunday: We went to Concha de Perla on our own for some early morning snorkeling. After breakfast back at the hotel, we went on the Las Tintoreras tour and we saw penguins! We also saw lots of turtles and fish and swam with sea lions. We grabbed empanadas for lunch at some small shop, then went to the tortoise breeding center, Centro de Crianza Tortugas Gigantes. Then we walked to the wetlands to see the sights there. Would highly recommend renting bikes to do the breeding center/wetlands since we ended up walking 9 miles. We did see several tortoises in the wild though.
Sulfur mines at Sierra Negra Volcano on Isabela.
Monday: Breakfast at the hotel, then we took another tour to the Sierra Negra Sulfur mines. It was beautiful and a perfect way to see the volcano. Then we caught our flight to San Cristobal, us + four other people in total. It was ~45 minutes and quite smooth. Then we checked into our hotel, Casa Playa Mann, which is adorable and very family focused. We quickly visited the Interpretation Center, and from there kept walking to the beaches and lookouts.
Tuesday: Early wake up for our Kicker Rock tour! We saw dolphins and sea lions and turtles on our way to the beach (Cerro Brujo). The beach was cute, and then we did a little snorkeling. Back on the boat we got some snacks and headed to kicker rock. The water was so cold!! After an hour of swimming, we had a buffet lunch and started our way back to land. We had sushi dinner at Midori which was delicious.
Sea lions at La Lobería on San Cristobal.
Wednesday: Breakfast at the hotel in the morning. Then we walked to La Lobería which was a bit of a walk, and kind of chilly. We had picnic lunch at the beach and snorkeled a little bit there, but it was very murky so not the best snorkeling. We headed back to town via taxi. Went into town and did some gift shopping, then got cocktails and cheese sticks at the Post Office, which was fine. Then we went ISKA Pizza for good wood fire pizza.
Thursday: Walked to Playa de Baquerizo, which was a bit of a hike but also pretty. We went snorkeling and it was lovely!! So so many turtles, some sea lions, and lots of beautiful fish. The water was super cold though, but we warmed up and had leftover pizza for lunch. After heading back and doing some shopping, we had our last dinner of Lobster at The Pier.
Friday: We flew out from San Cristobol to Guayaquil then Quito, then waited in the airport for 6 hours before our flights back to the US.
