u/ArunCooke

We’ve just finished our 15 day trip to the Galapagos and thought I’d share what we did and how it went in case it helps anyone. This is aimed more at those planning a DIY land based trip but there will hopefully be some tips for everyone.

We originally planned to do a cruise but after watching lots of YouTube videos about land based trips we opted to do this instead as we are backpackers at heart despite being a married couple aged 53. Money wasn’t our priority but by going land based we could stay there twice as long for less money than a cruise would have cost (the type of cruise we would have done anyway.

First off, as most will know you need to sort out your TCT card which cost $20 and can easily be done before you arrive. I would highly recommend doing this before arriving. You will also need to pay $200 on arrival in cash. What we had not realised, was that at Quito airport, there was a fairly long queue to get bags tagged but importantly a digital declaration form to complete. We had no WiFi or cell coverage and this became quite a stressful situation in the queue when we discovered this needed to be done. Eventually we managed to find a free WiFi connection but as the declaration is in Spanish only and the queue was busy with many people trying to get through it was not particularly easy. I don’t have a link for the form but it can be completed before and I’m sure someone can provide a link to it. I would highly recommend getting this done before getting to the airport.

We spent 5 days on Santa Cruz, 5 days on Isabela and 5 days on San Cristobal. For us, this was the perfect amount of time on each allowing us to do as many day trips as we wanted but also spending plenty of time doing free things like swimming with sea lions from beaches and other places of interest.

Day trips we did and costs:

Santa Cruz
Bartholome $360
Floreanna £150
Pinzon & Daphne Snorkelling $180

The Bartholome trip was very expensive but it was on a very nice Sunseeker Yacht with a very good chef and excellent crew. To be honest, we loved the boat and met some great people on board but Bartholome itself wasn’t really our thing. We knew before we arrived that there wouldn’t be much wildlife and it was more about the views but we didn’t find the views that stunning compared to what we have seen before.

Floreanna was ok but a long boat ride and limited wildlife compared to other islands etc When we snorkelled there we were perhaps unlucky as it was pretty rough so we only saw Turtles (lots of Iguanas on land.)

Pinzon & Dapne snorkelling was very good and saw several sharks in very clear water.

We stayed at the Acacia Boutique Hotel which was excellent. We had really wanted to visit North Seymour Island but trips are limited and were sold out - if you want to go there I’d consider booking in advance. Lots of great eating options but our favourites were Midori Sushi & Isla Grill - both pretty high end and fantastic food. Also like Cafe 1865 for lunch.

Isabela
Tintoreras Tour $60
Tuneles Tour $120
Bike Hire for 5 hours $15

We absolutely loved Isabela. It had such a laid back island vibe like a Caribbean island. Some great Bach bars especially Pink Iguana Bar. Eating on Isabela wasn’t as good as the other islands. It’s not that it was bad, but service was often really slow. Our favourite was Gracias Madre which did excellent Mexican food and service was much better there.

The Tintoreras tour was only $60 but was our favourite tour on our whole trip. We saw huge colonies of Blue Footed Boobies (both up close on land and flying/diving for fish) and loads of Penguins both on land and lots of them swimming as well as snorkelling with turtles, sharks etc

Tuneles trip was also very good with more sharks, turtles, sea horses and more boobies etc

We stayed at the Iguana Crossing Hotel which was great with sea views and an excellent swimming pool and deck area.

Hiring bikes and cycling to the wall of tears was a great morning activity on a very safe trail and we saw Giant Tortoises on the trail which was great compared to seeing them at the Darwin Centre.

San Cristobal
Punta Pitt $280
360 Tour $190
Espanola $280

Punta Pitt has all three types of boobies as well as nesting Frigate birds.

In hindsight, I would not book the 360 tour and would instead just book a trip to Kicker Rock. The other snorkelling stops we did (two others) weren’t that great but Kicker Rock is perhaps the best snorkelling spot in the whole of the Galapagos so a must do as long as you are confident in deep water with a current. We saw sharks, huge numbers of turtles and multiple eagle rays which were some sight in those deep blue waters.

Espanola was well worth it. We were on a nice boat, saw lots of Boobies up close, did some good snorkelling but the main attraction was to see the Waved Albatross.

We stayed at the Casa Opuntia. It was ok. Staff were great but the hotel is a little tired now and our AC wasn’t great. They have two pools but we didn’t actually use them. San Cristobal has some excellent free snorkelling spots that are easily walkable from town. We ate again at Midori Sushi and loved Parhoe Restaurant (again pretty high end and excellent seafood.) We went for drinks every night at Post Office which does great cocktails with an awesome sunset.

A few other things. The sun in the Galapagos is no joke. The Equator cuts through the islands so the sun is more powerful here than anywhere. It might be 28 degrees Celsius but you will burn far faster than anywhere else especially if doing lots of snorkelling. Please apply lots of high factor sunscreen. I was ok with factor 30 but I put it on multiple times per day. I saw some people with terrible sun burn.

I would highly recommend getting a rash vest to wear in the water so you don’t have to worry about sunburn on your back and consider a full sleeve one. I didn’t have full sleeve and there were a couple of times I stayed in the shaded bit of the boats instead of on the sun deck as I was worried I’d had too much sun.

Bring several hats. You will need them.

Buy some sea shoes/slippers. They only cost about $25 on Amazon for a decent pair and they can be very useful for wet landings from boats or when swimming in rocky areas.

Lastly, I know there is a huge debate about cruises vs land based and most will do a cruise for multiple reasons. We chose not to as we wanted to have more time/choice for our money and to see something of island life and the interactions between birds/sea lions and people (I’ll never get tired of seeing the huge colonies of sea lions on San Cristobal!) we will all have our own preferences and comfort zones. Our trip cost me personally for all trips, food, drink, flights and my share of accommodation £5,500 or approximately $7,300. We probably overpaid for some things but we were very happy with what we got.