| Day | Visitor Site |
|---|---|
| Wednesday | AM - Baltra Island Airport: Arrival and Transfer to the boat |
| PM - Highlands of Santa Cruz (Santa Cruz) | |
| Thursday | AM - Las Tintoreras & Wetlands (Isabela) |
| PM - Wall of tears & Centro de Crianza (Isabela) | |
| Friday | AM - Punta Moreno (Isabela) |
| PM - Punta Mangle (Fernandina) | |
| Saturday | AM - Punta Espinoza (Fernandina) |
| PM - Tagus Cove (Isabela) | |
| Sunday | AM - Puerto Egas (Santiago) |
| PM - Chinese Hat | |
| Monday | AM - Black Turtle Cove (Santa Cruz) |
| PM - North Seymour | |
| Tuesday | AM - Bartolome |
| PM - Sullivan Bay (Santiago) | |
| Wednesday | AM - Las Bachas (Santa Cruz) |
| Transfer to the Airport |
Day 1 – Baltra Island & Santa Cruz Island
AM: Arrival in airport and transfer to the boat. Briefing onboard about the boat and the island.
PM: The highlands are located in the northern part of the island and can reach elevations up to 1500 meters. On a journey into the higher elevations of Santa Cruz you will experience all seven different vegetation zones. The vegetation here is abundant and lush and the weather moist.
Day 2 – Isabela Island
AM: A short distance from Puerto Villamil is the small island known as Las Tintoreras. Here a colony of white tip sharks can often be seen resting in a lava canal. You can snorkel or swim in the unique habitat of these animals. On the nearby sandy beaches, sea lions play and relax in the sun. This is one of Isabela’s most beautiful visitor sites.
The Wetlands of Isabela Island are located just outside of Puerto Villamil. The Wetlands consist of lagoons, swamps and mangroves and are home to a variety of unique bird species such as common stilts, whimbrels, white-cheeked pintails and gallinules. The Wetlands can be visited on foot via a path that winds through the swamps.
PM: The Tortoise Breeding center was created to protect animals in their first years of life from the threats of foreign species such as pigs and donkeys. Giant tortoise eggs are collected and brought to the center where they are hatched and kept for five years before being released to their natural environment.
Between 1946 and 1959 Isabela was a penal colony, where prisoners were made build a wall with huge blocks of lava as punishment. Due to the arduous labour and harsh conditions in which the prisoners lived, this site is known as the wall of tears. A set of stairs provides a bird’s eye view of the wall and the surrounding landscape. You can still see the foundations of a USA base from the Second World War.
Day 3 – Isabela Island & Fernandina Island
AM: At the Moreno Point you can see beautiful rocky shores where penguins and shore birds, including great blue herons, are usually spotted. You can also enter a grove of mangroves, where oysters can be seen at the base of the trees. A trek traverses the sharpest lava rocks in the Islands where dry lava is interspersed with lagoons and small ponds containing abundant wildlife.
PM: A visit to Mangle Point allows visitors to witness the amazing views and wildlife on the Coast of Fernandina Island. This is a small inlet on Fernandina’s coast where you can snorkel to your hearts delight and watch playful sea lions, curious penguins, and also catch a glimpse of where flight less cormorants reside.
Day 4 – Fernandina Island & Isabela Island
AM: Punta Espinosa is a narrow stretch of land where hundreds of marine iguanas gather largely on black lava rocks. The famous flightless cormorant inhabits this island and Galápagos penguins, pelicans and sea lions are also abundant. Different types of lava flows can be compared and the mangrove forests can be observed.
PM: Tagus Cove was named after a British warship which anchored here in 1814, this cove is located to the west of the island and you can take a panga (zodiac) trip below the high cliffs. Here there is an opportunity to see penguins as well as marine iguanas, Sally Lightfoot crabs and sea lions. Blue-footed boobies are also in abundance.
Day 5 – Santiago Island & Sombrero Chino Island
AM: Puerto Egas, with its black sand beaches, was the site of small salt mining industry in the 1960s. A hike inland to the salt crater is an excellent opportunity to sight land birds such as finches, doves, and hawks. A walk down the rugged shoreline will turn up many marine species. Iguanas bask on the rocks and sea lions laze in the tide pools. At the end of the trail there is a series of grottoes or sea caves where fur seals and night herons are found.
PM: Sombrero Chino is named after its shape formed by volcanic rock giving it the name, Chinese Hat. Since it was given a maximum visiting capacity by the National Park Service it offers rare, up close viewing of Galapagos wildlife and well preserved remnants of fragile volcanic rock that can’t be found in such a unique condition anywhere else. The islet is home to a colony of sea lions on the white coral sand beach. Here you can see American Oystercatchers, Galapagos Penguins swimming along the shores, and Sally-Lightfoot Crabs in bright contrast to the dark volcanic rock.
Day 6 – Santa Cruz Island & North Seymour Island
AM: Black Turtle Cove is located on the north side of the island and is only accessible by boat and with a guide. This shallow inlet is surrounded by mangroves and provides natural protection for a variety of marine life, attracting the vulnerable juveniles of many species. Below the surface of the water, you can see both blacktip and whitetip reef sharks, sea turtles, golden cownose rays, spotted eagle rays, and an occasional hammerhead shark. Pelicans and Boobies hunt here, diving gracefully into the water.
PM: The 2km trail crosses the inland of the island North Seymour and explores the rocky coast, passing colonies of blue-footed boobies and magnificent frigatebirds. Daphne Major and Minor can be spotted in the distance and body surfing sea lions play close to the shore. Along the shoreline marine iguanas, white coral and black lava rocks complete the visit to North Seymour.
Day 7 – Bartholomew Island & Santiago Island
AM: Bartholomew is the most photographed island in the Archipelago, and its pictures are the most shown next to Galapagos’ name. In fact, a walk through an unusual lava landscape, and then up some wooden stairs, will take you to the top, from where the view is more spectacular than what the images suggest.
PM: The Sullivan Bay lava field has a variety of interesting patterns made by the shapes and textures of trees that once existed there and hornitos caused when pockets of gas or water trapped under the lava exploded. The low-lying mollugo and the lava cactus are the only plants that have managed to take root in this harsh environment. On the shoreline black and white oystercatchers can be seen fishing for crabs and molluscs in the tide pools.
Day 8 – Santa Cruz Island
AM: Located on the north shore of Santa Cruz, Las Bachas is a swimming beach. One of the few remnants of the U.S. World War II presence in the Galápagos, a floating pier, can be seen here. You may see flamingos, Sally Lightfoot crabs, hermit crabs, black necked stilts, and whimbrels. Sea turtles also nest off the beach.
Transfer to the Airport.
| Departure | Arrival | |
|---|---|---|
| Wednesday 15th of May 2024 | Wednesday 22nd of May 2024 | [request availability] |
| Wednesday 29th of May 2024 | Wednesday 5th of June 2024 | [request availability] |
| Wednesday 12th of June 2024 | Wednesday 19th of June 2024 | [request availability] |
| Wednesday 26th of June 2024 | Wednesday 3rd of July 2024 | [request availability] |
| Wednesday 10th of July 2024 | Wednesday 17th of July 2024 | [request availability] |
| Wednesday 24th of July 2024 | Wednesday 31st of July 2024 | [request availability] |
| Wednesday 7th of August 2024 | Wednesday 14th of August 2024 | [request availability] |
| Wednesday 21st of August 2024 | Wednesday 28th of August 2024 | [request availability] |
| Wednesday 4th of September 2024 | Wednesday 11th of September 2024 | [request availability] |
| Wednesday 18th of September 2024 | Wednesday 25th of September 2024 | [request availability] |
| Wednesday 2nd of October 2024 | Wednesday 9th of October 2024 | [request availability] |
| Wednesday 16th of October 2024 | Wednesday 23rd of October 2024 | [request availability] |
| Wednesday 30th of October 2024 | Wednesday 6th of November 2024 | [request availability] |
| Wednesday 13th of November 2024 | Wednesday 20th of November 2024 | [request availability] |
| Wednesday 27th of November 2024 | Wednesday 4th of December 2024 | [request availability] |
| Wednesday 11th of December 2024 | Wednesday 18th of December 2024 | [request availability] |
| Wednesday 25th of December 2024 | Wednesday 1st of January 2025 | [request availability] |
| Wednesday 8th of January 2025 | Wednesday 15th of January 2025 | [request availability] |
| Wednesday 22nd of January 2025 | Wednesday 29th of January 2025 | [request availability] |
| Wednesday 5th of February 2025 | Wednesday 12th of February 2025 | [request availability] |
| Wednesday 19th of February 2025 | Wednesday 26th of February 2025 | [request availability] |
| Wednesday 5th of March 2025 | Wednesday 12th of March 2025 | [request availability] |
| Wednesday 19th of March 2025 | Wednesday 26th of March 2025 | [request availability] |
| Wednesday 2nd of April 2025 | Wednesday 9th of April 2025 | [request availability] |
| Wednesday 16th of April 2025 | Wednesday 23rd of April 2025 | [request availability] |
| Wednesday 30th of April 2025 | Wednesday 7th of May 2025 | [request availability] |
| Wednesday 14th of May 2025 | Wednesday 21st of May 2025 | [request availability] |
| Wednesday 28th of May 2025 | Wednesday 4th of June 2025 | [request availability] |
| Wednesday 11th of June 2025 | Wednesday 18th of June 2025 | [request availability] |
| Wednesday 25th of June 2025 | Wednesday 2nd of July 2025 | [request availability] |
| Wednesday 9th of July 2025 | Wednesday 16th of July 2025 | [request availability] |
| Wednesday 23rd of July 2025 | Wednesday 30th of July 2025 | [request availability] |