Galapagos Islands - Galapagos Islands travel community

If you are visiting the Galapagos Islands for the right reason "WILDLIFE VIEWING, GEOLOGY AND NATURE ENCOUNTERS" the best way to see the most wildlife, to enjoy more time at visitor sites and obtain best value for your money is to take an 8 days cruise around the Islands.

Having mentioned the above, there are several options to visit the Islands and we will look into each, but first I would like to explain costs of travel to Galapagos and justify the above statement.

To get to the Galapagos Islands, you must get to Ecuador first. There are no direct connections with international flights, which means you stay 1 night in mainland Ecuador and you stay 1 night after (at least), it is worth while to visit the Andes, the Amazon or the coast of Ecuador, so do consider extending your trip. To get to the Islands from Quito or Guayaquil you have to fly there, the ticket pricing is $415 USD, to this you add $100 USD park tax, $10 USD transit card. To give you a ballpark figure you will be spending around $1500 USD just to get to the Islands. My question to you is: would you want to spend this much and stay only 4 days!!! ... unless you have another reason to visit Ecuador or you are doing an extensive land program visiting the Andes and the Amazon it is not wort coming to the Galapagos for less then 8 days (IMO). I know many of you may not want to spend 8 days on a liveaboard boat, but you can always extend your Galapagos vacation at the safari camp or enjoying the beach at Isabela Island, hiking sierra negra volcano etc.

Why do I recommend an 8 day Galapagos cruise?

First: Value. You are spending good money to get to the Islands, I think you should make the most of them and spend enough time to see as much wildlife as you can.

Second: Related to the first, to see as much wildlife and variety of landscapes, the easiest and in some cases the best way to get to the best visitor sites is by cruise. Some Islands and visitor sites are too far for a day trip from the populated Islands, the visitor sites used for day trips are close to the populated areas and get visited more, meaning more tourists and less wildlife.

Third: Your cruise ship or yacht navigates by night, you wake up each day at a diferent Island or visitor site, you make the most of daylight hours visiting nature trails, snorkeling and enjoying the landscape. You can only be on land from 6h00 am to 6h00 pm at visitor sites. When you do a day trip, your motor boat leaves port around 7h00 am, you reach the visitor site at around 11h00 am when the sun is hotest and you are heading back to port around 3h00 pm. You get 4 hours in the hotest sun, including your lunch time versus at least 4 hours more you get on a liveaboard cruise with less navigation.

Fourth: Guide and Service quality. The best guides are hired on board the liveaboard cruises, specifically the more pricier ones, yes it does cost more but you are more likely to get a better guide, better nature lectures, better food and better service.

Fifth: Most travellers end up saying " I wish I would have stayed longer ", 4 or 5 days is cutting it short. On an 8 day Galapagos cruise you get to see the Southern Islands which are a must (Floreana and Española, plus other added options) and the Central Islands (Santiago and Bartolome, plus other added options) or Western Islands (Fernandina and Isabela) or the Northern gem Genovesa. You get variety in wildlife because some animals are endemic to one Island only, example (Waved Albatross - Española, Red footed boobies - Genovesa, Flightless Cormorant - Isabela). In any case the 8 days offer variety.

CLARIFICATION: Another great option is to take a short 4 day or 5 day Galapagos cruise and extend your stay at Isabela, Santa Cruz or San Cristobal Islands if you do not want to spend so much time on a boat. This is also a highly recommended experience.

Below are the several options of touring the Galapagos Islands (they are listed in my favourite order):

1)  8 day cruise ( a list of cruise boats can be found at Galapagos Cruises )

2) 4 or 5 day cruise + a 3 or 4 day extension at San Cristobal, Isabela or Santa Cruz Islands. My favourite places to stay are the Galapagos Safari Camp in the highlands of Santa Cruz or La Casa de Marita on Isabela Island.

3) Galapagos Island Hopping, you can do an 8 day program which IMO is ok, not great. It is a nice experience altogether but you only get to see public sites, not Galapagos National Park official visitor sites since the speedboats do not have permits to visit Park sites. It means you will be at the towns of Puerto Ayora (Santa Cruz), Puerto Villamil (Isabela) and Puerto Baquerizo (San Cristobal) and maybe Puerto Velasco Ibarra (Floreana)... you will see some wildlife, but not as much as on a cruise, by far there is a big difference.

4) Doing day trips from 1 one of the inhabited Islands (Santa Cruz, San Cristobal or Isabela). You do get to visit Park sites if you happen to find space on either of the 2 only boats that have permits! beware of speedboats that offer visitor sites, first they are illegal and second they are not true visitor sites and you cannot disembark to see the animals. Also be carefull to not book into tours that look like: Day 1 Darwin Station Day 2 Santa Cruz highlands Day 3 Tortuga Bay Day 4 Las Grietas Day 5 Garrapatero... these are all public sites that you can visit on your own and do not need a guide!!! You will see wildlife, but in small numbers.

I hope to have given the best advice possible, I am biased torwards the cruise experience, but it is really based upon 20 years of experience guiding and organizing Galapagos Tours to each and every Island in the Galapagos archipelago and recieving opinions from very happy and very unhappy travellers.

In the next blog post we will talk about seasickness and will try to explain why you should not worry about it.

The Galapagos Islands are located on the equator line, there is really no big diference in weather from one time of the year to another,  easily I can say, it is a great destination year round.

Having made the above statement, there are two seasons in the Galapagos:

- Dry cold season: June - November, ocassional rainfall, mist, colder waters for snorkellers a wet suit is recommended

- Wet warm season: December - May, weather is hot and humid, there are 2 showers per day in average, water is warmer.

The diference in weather can be noticed mainly when swimming or snorkeling.

Below is a wildlife calendar that gives an idea of animal activity during diferent times of the year in the Galapagos Islands (if any, this should be the main reason to choose one season over another):

January
 
•On Espanola the adult Marine Iguanas become brightly coloured.
•Green Sea Turtles arrive to the beaches to lay their eggs.
•Land Iguanas begin their reproductive cycles on Isabela.
•The water and air temperatures rise and stay warm until June - it is an ideal time for snorkelling.
•The rainy season begins and the land birds start nesting.

 February
 
•Greater Flamingoes begin nesting on Floreana.
•Beginning of the Black-tailed Pintails breeding season.
•Nazca Boobies on Espanola are at the end of their nesting season.
•Marine Iguanas begin nesting on Santa Cruz.
•The water temperature reaches 25 degreesc and remains constant until April.
•The nesting season of the Galapagos Dove reaches its peak.
 
March
 
•The rainy season reaches its peak (but it doesn't rain everyday). The rains are sporadic and tropical the sun is intense and the air temperature can reach up to 30 degrees c.
•Marine Iguanas nest on Fernandina.
•March 21st, the beginning of the summer equinox, signals the arrival of the first Waved Albatross to Espanola.
 

April
 
•Arrival en-masse of Waved Albatrosses to Espanola for the start of their courtship.
•End of the hatching season of the Giant Tortoises.
•The eggs of Green Sea Turtles begin to hatch.
•Eggs of Land Iguanas hatch on Isabela.
•The rains have ended but the islands are still green.
•Good visibility in the water for snorkellers.
 
May
 
•North Seymour's Blue-footed Boobies begin their courtship.
•Green Sea Turtles are still hatching on Gardner Bay, Punta Cormorant, and Puerto Egas.
•Most of the Marine Iguanas eggs hatch from their nests on Santa Cruz.
•The Waved Albatross on Espanola begin laying their eggs.
•Ban-rumped Storm Petrels begin their first nesting period.

 June
 
•Beginning of the cold season.
•Giant Tortoises on Santa Cruz Island migrate from the highlands to the lowlands in search of suitable nesting places.
•Beginning of the Giant Tortoises nesting season.
•The south-east trade winds return making currents stronger.
•Southern migrants have begun their journey towards the north. Galapagos is an important landfall for such birds. Some species of cetaceans also follow this pattern of migration.
•Some groups of Humpback Whales that migrate up to equatorial latitudes along the coast of Ecuador reach the Galapagos.
 
July
 
•The sea bird colonies are very active (breeding), especially the Blue-footed Boobies on Espanola.
•Flightless Cormorants perform beautiful courtship rituals and nesting activities on Fernandina.
•American Oystercatchers are nesting on the beaches of Santiago.
•Lava Lizards begin their mating rituals which continue until November.
•One of the best months to observe whales and dolphins especially off the western coast of Isabela.
•A good time to observe the four stages of nesting in Blue-footed Boobies - eggs, chicks, juveniles and sub-adults.
 

August
 
•Galapagos Hawks begin their courtship displays on Espanola and Santiago.
•Nazca Boobies and Swallow-tailed Gulls nest on Genovesa.
•The ocean temperature drops to 18 degrees C.
•Migrant waders begin to arrive and stay on the islands until March.
•Giant Tortoises return to the highlands of Santa Cruz.
•The sea is choppy and ocean currents are at their strongest levels.
•Galapagos Sealions begin to give birth.
 
September
 
•Peak of the cold season.
•The air temperature is at its lowest level at 19 degrees C.
•Galapagos Penguins are at thier most active on Bartolome.
•Galapagos Sealions are very active. Females have come into season and the males are constantly barking and fighting.
•Most species of sea birds remain quite active at their nesting sites.
 

October
 
•Lava Herons start nest building and continue until March.
•The Galapagos Fur Sealions begin mating.
•Blue-footed Boobies raise their chicks on Espanola and Isabela.
•Giant Tortoises are still laying eggs
•Days are not always sunny. Garua can be expected in most locations, except the western islands where most days have a misty start but after few hours of daylight it burns off.
 
November
 
•Pupping of Galapagos Sealions continues.
•Breeding season for the Brown Noddies begins.
•Some species of jellyfish can be seen around the islands. The genus Physalia is commonly seen floating around Gardner and Tortuga Islets. Some can also be seen stranded on the shores of Flour Beach on Floreana.
•Band-rumped Storm Petrels begin their second nesting period
•The seas are calm and the south-east trade winds have decreased in strength. The water temperatures are slowly rising.
•Generally good weather due to a seasonal transition.
•Excellent visibility for snorkellers.

December
 
•Hatching of Giant Tortoise's eggs begins and lasts until April.
•Green Sea Turtles begin their mating display.
•The rainy season begins and all of the plants in the dry zone produce leaves. The Galapagos archipelago becomes noticably 'green'.
•The first young Waved Albatrosses fledge. 

Having read my past blog post, remember "the Galapagos Islands are a nature travel destination". There are 2 possible answers:

1) The Galapagos Islands are not for you. Ok, you plan your vacation to some other great place around the world

2) You have decided the Galapagos Islands are for you, great, lets start planning your trip!

It is time to decided when is a good date to visit (imo all year round, the question is when you can take enough time to explore the Galapagos), how you want to visit (cruise or land based), international flights, Ecuador pre and post tours, availability on board cruise boats or Island hotels. All these topics will be covered throughout this blog.

I want to answer the question: How to start planning a trip to the Galapagos Islands?

The basics: The Galapagos Islands are an archipelago located 600 miles off the Pacific coast of South America, they are part of the country of Ecuador.  They are situated on the Equator line, some Islands on the northern hemisphere, most Islands on the Southern hemisphere.

What type of a travel destination is Galapagos?

It is a nature travel destination, if you like animals, specially birdlife you are comming to the right place. There are many reasons to visit, but the general tourist comes to see the wildlife, the animals are unique, not found anywhere else on the planet and they do not fear humans. It is easy to get close to marine iguanas, sea lions, penguins at the Equator, giant tortoises, blue footed boobies and more... The Galapagos Island are also a marine sanctuary and are one of the best dive destinations on the planet, whale sharks, manta rays, hammer heads (schools of 700 individuals), sea turtles and many other species fish are easily encountered on dive trips.

Visitors also come for the geology (several active volcanoes, lava tubes, cinder cones, craters, lava fields, etc.), landscapes (spectacular Island scenery that gives a feeling of being on the moon or another planet, water sports (world class sea kayaking, surfing, snorkeling, sport fishing) 

A list of activities include: trekking, camping, wildlife viewing, birdwatching, sea kayaking, surfing, scuba diving, snorkeling, mountain biking, volcanic interpretation, sport fishing... amongst others.

It is an active travel destination and invites one to relax and become one with nature, early mornings 6h00 am is the average wake up time as well as early nights 9h00 pm most travelers are exhausted from all the activities.

What the Galapagos is not?

It is not a party destination, it is not a resort destination, it is not a cultural destination, it is not a hunting destination.

In general it is not a place you will find amusement parks, broadway type shows, discos, casinos, spa´s, etc.

THE GALAPAGOS ISLANDS ARE A NATURE TRAVEL DESTINATION!

Travelers visiting the Galapagos Islands should come to help preserve this natural paradise and learn how important it is to protect nature.

A trip to the Galapagos is an expedition! (there are luxury trips, but the main luxury are the natural encounters).