Galapagos

Enchanted Island Galapagos Eco Tours

The Galapagos is nature close-up! Swim with sea lions and penguins. Admire tortoises…gentle giants as old as trees. Step over and around blue-footed boobies. But there is also mystery and intrigue, and even a connection with WWII. Explore the Galapagos by boat or on land.

Enchanted Isles: Galapagos Cruises 

Sea lions, penguins, swimming iguanas, blue-footed boobies, and long-legged flamingos….just some of the amazing wildlife found in the Galapagos.

We can help you arrange a Galapagos cruise to these “Enchanted Isles”. There are many boats ranging from yachts, catamarans, sailing yachts, and small cruise ships with different itineraries and cruise lengths for a variety of budgets.   

Once on board your chosen boat your cruise follows an itinerary approved by the Galapagos National Park authorities. Your small group transfers from the boat to the landing point on each island. Each island offers wildlife viewing and may offer swimming and snorkeling, hiking, or kayaking. A naturalist guide accompanies you on the islands where you will explore both the land and the ocean.

We work with many different boats and can help you choose the one that is right for you. Contact us to help you organize your Galapagos adventure.
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Tour Information

Tour Length: Cruises range from 4 days to 15 days. The most popular is 8 day cruises.
Departures: Depends on boat

Enchanted Isles: Galapagos Cruises Includes:

  • All transfers between the islands
  • Accommodation on the boat of your choice
  • All meals while on aboard the boat
  • Excursions and activities on the islands  
  • Naturalist guide

Enchanted Isles: Galapagos Cruises Doesn’t Include:

  • International flight
  • Departure tax
  • Domestic Flights (Roundtrip flight Quito to the Galapagos)
  • Galapagos National Park Fee (currently $100USD per person)
  • Transit Card (currently $20USD per person)
  • Travel Insurance
  • Pre- or post-tour accommodation
  • Meals not included in the itinerary
  • Alcoholic and Non-alcoholic beverages
  • Excursions, activities, and entrance fees not included in the itinerary
  • Gratuities to guide and crew
  • Personal Items

Galapagos Island Hopping

Day 1: Arrive Quito

You are met at the Quito Airport and transferred to your hotel.
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Day 2: Quito

Today tour colonial Quito and then straddle the equator at "Mitad del Mundo”. Thirty-eight years ago Quito was the first city nominated as a World Heritage Site and it has the best restored historical centre.

Begin with a walking tour of Colonial Quito, a city of narrow cobblestone streets lined with whitewashed walls. Walk through Independence Plaza bordered by the Cathedral, the Presidential Palace, the Municpal Building and the Archbishop’s Palace. Visit the ornate La Compania de Jesus and the Monastery of San Francisco with its spectacular baroque carved main altar. 

The Mitad del Mundo, a site located just 30 minutes north of Quito, is the monument that marks the equator at its closest point to the city. Archaeological evidence shows that both pre-Inca and Inca civilizations recognized and celebrated the equinox, the day the sun is directly over the equator. (B,L)
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Day 3: Arrive Floreana

This morning fly from Quito to Baltra Airport where you are met and transferred to Santa Cruz.

Visit Los Gemelos craters and the highlands for glimpses of the Galapagos tortoises. Enjoy a picnic lunch before taking a private speed boat for the two hour ride to Floreana Island. Only 150 people live here but it has a rich people history. There are mysteries and legends that include pirates, a love triangle and murders! Take a 30 minute hike to La Loberia (a sea lion breeding ground). Swim and snorkel with the sea lions, sea turtles, rays and lots of multi-coloured fish. (L,D)
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Day 4: Floreana Highlands 

After breakfast board a chiva for your drive to the highlands. En-route your guide will point out the wildlife and relate intriguing stories of the Wittmers whose descendants still live on the island. Riddles still surround the stories of the Baroness, the pirates that visited the island, and the mysterious death of several islanders.

At Asilo de la Paz your hike begins. Explore this historic site and pirate caves. Expect to see giant 
tortoises lumbering in the vegetation or even on the trail. Your hike continues through the countryside where the locals grow produce for their own use.  

Back on the coast board the chiva and continue towards Las Palmas where the Island’s first permanent inhabitant, the eccentric Dr. Ritter, lived and is buried. Arriving in 1926, this German physician believed that with a combination of exercise and the right vegetarian diet he would live to be 150 years old. He didn’t, but his story is one of the many strange tales that still abound on the island. 

In the afternoon, there is time for more marine exploration, snorkeling, kayaking and stand up paddling. (B,L,D)
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Day 5: Isabela Island

An early morning that starts with a speed boat to Isabela Island.  

Begin your exploration of Isabela with a tour of Tintoreras, a group of small islands that are named after the white tipped ‘Tintoreras’ reef sharks that swim in these calm waters. At Tintoreras you see almost all of the Galapagos’ iconic wildlife…white tipped sharks, sea lions, turtles, rays, penguins, and of course pelicans and blue footed boobies. You will have a chance to snorkel in the bay and don’t be surprised if some of the penguins or sea lions jump in to play alongside you in the water. 

In the afternoon you walk from your hotel to the local giant tortoise-breeding center. Along the way you may glimpse pink flamingos feeding in a lake. At the Center your guide will explain the process of breeding and then releasing into the wild these giant slow moving creatures. The breeding center is an important conservation tool and it is here that the islands’ giant tortoise population is recovering. (B,L,D)
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Day 6: Isabela Highlands

Volcanic eruptions created all the islands in the Galapagos. Isabela, the youngest and most volcanically-active islands of the archipelago, gives you a first-hand look at this geologic process.  

You have the whole day to explore the highlands of Isabela. You begin by hiking up the crater of the Sierra Negra volcano and then to the rim of the Volcan Chico. The weather in the morning is usually foggy and drizzly. This gives a sense of mystery about the volcano. The Sierra Negra crater is the second largest in the world after Ngorongoro in Tanzania. The crater is so large and the views so expansive that you will need your binoculars. The walk from Sierra Negra to Volcan Chico is like walking on Mars. The landscape appears desolate, but on closer look small lizards scurry between the rocks.

You then hike back to your hotel where you may want to enjoy some relaxing beach time. (B,BL,D)
Hiking Distance: 16 km
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Day 7: Kayaking and World War II

Today is full of a variety of activities. After breakfast paddle to Island Bay. En-route look for turtles, rays, penguins, and blue-footed boobies; sea lions may swim along with you. Spend time watching the wildlife in the bay before paddling back to the Villamil dock. 

This afternoon bike the Wetlands Trail. You may see marine iguana colonies and the four different types of mangroves trees. The end of the trail brings you to the Wall of Tears, built in the late 1940’s by Second World War prisoners held at the US base on the islands. Your guide explains the importance of the Wall of Tears. Locals claim that they hear cries emanating from the site.

End the day at the local swimming hole for a refreshing dip. (B,L,D)
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Day 8: Santa Cruz

Another early morning speed boat ride to Puerto Ayora on Santa Cruz (or a flight from May to November). 

Drive to an off-the-beaten-path where you switch to mountain bikes for a long downhill glide on freshly paved roads to Garrapatero Beach. You pass small farms and enjoy views of the ocean and the distant islands. 

At Garrapatero you paddle the bay in sit-on-top sea kayaks while looking for sharks, rays, turtles, and sea birds. Enjoy a specially prepared picnic lunch before heading back to Puerto Ayora.

In Puerto Ayora, shop for souvenirs or walk the 3km boardwalk to Tortuga Bay where you can swim and snorkel. In the evening stroll along the water. (B,L,D)
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Day 9: Farewell

This morning visit the Charles Darwin Research Center. After your visit you transfer to Baltra Airport for your flight back to the mainland Ecuador. Bid farewell to the ‘Enchanted Isles’. (B)

Tour Information

Tour Length: 9 days/ 8 nights
Departures: Daily 
Minimum Number of People: 2 based on Double Occupancy

Galapagos Eco-zone Explorer Includes:

  • All ground transfers as noted in the itinerary
  • 8 nights accommodation,
  • Meals as noted in the itinerary (B = Breakfast, L = Lunch, BL = Boxed Lunch, D = Dinner, S = Snacks)
  • Excursions, activities, and entrance fees as noted in the itinerary
  • English-speaking guide on excursions and activities

Galapagos Eco-zone Explorer Doesn’t Include:

  • International flight
  • Departure tax
  • Domestic Flights (Roundtrip flight Quito to the Galapagos)
  • Galapagos National Park Fee (currently $100USD per person)
  • Transit Card (currently $20USD per person)
  • Travel Insurance
  • Pre- or post-tour accommodation
  • Meals not included in the itinerary
  • Alcoholic and Non-alcoholic beverages
  • Excursions, activities, and entrance fees not included in the itinerary
  • Gratuities to guide and crew
  • Personal Items
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