Cruises also vary in price based on the length of the cruise and the type of vessel with boats categorized into five classes. Here is a brief description of the different categories:

• Luxury Class – boats have air-conditioning, hot water, cabins with ocean views and private bathrooms, and spacious social areas. In addition, boats in this category have special amenities, such as swimming pools, jacuzzis, medical facilities, and more.
• First Class – boats have similar accommodations as in luxury class, but without the extravagant extras like swimming pools and jacuzzis.
• Tourist Superior – boats have double cabins with private facilities, air-conditioning, and hot water, but the cabins may be below deck and have only moderately spacious social areas.
• Tourist Class – boats have double cabins with private or shared bathrooms, may or may not have air-conditioning and hot water, and have small social areas.
• Economy Class – have double, triple, or quad cabins with private or shared bathrooms without air-conditioning or hot water and small social areas.
Below is a chart with an approximate range of prices per person based on boat class and tour length.

Land Tours

Although cruises are the most popular way to visit the island, land tours are also available. On a land tour, visitors stay each night in a hotel on Santa Cruz or San Cristobal and take a boat to different visitor sites each day. These tours are more limited in scope since the vessels can only travel so far in one day. Therefore, the sites visited on land tours are all centered on the hub-town from which the tour is based. Daily tours range from about $30 to $115 per person when booked individually, or packages range from $800 to $1,000 per week including day trips, hotel, and meals.

These tours are based in certain hotels, which have partnerships with various tour agencies, dive centers, and transportation services. As cruise prices (and taxes on them) have gone up, more and more Galapagos visitors are choosing land-based trips.

Packaged tours may offer any combination of trips to local visitor sites. You can book individually (with one or a few companies) or you can book a weekly tour package comprised of a series of day trips, which can include land sites, snorkeling/dive sites, surf sites, or all three. You can arrange these types of trips from your home country or from mainland Ecuador, following the same guidelines outlined for navigable tours.

Land Day Trips

A typical island day trip begins at dawn, with a walk to the dock or a bus trip to the canal, where you meet the boat that will take you to your destination. You spend a short time sailing to the pre-determined visitor site. Once there you will spend the majority of the day touring the island with a naturalist guide, eating lunch, and (if available at the island site) swimming and snorkeling from the beach. You return to the place of departure via the same route in the early afternoon.

There are plenty of day-trip operators in Puerto Ayora (fewer in Puerto Baquerizo Moreno) who will accept reservations until the day preceding the excursion. Day boats can vary in quality and comfort, but since most island sites are close and you spend a relatively longer time on-site, it is probably more important to shop for day trips by destination. Most day trip destinations from Puerto Ayora include visitor sites on the central islands of Santa Cruz, Santa Fé, North Seymour, South Plazas, and Bartolomé. Different boats visit different islands on different days, so plan accordingly.

Back to "Galapagos Cruises and Tours, part 1"

Galapagos Cruises & Tours

The Galapagos Islands are Ecuador’s crowning jewel. They offer 70 land visitor sites and 79 marine visitor sites. The main way to visit the islands is through a cruise tour. Visitors stay on a yacht and cruise to different islands. Although the specific cruise itinerary may vary from one tour operator to another, in general there are three basic cruise routes followed by the ships depending on the length: four day cruises, five day cruises, and eight day cruises. Each cruise generally visits two land visitor sites each day, one in the morning and one in the afternoon, sometimes visiting two separate islands in one day. Each land visitor site is usually accompanied by a marine visitor site, highlighting snorkeling and playing with sea lions.

• Four day cruises are the shortest cruises available, but still manage to cover a fair amount of ground. However, the shorter time available means that sites visited tend to be within a smaller radius than on the other tours. Typical four day cruises include sites such as:
o Baltra Island
o Española Island – Punta Suárez, Garner Bay
o Floreana Island – Punta Cormorant, Post Office Bay
o North Seymour Island
o Santa Cruz Island

• Five day cruises usually include two more visitor sites than four day cruises and are able to travel a bit farther, allowing for visits to islands over a greater distance. Commonly, five day cruise itineraries include the following sites:
o Bartolomé Island
o North Seymour Island
o Rábida Island
o San Cristobal Island – Puerto Baquerizo Moreno
o Santa Cruz Island – Highlands, Charles Darwin Research Station, Dragon Hill
o Santiago Island – Puerto Egas

• Eight day cruises visit the greatest number of islands and are able to cover the greatest distance, as well. Therefore, these tours often include islands considered to be part of the northern, southern, and western groups. Typical itineraries include:
o Baltra Island
o Bartolomé Island
o Española Island – Gardner Bay, Punta Suárez
o Fernandina Island – Punta Espinoza
o Floreana Island – Post Office Bay, Punta Cormorant
o Isabela Island – Punta Moreno
o North Seymour Island
o Rábida Island
o San Cristobal Island – Puerto Baquerizo Moreno
o Santa Cruz Island – Highlands, Charles Darwin Research Station, Dragon Hill

More about "Galapagos Cruises and Tours"