Galapagos is not one place you arrive at and walk around. It is an archipelago. Also, almost all the Galapagos places to visit are National Park visitor points, reached by boat with a licensed guide. Which ones you reach depends less on your number of days than on where you sleep. In short: a hotel on an inhabited island, or a boat that sails at night.
Here are the Galapagos places to visit that earn their spot, island by island, and the trip that reaches each.
Santa Cruz: giant tortoises, lava tunnels and Los Gemelos
Most trips start here: the flight from the mainland lands at Baltra. The highlands around El Chato are the dependable place to see giant tortoises roaming free rather than behind a fence. Then the lava tunnels beside them show how the islands formed. Our Santa Cruz and Isabela island hopping goes up there on day 1, after the 11:00 airport pick-up.
Also on Santa Cruz:
- Los Gemelos: two enormous volcanic sinkholes ringed by endemic vegetation where Darwin’s finches feed. Usually it is the last stop before the flight home.
- Charles Darwin Research Station: giant tortoises in captivity, the hatchling breeding centre, Lonesome George and the conservation exhibition hall. It comes on day 4 of the six-day route that ends in Santa Cruz.
- Las Grietas: deep volcanic channels of clear water, a 20-minute walk from the hotel that same afternoon. After that, Playa de los Alemanes.
- Pinzon and Santa Fe: the yacht day out of Puerto Ayora, snorkelling with reef sharks and manta rays. Also a beach where turtles nest from November to February.
Isabela: Tintoreras, Los Tuneles and the flamingo wetlands
Isabela is two hours from Puerto Ayora by speedboat and repays the crossing. The 45-minute walk on Tintoreras islet passes nesting marine iguanas, reef sharks and sea lions. Then the snorkel ends with a boat ride out to Galapagos penguins and blue-footed boobies. Inland, the Arnaldo Tupiza Giant Tortoise Breeding Centre is one of the best in the archipelago. Meanwhile, the wetlands hold the biggest flamingo population in Galapagos.
The site that sells the island is Los Tuneles at Cabo Rosa. It is a maze of lava islets and shallow volcanic tubes. There, the guide leads you through clear water past reef sharks, seahorses and sea turtles. The water is calm, so it works with children. One warning: there are no ATMs on Isabela, so carry cash.
San Cristobal: Kicker Rock and the sea lion beaches
Kicker Rock, or Leon Dormido, is the one site people build a whole trip around. It sits 40 minutes’ sailing from Puerto Baquerizo Moreno. Also, it is the only place in Galapagos where you can snorkel with hammerhead sharks, turtles and sea lions. Nobody can promise the sharks, but it is the only address where they are on the table.
The same day continues to Cerro Brujo, Punta Pitt for red-footed boobies and Rosa Blanca Bay and its lava pool. Closer to town, Punta Carola and Cerro Tijeretas put you in warm water beside a sea lion colony. Meanwhile, La Lobería holds the biggest colony on the island. Kicker Rock is on our Santa Cruz and San Cristobal route and both six-day programmes.
Española: the waved albatross and Gardner islet
Española is one of the oldest islands in the archipelago. Also, it is the only nesting ground in the world for the waved albatross. The walk lasts around two hours over uneven volcanic ground, past nesting marine iguanas and blue-footed and masked booby colonies. Then, from May to December, the albatrosses arrive to breed. Then 30 minutes to Gardner islet to snorkel with turtles, sea lions and rays.
A full day, two hours’ sailing each way, so it only fits a six-day trip. Choose Santa Cruz, San Cristobal and Española, or San Cristobal, Española and Santa Cruz. The second runs the same islands in reverse, plus the Darwin Station and Las Grietas. Both are open-jaw: you fly into one airport and home from the other.
The Galapagos places you can only visit on a cruise
Some of the best sites sit too far from the inhabited islands for a day trip. So they need a boat that sails overnight:
- Genovesa: Darwin Bay and El Barranco, far north. A full day of seabirds on the northern routes of the Nemo II catamaran.
- Bartholomew and Sullivan Bay: the pinnacle and the black lava field off Santiago. The five-day A route of the Treasure pairs them on day 2, out of Baltra on Fridays.
- Floreana: the mail barrel at Post Office Bay and the Baroness Lookout. Also the flamingo lagoon and green-sand beach at Cormorant Point, plus the sunken cone of Devil’s Crown. The Aida Maria covers all of them in one day.
- North Seymour, South Plaza and Rabida: small islands on most cruise routes and on almost no land-based programme.
Island hopping or a cruise: which lets you visit more places
- Island hopping: you sleep in a hotel with air conditioning, and the days revolve around yacht excursions and snorkelling. The price covers breakfast and lunch, snorkel gear and towels, and departures run daily. However, you cover dinners yourself, so you eat in the ports.
- Cruises: you wake up at a new visitor site every morning. All meals come on board from lunch on day 1, and you reach islands no land trip can. The catch is fixed departure days.
Five days and the classics? Land-based is fine. Genovesa or Floreana on the list, instead? You need a cabin. Compare both on the island hopping and cruises pages.
What you pay on top, and what to pack
Two fees are compulsory and never part of any Galapagos programme. First, the National Park entrance fee: USD 200 per person, or USD 30 for Ecuadorian nationals. Second, the USD 20 Transit Control Card, subject to change. You pay both on arrival, and you need your passport for the card. The programmes do not cover flights either.
- Reef-safe sunscreen, hat and sunglasses: you are on the equator and mostly on the water.
- Swimwear, a quick-dry change and a windbreaker: snorkels start off the beach. Also, the two-hour crossings are colder than the beaches suggest.
- Shoes with grip and cash in US dollars: closed shoes for Española, dollars for dinners, tips and everything on Isabela.
Plan which Galapagos places to visit with the operator
We have run Ecuador trips for fifteen years from our own office in Quito. Also, we handle these Galapagos programmes directly. So whoever answers your message books your guide, hotel or cabin. Start with the Santa Cruz and Isabela island hopping page, or browse the rest of our tours in Ecuador. Or send a WhatsApp to +593 98 094 2338. Then tell us which Galapagos places you want to visit and how many days you have.
