Galapagos Island Hopping Tour

Extended itinerary Galapagos Island Hopping Tour

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Day 1: Baltra Airport - Santa Cruz Highlands – Garrapatero Beach – Puerto Ayora

We’ll pick you up from the airport and begin a private tour of the Santa Cruz highlands. We will travel to Manzanillo Ranch, a place where the giant tortoises of Santa Cruz can be observed in the wild. We’ll then visit a large lava tunnel, and have a chance to walk inside. Lunch at a farm in the highlands, then we will continue our trip to Garrapatero beach, a beautiful white sand beach surrounded by mangroves. Optional kayaking at Garrapatero (extra cost). Drop off at our hotel in Puerto Ayora.
Accommodation: Galapagos Suites or similar
Meals Included: – / L / –

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Day 2: Puerto Ayora – Puerto Villamil – Tintoras – Puerto Villamil

Early in the morning, we will take the public speedboat from Puerto Ayora to Puerto Villamil. Your tour operator will meet you at the dock of Puerto Villamil and bring you to your hotel, check in and drop off your luggage and have some time before lunch to explore Puerto Villamil.
After lunch, we’ll begin a tour of Tintoreras (shared tour). This is a quiet place surrounded by turquoise waters where you can see blue-footed boobies, penguins, sharks resting in lava crevasses and plenty of marine iguanas. This tour lasts approximately 3 hours, including a boat ride and a walk on the islet. We’ll walk for about 50 minutes on the Tintoreras islet where we can observe plenty of wildlife and birds, and then we have a chance to snorkel for 1 hour to see a variety of marine species. Tour includes transportation, snorkel equipment, English speaking certified naturalist guide and snack. Free time after the tour to enjoy Puerto Villamil and its beaches.
Accommodation: Isabela Beach House, Casa de Marita or similar
Meals included: B / – / –

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Day 3: Puerto Villamil – Sierra Negra y Volcan Chico – Concha y Perla

Breakfast at your hotel, then you’ll be picked up at about 7 AM for a hiking tour to the Sierra Negra volcano and Volcan Chico (group tour). We travel by vehicle for about 40 minutes to the trailhead, then begin hiking to the Sierra Negra volcano, one of the widest volcano craters in the world. We continue our walk to Volcan Chico and its moonlike landscape, observing different types of lava along the way. The hike is about 5 hours, and a total of about 8 km each way.
Tour includes transportation, English speaking certified naturalist guide, box lunch. We return from the tour in the afternoon; free time to explore Puerto Villamil on your own (possible visits to the breeding center, the tranquil lagoon of Concha y Perla, or just relax).
Accommodation: Isabela Beach House, Casa de Marita or similar
Meals Included: B / L / –

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Day 4: Puerto Villamil Los Tuneles – Puerto Ayora

Today we will visit Los Tuneles, an exceptional snorkeling site (group tour). You’ll be picked up at your hostel after breakfast to begin the tour, about 6 hours, beginning with a boat trip to the site. We will walk a bit where you can see giant stingrays and sea turtles from the surface. Visit Union Rock where you can see blue footed and masked, terns, pelicans, boobies and sea lions. We’ll then snorkel for approximately 2 hours accompanied by the guide and captain in different places such as tunnels, are breathtaking natural aquariums where you can see sea turtles, sharks, stingrays, fish, penguins and with luck even seahorses.
Tour includes snorkeling equipment, wetsuit, transportation, towels, showers, lunch and underwater photos. After the tour, you’ll depart Isabela on the afternoon speedboat back to Puerto Ayora. Free evening and overnight in Puerto Ayora.
Accommodation: Galapagos Suites or similar
Meals Included: B / L / –

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5: Puerto Ayora – Charles Darwin Station – Baltra Airport

Free time in the morning to explore Puerto Ayora; if time permits and you haven’t already done so you can visit the Charles Darwin Station/Fausto Llerena Breeding Center (free entrance). We’ll meet you at your hotel to bring you to the Baltra airport for your departing flight to the continent.
Meals included: B / – / –

Note 1: Due to weather conditions, changing governmental regulations, or other unpredictable situations the itinerary might not always be exact the same as written above. We will always try to keep the changes as minimum as possible and find the best suitable solutions.

Note 2: Galapagos can be visited all year round. There are 2 seasons:
• The Garua season goes from mid-June to mid-October (more or less): the cold current of Humboldt enters the island so the wáter is colder (around 20 degrees celcius, wetsuit is needed), cloudy days and a small drizzle. This actually makes the climate fresher so dont expect all sunny days but a cooler weather for the hiking , no need of A/C or fan during the night and almost no mosquitoes. The colder wáter brings more plancton and more wildlife, this is the best time of the year to spot whales during the boat transports.
• The warm season is from November to Mid- May: days can be really hot (more than 30 degrees) and the wáter is warm due to Panama current entering in the islands marine reserve. No need for a wetsuit , sunny days, if you need to warm up from the Winter back home, this is the good season! Expect heavy tropical rains that can last 1 to 3 hours ( really, we have not that much days with rain all day long, it can happen but not on all islands at the same time). Due to the rains all the islands are greener. In between these two seasons would be the transition time where you can have a bit of both seasons!

It is optional to extend this tour and/or to go diving, kayaking, biking, relaxing on the beautiful islands or more. When interested, please ask us about the many options.

Galapagos, Island Hopping Tour

Hotel info:
During this tour we use clean tourist class hotels and friendly hostels with hot water, private bathroom, for example: Casa de Jeimy, La Gran Tortuga, Estrella de Mar, Casa de Laura, Tintoreras, España or similar. Keep in mind that sleeping in a hotel is in general already more comfortable than sleeping on a boat, especially if you book a budget tour.
Optional: To pay extra and upgrade your hotels.

Included in this Galapagos Island Hopping Tour:

– Land transportation for tours and all transfers
– Bilingual certified naturalist guide for all tours specified
– Accommodations as described in itinerary (double or triple occupancy)
– Meals, only when described in the itinerary
– Snorkel equipment for tours
– Activities listed

Not included:
– Round trip flights to and from the Galapagos islands (500/ 550 US$ p.p.)
– Entrance to the Galapagos National Park (currently $100 for foreigners)
– Migration Document (currently $20)
– Isabela port tax ($10)
– Travel insurance
– Meals, transportation and accommodations not mentioned as included
– Wetsuit rental if desired
– Any additional activities
– Travel insurance
– Tips
– Personal expenses

To get a better impression about the Galapagos Cruises and tours, we recommend you to have a look at our detailed section with information about the different islands and their landings sites: Island Info