Ecuador Travel Expert
About this tour
This Galapagos Island cruise of 9 days takes you to 10 islands. You see the islands San Cristobal, Española, Floreana, North Seymour, Bartolome, Genovesa, South Plaza, Santa Fe, Santa Cruz and Mosquera.
From San Cristobal's interpretation center you sail to Punta Pitt and Kicker Rock, then to Española, the oldest island, for Gardner Bay's sea lions and Punta Suarez's waved albatross and blowhole. Floreana brings Post Office Bay and Cormorant Point, followed by the seabird colonies of North Seymour and the Pinnacle Rock of Bartolome. The voyage reaches remote Genovesa, a drowned caldera alive with red-footed boobies and frigatebirds, then turns central for South Plaza's land iguanas, Santa Fe's turquoise bay, and Santa Cruz's Twin Craters, El Chato tortoise reserve and Charles Darwin Research Station, ending on the Mosquera sandbar.
Letty offers up to sixteen guests air-conditioned cabins with private bathrooms. It has a sun-deck solarium, lounge, and buffet dining room. WiFi onboard, snorkeling gear, wet-suits and kayaks are also included. Licensed tour guides will add detail to your Galápagos travel experience. The trip departs Monday and ends 9 days later on Tuesday.
This 9 day Galapagos cruise is ideal for people who like to experience the diversity of the Galapagos with a relaxed travel schedule.
— Jonatan Chimarro, Ecuador Travel Expert
$6,060
- The Bird Island of Genovesa: One of the most remote and least-visited islands in the archipelago, reached inside a sunken volcanic caldera. Red-footed boobies, swallow-tailed gulls and frigatebirds nest at eye level along the trail, and the cliff-top plateau of Prince Philip's Steps is one of the few places on earth to spot the short-eared owl hunting by day.
- Española and the Waved Albatross: The oldest island in the Galápagos and home to species found nowhere else — from the crimson "Christmas" marine iguana to the entire world population of nesting waved albatross (April to December). Pair the wildlife trail at Punta Suárez with the white coral sands and sea lion colony of Gardner Bay.
- Giant Tortoises in the Wild: Meet the archipelago's most famous residents on their own terms, roaming freely through the misty highlands of Santa Cruz at El Chato Ranch. The visit is completed at the Charles Darwin Research Station, where the breeding program that saved several tortoise populations continues today.
- Iconic Landscapes and Underwater Encounters: Climb Bartolomé for the classic view over Pinnacle Rock, sail past the towering monolith of Kicker Rock, and walk the olivine-green beach of Cormorant Point. Below the surface, snorkel alongside Galápagos penguins, sea turtles, reef sharks and curious sea lions in some of the richest waters in the Pacific.
- Duration
- 9 days / 8 nights
- Group size
- 1–16 people
- Physical intensity
- Low
- Activities
- Animal Spotting, Hiking, Relax, Swimming
- Environment
- Beach, Island, Sea, Sun, Volcano
- Key wildlife
- Birds, Dolphins, Fish, Sharks, Turtles
- Best months
- January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
- Region
- Galapagos Islands
- You get rides and help in the Galápagos, both on land and in small boats. You also get rides to and from the airport. (This is not given if you booked a last-minute deal, a cheap deal, or if the cruise did not book your flight.)
- A trained guide comes with you on every trip. The guide speaks English and Spanish. A full team of workers is on the boat too.
- All your food on the boat is included. You pick what you want from a big table of food (buffet). You also get snacks every day, plus soda, drinking water, coffee, tea, and fresh fruit juice.
- Accommodation on board: your own bed, lounge areas and dinner room.
- WiFi
- Flights to and from Galápagos.
- You must pay to enter the Galápagos National Park. It costs US$200 for each adult and US$100 for each child. You pay with cash when you land at the airport in the islands.
- You must pay US$20 for the Galápagos travel card. You pay with cash in Quito or Guayaquil, before you check in for your flight.
- Alcoholic beverages, personal expenses and tips.
- Travel, medical and cancellation insurance.
- Day 1
Monday | San Cristóbal: Welcome to the Enchanted Isles
Arrival at San Cristóbal Airport, where our naturalist guide meets you for the transfer to the yacht. In the afternoon we visit the Interpretation Center, whose exhibits trace the archipelago's volcanic birth, its human history and the conservation work that protects it today.
- Day 2
Tuesday | Punta Pitt & Kicker Rock: Boobies and Sleeping Lions
A morning climb through an eroded tuff formation at Punta Pitt, the only site in Galápagos where all three booby species nest side by side. The afternoon brings the golden sands and sea lion colony of Cerro Brujo, followed by a spectacular navigation past Kicker Rock (León Dormido), a sheer volcanic monolith rising from the sea.
- Day 3
Wednesday | Española: Beaches, Blowholes and Albatross
Gardner Bay offers one of the finest white coral beaches in the islands, with playful sea lions and excellent snorkeling in turquoise water. In the afternoon, the trail at Punta Suárez leads past blue-footed and Nazca boobies, crimson marine iguanas and a dramatic blowhole — and, from April to December, the world's only nesting colony of waved albatross.
- Day 4
Thursday | Floreana: Legends, Lore and a Wooden Barrel
Morning at Baroness Viewpoint and Post Office Bay, where whalers left a barrel in the 18th century that still serves as the islands' most unusual mail service — leave a postcard, take one to hand-deliver. The afternoon at Cormorant Point pairs an olivine-green sand beach with a brackish lagoon frequented by flamingos and pintail ducks.
- Day 5
Friday | North Seymour & Bartolomé: Courtship and Craters
North Seymour in the morning is a seabird spectacle: magnificent frigatebirds inflating scarlet throat pouches, blue-footed boobies performing their courtship dance, and land iguanas beneath the palo santo. In the afternoon we climb the wooden stairway on Bartolomé for the archipelago's most photographed view over Pinnacle Rock, then snorkel below in search of Galápagos penguins.
- Day 6
Saturday | Genovesa: The Bird Island
We enter the sunken caldera of Darwin Bay, where red-footed boobies, swallow-tailed gulls and frigatebirds nest within arm's reach of the trail. In the afternoon, Prince Philip's Steps (El Barranco) rise steeply to a lava plateau patrolled by Nazca boobies and the elusive short-eared owl.
- Day 7
Sunday | South Plaza & Santa Fe: Cactus Forests and Iguanas
South Plaza is a jewel of contrasts — carpets of scarlet sesuvium, groves of prickly pear cactus, land iguanas underfoot and seabirds soaring along the cliff edge. The afternoon at Santa Fe reveals giant Opuntia forests and the endemic Santa Fe land iguana, found nowhere else on earth, followed by snorkeling in a sheltered turquoise bay.
- Day 8
Monday | Santa Cruz: Giants of the Highlands
The lush highlands of El Chato Ranch are home to giant tortoises roaming freely in the wild, alongside collapsed lava tunnels and the Twin Craters sunk deep in scalesia forest. In the afternoon we visit the Charles Darwin Research Station in Puerto Ayora to learn about the breeding program that has brought several tortoise populations back from the brink.
- Day 9
Tuesday | Mosquera Islet & Farewell
A final morning walk on the narrow sandbar of Mosquera Islet, home to one of the largest sea lion colonies in the archipelago and a favorite haunt of shorebirds. We then transfer to Baltra Airport for your flight to the mainland, closing an unforgettable voyage through the Enchanted Isles.
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