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*   Galapagos Cruises

Galap IslandsIf you book from abroad or through the internet you will pay significantly more (sometimes 2 to 3 times more than what you would pay on the islands or Ecuador). Booking from Quito is the safest option, but it's likely you will pay a premium for doing so. Booking on the islands is often quoted as the cheapest method, but not without a tiny risk and no guarantee of amazingly cheap prices since accounts are mixed and seem to depend very much on individual experiences and seasonal variations and you will also need a couple of days to spare and won't want a particular boat, fly independently to the islands and shop around in Puerto Ayora. There are up to 10 boats of different price levels leaving daily in high season, and fewer boats but also fewer passengers in low season. The following are bottom prices (cash), after bargaining (roughly):

Note: Regardless of boat class, any cruise through the Galapagos will be amazing. All boats go to the same islands, although more expensive and faster boats may add Genovesa Island to their itinerary. Drinks other than water/tea/coffee are never included in the price. Diving is never included in the price either.

Straight off the bat, the following account has worked for some and not others - please see comment to the right.

1 - You will have to pay US$100 park entrance fee when you disembark in Baltra airport. Watch for tour guides that will be there to pick up passengers who booked from Quito or from abroad, and will take them directly to their boats; ask the guides if they have space available for you. They will check with their colleagues too.

2 - Go to town: everyone takes the free bus and then the boat to Santa Cruz (5 minutes US$1), then another bus to Puerto Ayora (45 minutes, US$2.5).

3 - The agent, captain or the tour guide will be either around the pier in Puerto Ayora or on their boat.

4 - If you have difficulty in finding anyone at the pier, take a water taxi (US$1-2) and visit each boat that's docked (5 to 10 boats at any time); the cook or someone else will call the right guys through the radio if they are not there. Boats usually leave after 7 p.m.

5- The agent, captain or the guide will take you to the boat owner's office/agent/house upon your request if you are interested in going with them and they have space.

6 – After you bargain for a few minutes for a lower price and finally pay to the boat owner in cash, you will get a detailed receipt of your itinerary mentioning what's included in your cruise (3 meals per day, snacks at 5 p.m., tour guide, drinking water, etc) and which islands the boat visits each day.

7 – If you have no luck with all the above, you can still easily go to one of the travel agents in Puerto Ayora, which will certainly be cheaper than travel agents in Quito. Expect to save between US$100 - US$400 per person (depending on the class of boat) compared to Quito.

E-mailed Comment:

We went to the Galápagos a couple of weeks ago. It was a great experience, but are not as per the account on the site. We arrived to Puerto Ayora on the bus, got on a water taxi and went to a few boats which were all full and were told that they only deal through agency. We abandoned this idea seeing no possibility of progress and since we were told that it would be possible to contact the boat office directly tried this avenue, but was unable to get contract names and numbers - certainly not from travel agents in Puerto Ayora.

So we dealt with a travel agent in town and booked with Joybe Tours - booking 2nights and 1.5 days on Isabella Island (advertised as 3 days and 2 nights, but the arrival was late afternoon on the first day and departure 6am on the third day), plus an 8 day cruise aboard the Friendship, formerly known as Gabi, for $1050 per person (both 3 day Isabella Island and 8 day main Islands) (April-07) tourist class - which was alright, but not without some stress getting to this point. On the boat we did a mini-survey about how much everyone paid on the boat. Roughly, one person booked at Quito paid $1200 just for him, six people booked together from Moonshine in Puerto Ayora and paid $770 per person, and the rest paid around $850. We probably paid about $800 or $850, given the price of the other little excursion to Isabella excluded. I read on the bottom of the form we filled out from Joybe Tours that they take out about 30%.

The problem with the direct approach system is finding a boat which is about to leave with one or two spaces, and being able to arrange it directly with the boat owner/boat office. I can see how it would be conceivable, since I saw the Capitan of our boat call the owner and ask him questions, and it could be possible that he calls him and asks if they can accept X amount for two passengers, spots which would otherwise have been empty, and they are about to leave in 4 hours without other prospects for filling those seats. Otherwise head to a travel agent in town and put on your poker face.

FYI: We have written an article about the trip which should appear on http://en.epochtimes.com

Everyone who buys an 8-day cruise (includes the North and South islands) will actually spend 6 days/7 nights cruising; it actually starts at 7 p.m. on the first day and ends early in the morning on the 8th day. If you are picky and want a specific class of boat, you may have to wait from a few hours to one or two days while you visit some of the sights in Puerto Ayora: enjoy Tortuga beach and the animals, Darwin Research Center, the birds and iguanas until the boat you choose is available. We still had time to spend another day-and-half in Puerto Ayora on our way back and would have loved to stay longer. Shorter cruises (3 or 4 nights) takes you either to the North or to the South islands; considering the air fare and the park entrance fee that you paid to get to the Galapagos, the 8-day cruise is a much better value.

Take cash to the islands; some boat operators accept Visa and MasterCard but none accept Amex. You can get cash up to the limit of your Visa card at the only bank in Puerto Ayora (Banco del Pacífico) with no commission but will have to wait in line, sometimes for over 30 minutes. You can also get cash from your Visa card at some souvenir shops; expect to pay a commission in this case. Take enough film/memory with you; if you have a digicam you'll be able to easily charge your batteries on the boat. Also bring sun block lotion, a hat and seasick pills (just in case).

Galap Islands- They will try to trick you into not booking a cruise directly from the islands, often by creating fear that you may not be able to find a boat.
- They are usually owned by expat foreigners who charge 50% to 70% over the price of the cruise, only for making a phone call to the islands, while the locals (boat owner, captain, tour guide, cook, waiter, sailors) do the real work.
- “The boat returns to port during the trip” is an excuse used by travel agents to downgrade all competitor's boats and sell their own expensive packages to naïve tourists. Boats don't actually return to port, they stop in Baltra for a few hours on the 3rd or 4th day to pick-up passengers from the airport and to stock on food/water.
- “There is a very limited choice of boats that sell last minute deals in Puerto Ayora”; that is again bad advice from those travel agents, unless you are looking for a top luxury and very expensive sailing boat.
- “Economy class boats don't offer qualified guides”; again not true, we had an excellent English-speaking Naturalist guide on our economy boat; actually all local guides speak English all the time.
- “We also offer last minute deals to the islands”; all Thorn Tree readers who booked a Galapagos cruise for the last two years paid between 50% and 70% more from Quito than the ones who booked from Puerto Ayora. This is consistent with my survey with all passengers from all boats that I checked myself.

You can go directly to the TAME airline office in Quito domestic terminal, which is located about 20 meters from the international terminal. Or you can reserve your flights in advance through web@tame.com.ec. Last info: there are two daily flights from Quito to Baltra at 7:30 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. with a stopover in Guayaquil. There is a 15% discount off TAME flights if you have an ISIC student card and are under 30. The flight back from the islands (daily at 10:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m.) can be changed at any time in Puerto Ayora for free, provided that you haven't done the pre-check-in, which should be done a day or two before you fly out, either by the tour guide or by yourself at the TAME office. The penalty for changing dates after the pre-check-in is approximately US$25. Air fares (return trip) are:

Note: that what's considered “high season” for air tickets is slightly different than “high season” for cruise boats (approx. from 1 Dec. to 15 Jan. and from 1 Jul. to 31 Aug.) Aerogal (same airfare but no discount for ISIC holders) flies 3 times a week to San Cristobal Island, which most cruise boats don't go to. TAME also flies to San Cristobal 4 times a week.

If you want to dive and there are no diving facilities on your boat, all you will have to do is choose which boat you want to dive with, and tell your captain; he will arrange the divemaster to come talk to you before the first dive, or your captain will take you to the other boat at the right time each day. Suppose you are cruising in an economy boat (which don't usually offer diving) and are diving with a first-class boat; you may even have a hot shower and free breakfast in the first-class boat (if you ask) on the days that you dive with them. Each dive cost around US$60 per tank and includes all gear; if you do 5 or more dives and bargain you may get each dive for US$55.

If you want to dive 3 or 4 times per day you should book a live aboard. A live aboard can go to the islands of Darwin and Wolf (regular cruise boats don't visit those) where you may see a whale shark if lucky. Please look at what Scuba Iguana and Nauti Diving have to offer.

When is a good time of year to go: From January to June, the seas are at their calmest, warmest (26ºC) and the skies are usually clear, although those are also the rainiest months. From June to December, the air is cooler, the skies are often lightly overcast but there is virtually no precipitation in the lowlands. Every guide has his own “best month” to visit the islands. September is the coldest month with the water temperature reaching 19ºC



[book]

Galapagos Wildlife: A Visitor's Guide - David Horwell

Buy/view: in the USA (amazon.com), in Canada (amazon.ca) or in the UK (amazon.co.uk)

This relatively small book on the wildlife of the Galapagos Islands is packed with information/pictures and is likely to make you the envy of all other passengers on our boat. The author has gone to a great deal of trouble to condense a vast amount of data into a handbook for the traveller, without sacrificing essential information, clarity or accuracy.  Really useful, packed with loads of background natural history info & great pictures, plus great detailed information about all the landing sites.

Info More recommended reading material: In case you want to do some reading prior to your trip (books in Ecuador are expensive), recommended are the following:

  • “Galápagos, A Natural History” by Michael H. Jackson

  • “Marine Life of the Galápagos” by Pierre Constant (for divers)

  • “Voyage of the Beagle” by Charles Darwin; it has only 23 pages on the Galápagos but for historical reasons it makes an interesting read if you are travelling throughout South America.



Please if you do buy, go through amazon.com, .ca or .co.uk - using the links on this page is a big thank you for your use of the site and the information above.





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