Galápagos Islands

Best itinerary to explore the Galápagos Islands by land and water | 9 Days

Here is your perfect 9 day itinerary for your trip of a lifetime to the Galápagos Islands. Explore six of the most unique islands on this perfectly planned schedule that will take you from San Cristobal to Española, by plane to Isabela, by ferry to Santa Cruz, and on a day trip to Bartolomé and Santiago Islands, before flying back from Baltra. Our trip includes all the fun stuff that you need to see and saves you money. Are you ready? Learn more about the best time to visit, the expected travel budget and the different tour operators we booked with.

Why choose the Galápagos Islands?

If you don’t have Galápagos on your bucket list, then it’s time to get it added. Galápagos is a volcanic archipelago in the Pacific Ocean, about 1,000 km off the coast of Ecuador. The islands are famous for its diversity of animals such as giant tortoises, sea lions, marine iguanas, birds, and so much more… Many of these species are only found on these islands. Charles Darwin visited Galápagos in 1835 and the visit inspired his theory of evolution.

What other reasons do you need?

For me personally, the Galápagos islands felt like a childhood dream come true. I felt like a true visitor observing the nature and animals living on the islands and every day was a surprise of unexpected experiences.

And YES, you can perfectly self-plan this trip and don’t need to book with a tour operator or cruise line. See the below itinerary for our recommendations, tips where to find different animals and the perfect schedule to get the most out of this experience.

What You Need To Know

How to get there: you can only fly from Quito or Guayaquil to the islands. All Quito flights will stop in Guayaquil on the way there and all Guayaquil flights will stop in Quito on the way back. You will stay on the plane while picking up other passengers and the entire journey from mainland Ecuador to the islands will take between 3 – 4 hours.

Quito Airport Hotel: as flights leave early in the morning, you may stay overnight in Quito and the Wyndham Quito Airport Hotel is your best address with free shuttle connection to the terminal (shuttle goes every 30 minutes; on the full and half hour)

Best time to visit: we learned that the Galápagos islands are an all-year round destination; however, high season is considered between December and March during the warm and wet season with better visibility. Our visit was at the end of November and we had no rain, every day was sunny and we had some overcast either in the morning or later afternoon. Water temperatures are cooler all year round between 71°F – 74 °F (21 – 24 °C). ***Remember, penguins also live in Galapagos and they need cooler temperatures.

What to pack: Sunscreen! A standard $8 sunscreen costs $25 – $30 on the Galápagos islands. Light jacket for the boat rides or the volcano hike. Bringing your own wet suit is optional – you will most likely need it; however, you can also rent it there and often it’s already included with your tour.

Park fees: before checking-in for your flight in Quito or Guayaquil you need to pay a $20 entry fee at a designated kiosk (in Quito it’s called: Consejo de Gobierno del Regimen especial de Galapagos). Afterwards, all your luggage needs to get screened and securely closed with a zip-tie by a government official. After these two steps you can proceed to your airline and check-in for your flight. Once you land on the islands you will pay the official $100 park fee. Also remember to get the zip-tie removed from your luggage. Isabela island has an additional visitor fee of $10. ***Fees as of November 2019.

Book in advance: we booked all our hotels, flights and most of our day trip tours 3 months prior to our trip. Tourism is limited and controlled on these islands and it is highly recommended to book all services in advance. If you travel during high season you may need to book even further out. We booked all hotels directly with the venues and used the below operators for our excursions and transportation.

Tour Operators: we booked most activities with Nature Galapagos, the between island flights with Fly Galapagos, and worked with Alex with Galantive Tours for some additional activities on Isabela Island – connect with him over What’s App at +593 98 981 8898.

Budget: you can make this trip as expensive as you want it to be. I would never sacrifice the experience and would budget $3,000 per person. Tour costs were around $1,500 pp, hotel room around $200 per night, Fly Galapagos $169 pp and a one-way ferry ticket was $25. However, Galapagos has truly options for every budget.

UNESCO World Heritage Site: All 19 islands and the surrounding marine reserve have been declared a unique “living museum and showcase of evolution”. Due to three ocean currents, the Galápagos are a ‘melting pot’ of marine species. Also ongoing seismic and volcanic activities, together with the extreme isolation of the islands, led to the development of unusual animal life such as the land and marine iguana, the giant tortoise and many different types of birds. The government only allows development and infrastructure of 3% of the islands to keep the islands protected.

San Cristobal | 3 Days

Start your Galápagos journey in San Cristobal, the most eastern island of the archipelago that can be reached directly from continental Ecuador. The airport is very small and is about a mile from the city center of Puerto Baquerizo Moreno. We didn’t arrange transportation and took a taxi on site for $3.

Hotel: we booked the Galapagos Sunset Hotel for 3 nights. This hotel has the perfect location at the port, from where all day trips and ferries leave. The rooms facing the front have an incredible view of the harbor and the breakfast is served on the roof top terrace.

Day 1: after landing on the island at 8:45 am we headed into town and enjoyed breakfast at Midori. This restaurant has a beautiful terrace on the upper floor, a stunning view and great food at good prices (breakfast was $16 for two). At 11 am a taxi picked us up and took us on a 4-hour tour to El Junco Lagoon, Galapaguera de Cerro Colorado and Puerto Chino. We booked this tour with our hotel on site for $60. Car rentals or any ride share services are not available, so booking a local taxi is your only option to explore the island.

Happy Hour, Dinner & Sunset: visit Muyu Galapagos for a great cocktail and ceviche with a view. Dinner at Midori is highly recommended.

Day 2: Day Trip to Kicker Rock, also known as Léon Dormido. We booked most of our multiple day tour packages in advance with Nature Galapagos including this excursion. Kicker Rock is the remains of a volcanic cone and the rock formation towers over 500 feet (152 meter). This location is one of the the most seeked after snorkeling hot spots in Galápagos and is an underwater paradise due to it’s unique ecosystem. This full day snorkel excursion also includes a stop at a deserted beach where you can play with sea lions, watch birds and enjoy stunning views.

Day 3: Day trip to Española island; booked with Choko Tours. Day trips to this island are only available from San Cristobal between Monday – Thursday. Visits to this island are limited and it is highly recommended to book the excursion in advance.

Española

The island can be reached by a two hour boat ride from San Cristobal and you will visit Punta Suárez for a land excursion and Bahía Gardner for snorkeling. This island has its own species of animals such as the Española mockingbird, lava lizard, marine iguana with red markings on the back and giant tortoise among others. You will also see waved albatrosses as they breed on this island.

Española also attracts many sea lions with its beautiful sand bays and makes a perfect breeding location. Our tour guide called it the “sea lion kindergarten” which was very appropriate.

Isabela Island

Day 5: Hiking up to Volcán Chico on Sierra Negra volcano. Sierra Negra is one of six volcanoes on Isabela and you start the hike along the rim of the enormous caldera and then head into the fresh lava fields of Volcán Chico where you will be rewarded with an incredible view over the island. On a clear day, you can also see the neighboring island of Fernandina. The hike up to Volcán Chico is on an easy trail and offers beautiful landscapes of the volcanic terrain along the way. The entire tour lasts about 5-6 hours including the drive.

Once back in Puerto Villamil, we rented bikes and headed to the Wall of Tears, also called Muro de las Lagrimas. There are many great stops along the way to enjoy iguanas, tortoise, lava tunnels and stunning beaches. The first part of the trail is sandy, so rent a bike with wider tires if that will help you.

Day 6: Start your day exploring the Tintoreras islands where you snorkel with giant turtles, penguins, sharks and marine iguanas. During your walk on these lava islands you will see marine iguanas and their breeding sites, sea lions and white-tip sharks.

At 3:00 pm we took a 2.5 hour ferry to Puerto Ayora on Santa Cruz island – the ride can get a bit bumpy, so sit on the upper deck where you have more air circulation and a better view. Also, in order to get to your speedboat, you need to hop on a quick harbor taxi ($1 per person on Isabela and $0.50 pp on Santa Cruz – pay the driver in cash as you get on the boat).

Santa Cruz

Day 7: If you enjoy diving, then you should certainly plan for a diving excursion as there are so many incredible sites. We booked with Scuba Iguana and dived North Seymour and Seymour Channel where you encounter hammerhead sharks, rays, eels and much more.

After this tour, there is still plenty of time to visit the Charles Darwin Research Center in Puerto Ayora. The center is free of charge and you can visit it on your own or join a guided tour for $10. At this stage of the trip we felt comfortable to visit the center as self-guided as we have learned so much from previous excursions and there is signage. Until recently, the world’s most famous tortoise Diego also lived in this center until he was released to Espanola island in June 2020.

Hotel: we stayed at Hotel La Isla in Puerto Ayora Santa Cruz. This hotel has certainly a great location as you are right in the center and it has recently been renovated. For a more luxurious experience, you could stay at the Finch Bay Hotel.

Restaurants & Bars: Santa Cruz Brewery is a local brewery with delicious craft beer (Passionfruit was my favorite one!) and a beautiful view from the roof top terrace. ANKER Galapagos is a MUST while you are on the island and you should try the Chef’s tasting menu with all fresh local products. Also, in Santa Cruz we ate at Midori which is the sister restaurant to the one in San Cristobal (original one is here!).

Souvenirs: Puerto Ayora is great for souvenir shopping as they have local markets and artisan stores. I personally liked a local store called “Darwin + Wolf” (name refers to the two farthest Galapagos islands Darwin and Wolf).

Bartolomé and Santiago Islands

Day 8: we ended our Galápagos journey in style by visiting Bartolomé and Santiago Islands. This tour was as well booked with Nature Galapagos as part of our initial package; however, we were pleasantly surprised that this tour was on the Windrose Yacht instead of the typical motorboat (+ comparable price to previous tours). You should certainly request this yacht for an incredible experience.

From Puerto Ayora you will be picked up by bus and ride for about 45 minutes to the port on the northern side of the island where you will embark the Windrose yacht. After a one hour boat ride, you will embark Bartolome island and hike up to an incredible 360 degree view point. You will enjoy a beautiful scenery while taking 365 stairs up to the highest point of this island.

On Bartolomé we also got to snorkel with penguins and enjoyed the pristine beach next to famous Pinnacle Rock before heading to Santiago Island for a short hike over the lava fields.

Day 9: Our hotel helped us arrange a taxi to Baltra airport that would also include a few last sightseeing stops along the way. To my surprise, taxis on Santa Cruz island are very expensive and our hotel got us a great deal for $50.

On our way we stopped at El Chato which is a giant tortoise reserve and it was the best one we saw on our entire trip. Our driver also stopped at the Los Gemelos craters on the way. Once at the port, you hop on a water taxi ($1 pp to the driver) that takes you across the channel and afterwards on a bus that takes you to Baltra airport ($5 pp).

Baltra aiport has the GPS lounge that you can access by Priority Pass.

Thank you for reading our Galapagos journey and we can’t wait for you to experience this incredible destination as well! Get in touch with us and make sure to tag #nowjusttravel and leave us a comment!