Galapagos Island Hopping: Santa Cruz, Isabela and San Cristobal

1. Day 1: Arrive in Quito, the Old Town at golden hour

   Mariscal Sucre International Airport to Quito's Old Town

   • Drive about 1 h
   • Welcome dinner
   • Stay in Quito
   Day 1 details

   Fly into Mariscal Sucre International Airport (UIO) at Tababela, about an hour from the city, where a driver meets you in arrivals. Plan to land by about 1 pm to join the afternoon walk; if your flight lands later, we can book a night before the trip. Quito sits at about 2,850 m in an Andean valley under the Pichincha volcano, so today is gentle on purpose. In the late afternoon your See Sight Tours guide meets the group for a short briefing on the islands, then walks you into the Old Town, one of the first places listed by UNESCO, in 1978. We cross the Plaza Grande, step inside La Compania de Jesus, whose interior is covered in gold leaf, and walk down to the plaza and church of San Francisco as the light warms the facades. The evening ends with a welcome dinner of Ecuadorian dishes in the Old Town.

   Included

   • Pick-up at Mariscal Sucre International Airport (UIO)
   • Welcome briefing with your guide
   • Quito Old Town walk: Plaza Grande, La Compania de Jesus and San Francisco
   • Welcome dinner

   Free time: Free until the afternoon briefing

   Activity: Quito is at about 2,850 m. Walk slowly, drink water and go easy on alcohol tonight.

2. Day 2: The equator and the Otavalo valley

   Quito to Cayambe and Otavalo, then back to Quito

   • Drive about 4 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Quito
   Day 2 details

   We leave after breakfast and drive north on the Pan-American Highway through dry valleys and flower farms, about two hours to Otavalo with a stop on the way. Near Cayambe we pause at the Quitsato sundial, a monument built on the equator line itself, where your guide explains how the Andean peoples tracked the sun long before the French survey that named the country. In Otavalo we walk the Plaza de los Ponchos, the craft market that runs every day and spreads through the surrounding streets on Saturdays: woven textiles, wool, tagua-nut carvings and Andean music. A short drive out of town brings us to the Peguche waterfall, a sacred site for the Kichwa communities of the valley, reached by a shaded walk through eucalyptus. Lunch is a sit-down meal in the valley, then we drive back to Quito in the late afternoon for a free evening.

   Included

   • Quitsato equator sundial near Cayambe
   • Plaza de los Ponchos craft market in Otavalo
   • Peguche waterfall walk
   • Sit-down lunch in the Otavalo valley

   Easier option: Stay in Quito instead: a free day to rest at altitude before the flight, with your guide's suggestions for museums near the hotel.

   Free time: Evening free in Quito

   Activity: About four hours of driving in total, broken by the equator stop and lunch. Otavalo is about 2,500 m.

3. Day 3: Fly to the Galapagos, tortoises in the highlands

   Quito to Baltra by air, across the Itabaca Channel and through the Santa Cruz highlands to Puerto Ayora

   • Drive about 2 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Puerto Ayora
   Day 3 details

   An early transfer to the airport, where we pay the Transit Control Card and check bags through the biosecurity scan, then the flight to Baltra, about two and a half hours, sometimes with a stop in Guayaquil. On landing you pay the national park fee and meet your park naturalist guide, who joins your See Sight Tours guide on every island visit. A short bus ride and a ferry across the Itabaca Channel bring us onto Santa Cruz. We break the drive south in the highlands, where giant tortoises roam free in the grassland and mud pools of a private reserve, and you can walk through a lava tunnel. Lunch is a sit-down meal in the highlands. We reach Puerto Ayora in the afternoon and check in for three nights. Before dinner, walk down to the fish market on the waterfront, where pelicans and a sea lion or two wait beside the fishermen's tables.

   Included

   • Flight from Quito to Baltra (GPS)
   • Baltra bus and Itabaca Channel crossing
   • Giant tortoises in the wild at a highland reserve, with a lava tunnel
   • Sit-down lunch in the Santa Cruz highlands

   Free time: Evening free in Puerto Ayora

   Activity: Flight times are set by the airline; the start may be before 7 am. Bring US cash for the transit card and the park fee paid at Baltra.

4. Day 4: Tortuga Bay at opening, the Darwin Station

   Puerto Ayora to Tortuga Bay on foot, then the Charles Darwin Research Station

   • Breakfast
   • Stay in Puerto Ayora
   Day 4 details

   We are at the start of the Tortuga Bay trail when it opens, around 6 am, and walk the 2.5 km stone path through a forest of giant prickly-pear cactus while it is still cool. The trail ends at Playa Brava, a long white beach where the surf is too strong to swim but marine iguanas cross the sand in the early light. Walk to its far end and the calm lagoon of Playa Mansa opens up, sheltered by mangroves, where you can swim or snorkel with small reef sharks, rays and turtles in the shallows. Breakfast is packed for the beach so we do not lose the quiet hours. We walk back before midday, and the afternoon is free. In the late afternoon we visit the Charles Darwin Research Station and the Fausto Llerena tortoise centre, where young tortoises are reared for release, and see the preserved body of Lonesome George.

   Included

   • Tortuga Bay walk at opening, with time to swim and snorkel at Playa Mansa
   • Charles Darwin Research Station and the Fausto Llerena tortoise centre
   • Snorkel gear and a wetsuit for the island days

   Easier option: Take a water taxi back from Playa Mansa instead of walking, when it runs.

   Free time: Afternoon free; lunch and dinner are your choice in Puerto Ayora

   Activity: About 5 km of walking in total, on a stone path and soft sand. Swim only at Playa Mansa; Playa Brava has strong currents.

   

5. Day 5: A day boat to an uninhabited island

   Puerto Ayora to the Itabaca Channel, then by boat to North Seymour, South Plaza, Santa Fe or Bartolome

   • Drive about 1.5 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Puerto Ayora
   Day 5 details

   Today is a full day at sea with a park naturalist guide, aboard a licensed day-tour boat. The national park sets which island each boat may visit on each date, so we confirm yours when your departure is booked: North Seymour, with its nesting frigatebirds and blue-footed boobies; South Plaza, with land iguanas under the cactus and a sea lion colony on the cliffs; Santa Fe, with its tall opuntia forest and clear water; or Bartolome, with the climb to the view over Pinnacle Rock. Each visit is a guided walk on the island trail, with a snorkel from the boat where the site allows. The crossing is about an hour or two each way, often with dolphins or seabirds alongside, and lunch is served on board. We are back in Puerto Ayora in the late afternoon, with the evening free in town.

   Included

   • Full-day boat to one uninhabited island (North Seymour, South Plaza, Santa Fe or Bartolome, set by the park for your date) with a park naturalist guide
   • Guided island walk, and a snorkel from the boat where the site allows
   • Lunch on board

   Easier option: Stay on the boat during the snorkel; the island walk is on a marked trail of 1 to 3 km.

   Free time: Evening free in Puerto Ayora

   Activity: The day boat may carry other travellers as well as our group. Crossings can be bumpy; take seasickness tablets before you board if you need them.

6. Day 6: Speedboat to Isabela, Las Tintoreras

   Puerto Ayora to Puerto Villamil by speedboat, then Las Tintoreras and the flamingo lagoon

   • By ferry
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Puerto Villamil
   Day 6 details

   The morning speedboat to Isabela takes about two to two and a half hours, past the southern coast of Santa Cruz and out across open water to Puerto Villamil, a sand-street village behind a long beach. We check in for two nights, pay the small municipal fee at the dock and sit down to lunch. In the early afternoon a short boat ride takes us to Las Tintoreras, a cluster of lava islets across the bay. A trail over black lava leads past marine iguana nests to a narrow channel where whitetip reef sharks rest on the sandy bottom; Galapagos penguins and blue-footed boobies often sit on the rocks nearby. Then we snorkel in the sheltered water with turtles and sea lions. Late in the afternoon we walk the boardwalk past the flamingo lagoon to the Arnaldo Tupiza tortoise breeding centre, and finish on the beach for sunset.

   Included

   • Speedboat from Santa Cruz to Isabela
   • Sit-down lunch in Puerto Villamil
   • Las Tintoreras boat trip, lava walk and snorkel
   • Flamingo lagoon and the Arnaldo Tupiza tortoise breeding centre

   Easier option: Skip the snorkel at Las Tintoreras and watch from the boat.

   Free time: Evening free in Puerto Villamil

   Activity: The boardwalk to the breeding centre is about 1.5 km each way on flat ground.

   

7. Day 7: Sierra Negra and the Volcan Chico lava fields

   Puerto Villamil to the Sierra Negra trailhead and back

   • Drive about 1.5 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Puerto Villamil
   Day 7 details

   We leave early for the drive of about 40 minutes each way, up through farmland and misty highland forest to the Sierra Negra trailhead, so we walk before the midday heat. The trail climbs gently, often in cloud at first, to the rim of the caldera, one of the largest in the archipelago at about 10 km across, its floor black with lava from recent eruptions. From the rim the trail continues around the edge and down onto the lava fields of Volcan Chico, a landscape of red and black cinder cones, spatter vents and lava spires, with views on a clear day across to Fernandina and the other volcanoes of Isabela. Your naturalist guide explains how this young island is still building. We are back in the village for a sit-down lunch in the early afternoon, and the rest of the day is yours: rest, swim or walk to Concha de Perla for a snorkel.

   Included

   • Sierra Negra caldera rim and the Volcan Chico lava fields with your guides
   • Sit-down lunch in Puerto Villamil

   Easier option: Walk only to the caldera rim viewpoint and back, a much shorter walk, then wait at the trailhead shelter or return with the vehicle; or choose the Los Tuneles boat and snorkel trip instead of the hike, chosen when you book.

   More active option: The full hike to Volcan Chico, about 16 km round trip on rocky volcanic ground, 5 to 6 hours.

   Free time: Afternoon free in Puerto Villamil

   Activity: About 1.5 hours and 40 km of driving in total, there and back. Bring walking shoes, a hat, sunscreen and at least 2 litres of water. The trail is exposed once out of the cloud.

   

8. Day 8: Two boats to San Cristobal, Las Grietas between

   Puerto Villamil to Puerto Ayora by speedboat, then on to Puerto Baquerizo Moreno

   • By ferry
   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in Puerto Baquerizo Moreno
   Day 8 details

   There is no regular direct boat between Isabela and San Cristobal, so today we cross by way of Santa Cruz, and it starts early. The Isabela speedboat usually leaves around 6 am, so breakfast is packed, and it reaches Puerto Ayora in about two hours. We then have the middle of the day free in Puerto Ayora: take the water taxi across Academy Bay with your guide and a short walk over lava and cactus to Las Grietas, a deep, clear fissure of fresh and salt water between rock walls, for a swim, or rest at a cafe on the waterfront. Lunch is a sit-down meal in Puerto Ayora, then the afternoon speedboat, usually around 3 pm, takes about two hours more to Puerto Baquerizo Moreno, the capital of the islands. We arrive in time to walk the Malecon, where sea lions sleep on benches and on the beach, and catch the last light from Playa Mann. The last evening is a farewell dinner with the group on the waterfront. Departure times are set by the boat operators and confirmed with your final itinerary.

   Included

   • Speedboats from Isabela to Santa Cruz and from Santa Cruz to San Cristobal
   • Las Grietas swim, with the water taxi
   • Sit-down lunch in Puerto Ayora
   • Sea lions on the Malecon and sunset at Playa Mann
   • Farewell dinner

   Easier option: Skip Las Grietas and spend the middle of the day at a cafe on the Puerto Ayora waterfront.

   Free time: Late morning free in Puerto Ayora between the two boats

   Activity: An early start and about four hours on boats in two crossings. Boat times are set by the operators and can change.

   

9. Day 9: Frigatebird Hill and the flight home

   Puerto Baquerizo Moreno to Cerro Tijeretas, then San Cristobal airport to Quito or Guayaquil

   • By plane
   • Breakfast
   Day 9 details

   A last early walk while the air is cool: along the bay past the statue of Darwin to the San Cristobal Interpretation Center, which tells the story of the islands from volcanic birth to whalers, settlers and the conservation work of today, then up the trail to Cerro Tijeretas, Frigatebird Hill. From the lookout you see the bay where Darwin first landed in 1835, and frigatebirds hang in the wind overhead. Below the hill is a small cove where you can snorkel one more time with sea lions and turtles if the flight allows. We walk back to town for your bags; the airport is a few minutes' drive from the centre. Our flight to Quito or Guayaquil, included in the price, usually leaves around midday or early afternoon, and your guide sees you through check-in. Book your flight home for the evening or the next day.

   Included

   • San Cristobal Interpretation Center
   • Cerro Tijeretas lookout and cove
   • Flight from San Cristobal (SCY) to Quito (UIO) or Guayaquil (GYE)

   Easier option: Skip the climb to the lookout and wait at the Interpretation Center garden.

   Activity: Book a homeward flight from Quito or Guayaquil leaving after about 8 pm, or stay a night on the mainland.

Wildlife and weather: From December to May the water is warmer and seas are calmer, with short tropical showers; from June to November the cool Humboldt current brings mist, choppier crossings, colder water (wetsuits are included) and more active marine life.

• Quito2 nights
• Puerto Ayora3 nights
• Puerto Villamil2 nights
• Puerto Baquerizo Moreno1 night