Galapagos Off the Beaten Path

Fly Guayaquil to San Cristobal – Navigable to Camping Manglecito 

Today, your Galapagos Adventure begins! Our meeting point is at Quito Mariscal Sucre International Airport (UIO) in order to take a domestic flight with destination to Puerto Baquerizo Moreno (SCY) on San Cristobal Island, Galápagos. The easternmost island in the archipelago. Upon arrival, our Galapagos National Park’s Naturalist Guide will greet and assist you with luggage and transfer. The island is one of the oldest in the chain, and thus its volcanic peaks are greatly eroded and vegetation is more abundant than on other islands. Afterwards, you will take a boat to Manglecito Beach where we are going to spend two nights and being involve in the wonders of nature. 

Meals included: L,D 

Accommodation: Camping Manglecito 

Kayak from Punta Basoa (Manglecito Beach) to Punta Finger (Puerto Grande) - Snorkel at Kicker Rock 

Your day will begin with a 3-hour kayaking session as you paddle along the coast toward Manglecito Beach camp. Once you arrive, and have had some time to explore Puerto Grande beach, you will take a boat ride towards Kicker Rock, also known as León Dormido. Once you arrive, you will set out on an amazing and unique snorkeling experience! You may see Galapagos and white-tipped reef sharks, eagle rays, sea turtles, hundreds of fish and sea stars. In the afternoon, you will return to Manglecito to relax and enjoy a very exclusive sunset and if clear skies allow, a starry last night. 

Meals included: B,BL,D 

Accommodation: Camping Manglecito 

Return to Puerto Baquerizo by kayaking - Interpretation center - Hike to Frigate Hill 

This morning you will enjoy of a great kayak excursion, this will be a perfect time to capture pictures of blue-footed boobies and brown pelicans close up. It’s also a good opportunity to see how sea turtles take their heads out of the water to get some air. And, if we’re lucky, you’ll even find them mating in the water. Your next stop today will be the La Galapaguera de Cerro Colorado Tortoise Reserve, built to help conserve the population of the island’s Galapagos Tortoises. Here you can observe and learn about this incredible species that the Galapagos Islands are named after. They are the world’s largest tortoise and some of the longest living wildlife in the world. After this visit, on top of Cerro de las Tijeretas (Frigate bird Hill), soak up breathtaking coastal views and watch the famous frigate birds—“the pirates of the seas”—as they steal food from unassuming boobies. If you wish to hike further, you can descend into Darwin’s Bay, a great place to snorkel and experience swimming with sea turtles and sea lions. The trail will then take you back to Punta Carola Beach, just in time to catch a glimpse of the beautiful Galapagos sun setting over the islands. 

Meals included: B,L,D 

Accommodation: Galapagos Sunset

Flight to Isabela - Breeding Center and Wetlands 

Today, you will have an early start. You will head to the airport to board a flight to Isabela Island, the largest in the archipelago (80 miles long). Despite its remarkable beauty, Isabela is not a stop for most Galapagos cruises, making your adventures feel somewhat exclusive. Isabela was formed approximately one million years ago by the merger of six shield volcanoes: Alcedo, Cerro Azul, Darwin, Ecuador, Sierra Negra, and Wolf. Despite this, the rich animal, bird, and marine life are beyond comparison. There are more wild tortoises here than the sum of them on all the other islands combined. They roam freely in the calderas of the volcanoes. Upon your arrival, you will visit the Tortoise Breeding Center, an initiative of the National Park for the conservation of Isabela’s tortoises. You will walk through the marshlands or humedales and along the beautiful white-sanded beach of Puerto Villamil in order to head back to our hotel. 

Meals included: B,L,D 

Accommodation: Casa de Marita 

Boat Ride to Los Tuneles & El Finado 

In the morning, you will take an hour-long boat ride towards Los Tuneles, an interesting and remarkable lava formation, which consists of arches and caves. You will walk along the shore and then snorkel in crystal clear waters for a dive into the remarkable underwater world. From here, you will head to El Finado, on the western side of the Isabela Island, just 10 minutes away from Los Tuneles. Here, you will find an inlet that has been used by local fishermen for many years as a resting place from their journeys in the ocean, a place with tranquil and shallow waters. You will then snorkel among submerged caves and small reefs made out of lava rocks. This is a preferred spot for white-tipped reef sharks, colorful tropical fish, and stingrays. As you approach the mangroves, the waters will be shallower which will give you a chance to see parrotfish, hogfish, and wrasses up-close, in a mysterious and unique habitat. 

Meals included: B,BL 

Accommodation: Casa de Marita 

Boat Ride to Santa Cruz - Tortuga Bay 

Your day will begin with a speedboat ride towards Santa Cruz Island. Santa Cruz, also called Indefatigable Island, is located in the center of the Galapagos Islands archipelago. It is also the center of human activity in the Galapagos Islands, since the National Park Headquarters, the Darwin Research Station, and the largest settlement in the Galapagos Islands, Puerto Ayora. Santa Cruz is the only island having a road that crosses its interior (running from Puerto Ayora in the south to the Itabaca Channel crossing in the north). Then, you will take a short ride to the entrance of one of the most beautiful beaches on Earth, Tortuga Bay Beach. Trip advisor´s visitors voted it among the Top 25 beached in the World in 2018, and you will have the opportunity to witness why. Following your arrival to the beach entrance, you will have an enjoyable walk leading to this paradise. Once you get there, you will be able to enjoy the water, either swimming or snorkeling, or just relax and rest on the beach. 

Meals included: B,L 

Accommodation: Angermeyer Waterfront Inn 

Navigable tour to La Fe (Bahia Ballena) 

Today’s tour will not offer you an exciting nature experience but also a unique cultural encounter. Our crew will take you on a short ride to the sandy beaches of Bahia Ballena, an ocean inlet where Galapagos sea lions and marine iguanas bask on carpetweed and lava rocks. There, you will appreciate Darwin’s finches and snorkel through an underwater world of lava rocks and small reefs swarming with tropical marine life. Reaching depths of up to thirty feet, the sandy ocean floor is home to pacific green sea turtles and long tailed stingrays of different shapes and sizes. 

Meals included: B,BL,D 

Accommodation: Angermeyer Waterfront Inn 

Transfer to Baltra - Flight to Quito 

In the morning, you will drive across the island of Santa Cruz, back to Baltra and to the airport. Baltra was the location of an air base built by the US Navy during WWII, though the runway has been relocated. To end our trip you will board a plane back to Quito. 

Meals included: B