Galapagos 8-day Cruise

Galapagos 8-day Cruise

Day 1: San Cristobal Island

Upon your arrival at the San Cristobal airport, we'll be waiting for you to welcome you to the Galapagos Islands. We have 8 exciting days aboard the Archipel I cruise ship ahead of us, which will take us through the archipelago from east to west. 

We'll have lunch on the ship and then head to the interpretation center in Puerto Baquerizo Moreno, in San Cristobal. Through its photographs, diagrams and models we'll learn about the volcanic origin of the island and discover many interesting facts about its unique geology. 

After this visit, we'll walk along an uphill trail until we reach Tijeretas Hill, where we'll admire a beautiful panoramic view of Puerto Baquerizo Moreno.

Then, we'll continue walking to the place where the statue of Charles Darwin, who visited the island in 1835, is located. The sculpture marks the exact spot where the scientist landed with the HMS Beagle. 

The day will end with dinner on the ship.

Day 2: Santa Fe Island

The next island we'll visit on this 8-day cruise will be Santa Fe, in the center of the Galapagos, considered the oldest island of the archipelago. Here several native species such as the Galapagos hawk, the Galapagos snake, or the Santa Fe land iguana can be found. We'll take a walk along its trails to see the various plant specimens that grow in these volcanic terrains, such as salt bushes or giant prickly pear cacti.

In the afternoon we'll head east to Santa Cruz Island. Despite its small size, this island is home to species such as hybrid iguanas, a cross between marine and land iguanas, and birds such as swallow-tailed gulls and brown pelicans.

Our day will end by having dinner aboard the ship.

Day 3: North Seymour Island – Santiago Island

Continuaremos descubriendo las Galápagos en la Isla Seymour Norte, un islote de acantilados rocosos en los que anidan aves como las fregatas o los piqueros de patas azules. 

A continuación, viajaremos hasta la Isla Santiago y durante la travesía observaremos el Sombrero Chino, un cono volcánico donde avistaremos una colonia de pingüinos de Galápagos. Una vez en Isla Santiago, visitaremos sus hermosas playas formadas por corales blancos y veremos a los leones marinos de Galápagos y a las iguanas marinas.

Finalizaremos el día cenando en el barco.

We'll continue our discovery of the Galapagos at North Seymour Island, an islet of rocky cliffs where birds such as frigate birds and blue-footed boobies nest. 

Next, we'll travel to Santiago Island, and on the way, we'll observe the Sombrero Chino, a volcanic cone where we'll see a colony of Galapagos penguins. Once on Santiago Island, we'll visit its beautiful beaches formed by white corals and see Galapagos sea lions and marine iguanas.

We'll wrap up the day with dinner on the ship.

Day 4: Santa Cruz Island

On the fourth day, we'll arrive at Santa Cruz Island and see Los Gemelos, two inactive craters separated by the road to Puerto Ayora. We'll tell you how these enormous cavities, which are not real craters but magma deposits, were formed. During the excursion, we'll admire its scalesias forest, an endemic tree of the Galapagos.

Afterwards, we'll go to the El Chato giant tortoise reserve to visit its tortoise hatcheries and observe these reptiles characteristic of the Galapagos.

Then we'll go to the Fausto Llerena Center, dedicated to the breeding of species in captivity to later return them to their natural environment and repopulate affected areas. Here we'll find the embalmed body of Lonesome George, the last specimen of Chelonoidis abingdonii, one of the giant tortoise species of the Galapagos. 

The fourth day of the cruise will end with dinner on board.

Day 5: Isabela Island

We'll spend the fifth day of our cruise exploring Isabela Island, the largest of the Galapagos. We'll begin by discovering the northern side of the island at Punta Moreno, located between the Sierra Negra and Cerro Azul volcanoes. We'll walk along a path of solidified lava to admire its lakes and mangroves and then move on to Urbina Bay. Here we'll be able to see Darwin's penguins, land iguanas, and giant tortoises of the Alcedo volcano, since the bay is located at the foot of this crater.

We'll end the day with dinner on board.

Day 6: Fernandina Island – Punta Vicente Roca

Fernandina Island is the third largest of the archipelago. We'll dock there and head to Punta Espinoza, the only access point on the island. Here we'll see colonies of marine iguanas sunbathing on the sand and swimming near the shore, and flightless cormorants, an example of a bird adapted to the terrestrial and marine environment.

While having lunch on board we'll cross the Bolivar Channel to Punta Vicente Roca. We'll access a sea cave passing under an imposing arch and leave to admire the Ecuador Volcano. We'll stop at one of the hidden coves of Punta Vicente Roca to snorkel and see puffer fish, seahorses, and even sharks.

The sixth day of the cruise will end by having dinner on board the ship.

Day 7: Santiago Island - Rabida Island

Our destination on this second to last day of the cruise will be Santiago Island, whose main attraction is the black beaches such as those of Puerto Egas.

After admiring them, we'll head to Rabida Island, nicknamed the red island. Did you know that this is the only island in the Galapagos whose rocks and sands display this hue? We'll take a short walk along a coastal trail to spot finches, doves, yellow warblers, mockingbirds, and flamingos.

Finally, we'll have dinner on board the cruise ship.

Day 8: Santa Cruz Island- Baltra Island

We'll end this 8-day Galapagos tour on Santa Cruz Island, where we'll leave the ship after breakfast to enjoy our last adventure.

We'll explore the black turtle cave, composed of mangrove trees and which constitutes an ecosystem in itself, housing turtles and sharks.

After the visit, we'll take you to the Baltra airport, where we'll conclude our 8-day tour.

Accommodation

This tour includes 7 nights of full board accommodation on the Archipel I cruise ship. When booking, you can opt for a double or triple cabin. If you wish a quadruple cabin, please contact us for price and availability.

Flights

To take part in this cruise, you must book your round-trip flights at the following times:

From Quito

• Departure flight: AVIANCA AV1630. Departure at 9:30 am from Quito. Arrival at 12:06 pm hours to San Cristobal Island. 
• Return flight: AVIANCA AV1633. Departure at 11:38 am from Baltra Island. Arrival at 4:15 pm in Quito. 

From Guayaquil

• Departure flight: AVIANCA AV1630. Departure at 11:19 am from Guayaquil. Arrival at 12:06 pm hours to San Cristobal Island. 
• Return flight: AVIANCA AV1633. Departure at 11:38 am from Baltra Island. Arrival at 14:29 pm in Guayaquil.