Gal!pagos Islands

Dennyjen

I am planning a trip to Gal!pagos later this year. I would be grateful for any advice as it's my first trip to S. America. Best time of the year to go, should I stay on s small boat or one of the bigger ones etc? I will be travelling alone on this trip. Any advice gratefully accepted!

MasterPoo

http://www.cntraveller.com/guides/south-america/ecuador/galapagos-islands

Check out trip advisor/lonely planet.

Why don't you ask on the TA Galapagos forum?

Peccary

Take some time to research properly, decide what you want from the trip. Are there any animals you really want to see, which islands, do you intend to dive? Very few boats go to all the islands.


We went while on a big backpacking trip round S.America so picked a budget trip which visited the main islands. Our boat was a catamaran so was very small and all communal space was outside really. It was sociable and there were a few solo travellers on board.


If you plan on doing a lot of snorkelling (you should, we swam with sharks, rays, sea lions and marine iguanas) I would get your own gear.


Most boats make stops near the bigger towns, you can get most basics although prices are much higher than the mainland.

bap98189

Good choice. Galapagos is one of the most incredible places I have ever visited. The wildlife is simply incredible. Do you know which islands you want to visit? My advice would be to spend as little time as possible on Santa Cruz. That is where almost all of the people live and the less time you can spend there the better in my opinion.

My first advice would be to not stay on a boat at all. The majority of visitors do stay on boats, but there are land-based tours, and I would recommend that option if possible. We stayed initially on San Cristobal, Isabella and then finally Santa Cruz, visiting Floreana and Santiago en route between islands.

It depends what you want really, If it is luxury you are after than a cruise is the way to go. However, your time ashore or snorkelling will be limited by the schedule. Whilst (aside from Santa Cruz) there are not many people living on most of the islands, there are a few cafes and bars on Isabella and San Cristobal. The people are incredibly friendly and we had a superb time in the evenings just walking down the beach, or having a dinner/drink in the local bars and on a couple of occasions watching our dinner being brought out of the sea.