5 Day Luxury Galapagos

This is the first day of your luxury Galapagos tour. At the Baltra Airport (GPS), you meet up with our English speaking guide who will take you to the highlands of Santa Cruz. If you arrive before 02:00 PM you have lunch in the highlands. If you arrive later you will only visit the highlands. In the highlands you visit a privately owned farm where you will find the giant tortoises. The Galapagos giant tortoise (Chelonoidis nigra) is the largest living tortoise species, weighing up to 250 kg (550 lb). After this visit you will be dropped off at your hotel where you can rest.

• ActivityExploring, Hiking, Wildlife Watching.
• TransportBoat, Bus, Car.
• MealLunch.
• AccommodationsHotel Ikala or similar.

Today you will go by boat to one of the islands around Santa Cruz. Depending on the availability you go to either North Seymour, Bartolome, South Plazas or Santa Fe. After breakfast you leave the island with a beautiful small yacht. Depending on the islands it is 20 min – 2 hours navigating to get there. Lunch is served on board.

North Seymour was lifted from the ocean floor by a seismic event, and its origins as a seabed give the island its low, flat profile. Cliffs only a few meters high from the shoreline, where swallow-tailed gulls sit among the ledges and rocks. Usually, you find here the frigate birds. Sometimes you are even lucky to find a frigate bird with their beautifully colored inflated red sack.

Bartolome is famous for Pinnacle Rock, a towering spearheaded obelisk that rises from the ocean’s edge and is the best-known landmark in the islands. Galapagos penguins—the only species of penguin found north of the equator—walk precariously along narrow volcanic ledges at its base. There is a chance that you will see white-tip and black-tip sharks resting in the shallow waters around the beaches of Bartolome. Upon arrival at the island, you will climb up the stairs to go to the viewpoint where you have the best views of Bartolome.

South Plaza is a small island full of fascinating wildlife, both along its shore and along its dramatic, wind-swept cliffs: sea lions, land iguanas, swallow-tailed gulls, opuntia cacti and vegetation that changes colors according to the season. South Plazas is one of Galapagos’ most impressive visiting sites.

Santa Fe offers one of the most beautiful and sheltered coves in the islands. Its turquoise lagoon is protected by a peninsula of tiny islets forming an ideal anchorage. The island lies to the southeast of Santa Cruz within sight of Puerto Ayora. Like North Seymour, Santa Fe has been uplifted seismically, and you can see underwater lava formations.

• ActivityExploring, Wildlife Watching.
• TransportBoat.
• MealBreakfast, Box-Lunch.
• AccommodationsHotel Ikala or similar.

In the morning you go on the Bay Tour, where you visit the highlights around Puerto Ayora by boat. The first destination will be La Loberia where you find sea lions. Next, you will navigate to Punta Caamaño Islet. Here you will snorkel with sea lions and a large variety of fish. Furthermore, you will go on a channel where you can spot tintorera sharks and blue footed boobies. Your next activity will be a visit to the Channel of Love. Finally, Playa de Los Perros. This is a 15-minute walk until you reach the beach where you will be able to observe lots of dog crabs colonies and lots of large marine iguanas. In the afternoon you take the public speedboat to Isabela.

• ActivityExploring, Hiking, Snorkeling, Wildlife Watching.
• TransportBoat.
• MealBreakfast.
• AccommodationsHotel Casita de la Playa or similar.

At 11:00 AM you will go by boat to Los Túneles. Los Túneles is considered the most beautiful place to do snorkeling activities in Isabela. Here you will find various marine species and beautiful flora vegetation. You will go on an exciting snorkeling activity inside an area with an extension of 800 meters and an average temperature of 20 °C. There are large quantities of seabirds such as the flamingos, blue-footed boobies and the magnificent frigatebird. Also, you can find species such as tortoises, sea lions, manta rays, Galapagos penguins, sea snakes and white-tipped sharks.

• ActivityExploring, Snorkeling, Wildlife Watching.
• TransportBoat.
• MealBreakfast, Snack.
• AccommodationsHotel Casita de la Playa or similar.

This is the last day of your 5 Day Luxury Galapagos Tour. After breakfast you take a short transfer to Isabela Airport (5 min) from where you take a small airplane (capacity of 9 people) to Baltra Airport. The flight time is about 40 minutes. The tour will end upon arrival to Baltra Airport.

• TransportAirplane, Car.
• MealBreakfast.