Best Galapagos tour Packages

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Set around the equator, around 600 miles away from the South American coastline of Ecuador, the Galapagos Islands are the queen’s treasure of the natural world.

A trip to this captivating Galapagos island chain lives up to hopes for a sheltered spot removed from the typical concerns of society. The skies are tend to be bright and sunny, and the marine breezes generate that ideal air temperature which automatically calms down the whole body. The ocean is an ever-attractive light green, matched by extended soft sand beach locations of crystal white, red, dark and green. You will find crystal creeks and protected mangrove lagoons, along with towering cliffs and caves.

When is the best time to travel the Galapagos?

The Galapagos Islands, based in the Pacific Ocean, around a thousand kilometers (600 miles) west of Ecuador, have a very unusual climate, warm and semi-arid, which has a hot and relatively wet period coming from January to May, and a cool and dry time, but also foggy and misty, from July to November.

The surroundings of the Galapagos are dry, except in the highlands of the bigger islands, which usually get more rain. As was already noted by Charles Darwin, who as you may know examined the peculiarities of the species living in the isles, their climate is cooler than an individual would assume from a location situated nearby the Equator, because of the Humboldt Current, which often touch the location right after circulating in the sea west of Latin America. Regardless, here the climate is varied from one year to another, as there are various ocean currents which encounter or take turns in the area (there’s also a hot current from Central America, which runs at no great range and is a lot more active on the years of El Niño), which means climate is difficult to estimate.

As said before, in these isles there is two seasons: a warm season from January to May, with highest temperatures around 29/30 °C (84/86 °F), and a fairly cool period coming from July to November, called Garua, having day temperatures around 24/25 °C (75/77 °F). In the latter, evening conditions stay acceptable, around 18/19 °C (64/66 °F), but there are often mists, which result in the condensation of very small drops (called garua from where the season takes its name), and the sky is often covered by very low clouds (due to the thermal inversion generated by the cool marine current). This interval is the least rainy of the year in coasts and flatlands (considering that the Garua really doesn’t create considerable rain accumulations), though on inland, there can be many tremendous rains. The highest peak is the Vulcan Wolf, 1,707 meters (5,600 feet) high, positioned on Isabela Island.

On the coasts, the rainfall amounts to less than 700 millimeters (20 inches) per year, therefore it is not considerable. This is the average rainfall in Puerto Baquerizo; we can easily see the fact that on the hot period, only a few millimeters per month accumulate, due mostly to drizzle and dew formation.

It must be said that rainfall is unpredictable, and may be rich in the seasons of El Niño. During the more strong El Niño years, like 1982-83 and 1997-98, the climate of these Galapagos turns into absolutely tropical, having high temperature conditions and copious precipitation. In the years of La Niña, on the other hand, the rains become more scarce, and there’s a decrease in each air and sea temperatures.

When to visit

Generally, the Galapagos could be traveled to all year long. However, a good time to go to the islands, if you also want to swim and sunbathe, runs from February to May, since it is the hottest and sunniest, though there could possibly be a number of rains or thunderstorms in the morning.

The cold season, from July to November, can be recommended to discover nature, mainly because it hardly ever rains in the flatlands and the temperature is pleasant, even when you must take into account mists, haze and foggy air. From September to November the water could be a little challenging, and this may disturb people who are afflicted by movement illness, during catamaran travels from one island to the next.

What equipment you should pack

From December to May (warm season): light clothes, a light sweatshirt for the evening, light raincoat or umbrella for rainfall showers; sun hat. For trekking in the hills and the Vulcan Wolf, a bit warmer sweatshirt and raincoat, trekking footwear.

From June to November (low-temperature cycle): light clothing, sweatshirt and light jacket for the evening hours.

For the ocean, equipment for knee boarding, water shoes or rubberized soled footwear.

Galapagos Islands Cruise Itineraries

Every accredited vessel sailing the Galapagos follows a 15-day route established and approved by Galapagos National Park. Throughout that period of time, a boat might not go to the same site twice, with the exception of the Charles Darwin Research Station on Santa Cruz. How lines segment the 15 times may fluctuate, but four-, five- and – eight-day options are the standard. Passengers can often combine these segments into 11-, 12- and 15-day cruises.

All boats basically follow the same protocol, regardless of itinerary: Island visits and water-based activities are done during the day, and nearly all navigation is done immediately.

All cruises begin or finish at one of two islands having a airport: Baltra, a U.S. military outpost during WWII turned Ecuadorian air base, or San Cristobal, the Galapagos’ second most populated island and home to the capital of their province, Puerto Baquerizo Moreno.

Since the approach to cruising has been standardized, choosing the proper itinerary includes a whole lot to do with cruisers determining which visitor websites are on their must-visit lists. Port research — especially photo searching — is key. Keep in mind that the more the cruise, the further west the ship will reach. That’s not to say the western islands are better — it’s an issue of personal taste. When you cruise is also an important consideration.

There’s one major exception: “Live aboard” boats carrying experienced divers are the only craft to see the northern islands, Darwin and Wolf, prime places for ski lovers. At Darwin, where there’s no landing site, schools of hammerheads are known to congregate.

Galapagos cruises are often paired with land-based visits to Peru’s Machu Picchu, the Ecuadorian rain forest or other South American hotspots. Most passengers will spend a day or two exploring Quito or Guayaquil pre or post-cruise. It’s basically necessary, given the flight logistics.

The most popular months for Galapagos cruises are between June and August and again in the middle of December to January. Plan ahead if you want to see during the peak tourist times. Visiting outside of those periods will still provide plenty of adventures and wildlife encounters, but costs might be reduced with fewer other tourists around.

With little variation in air and water temperatures throughout the year, and many species which are not migratory, an Isabela Island cruise is a fantastic experience at any time. Generally, but the waters are clearer between January and March, which makes this an ideal time for avid snorkeling fans. The driest months are typically between August and December, perfect for beach lovers.

Visit the Galapagos in January to observe green sea turtles arriving and laying eggs on the beaches, also in April to find the eggs. July is the prime month for visiting whales off the western coast of Isabela Island. Bird spotters will probably prefer to visit Isabela Island between August and March, once the range of migratory birds is at its peak. October is the mating period for fur seals, although brown nodes are sexually active in November. December is the best month if you want to witness the hatching of giant tortoises.

Before linking any Galapagos cruises, you will first need to create your strategy to mainland Ecuador. International flights usually arrive at the country’s capital city of Quito, even though it is also possible to take an international flight to Guayaquil. Flights to the Galapagos Islands leave every day from both Quito and Guayaquil. Flights from Guayaquil are shorter, and lots of departures from Quito stop in Guayaquil in route to the Galapagos Islands.

Baltra Island gets the busiest airport on the Galapagos Islands, but flights arrives too at San Cristobal. Your tour operator will normally arrange transfers from the airport to a cruise departure point from Baltra or from San Cristobal. Isabela Island Tours normally leave from Puerto Ayora, a major port on Santa Cruz Island.

Many visitors in Galapagos are surprised to be greeted by desert-like vegetation–most are anticipating a continuation of the lush greenery they observed on mainland Ecuador. In fact, the majority of the archipelago’s land area is covered by the brown and gray vegetation often found in deserts. The Galapagos Islands are located in the Pacific Dry Belt, and in average years just the greatest altitudes of the bigger islands get enough rain to support tropical plant life.

In Geological terms, the islands are youthful, and a lot of the island’s vegetation demonstrates this; several species appear to be in the midst of the evolutionary process, which makes classifying them a challenging endeavor. So far, the islands are thought to be home to between 552 and 614 indigenous species of vascular flora and roughly 825 introduced species, the majority introduced by people. More than 100 of the introduced species have become established in the wild, with a lot of these extremely invasive and of big concern. Three introduced plant species are eradicated. Mainland Ecuador, on the other hand, has about 20,000 species. The discrepancy between species number on the Islands and the southern highlights the fact that the Galapagos Islands are divided from the continent with a hostile saltwater barrier reducing the prospect of birth and, after a plant has arrived, establishment is difficult due to the harsh environment. It is worthy of notice that more than 30 percent of native plant species found in Galapagos are endemic (not found anywhere else in the world).

The flora of Galapagos can be grouped into three major vegetation zones: the coastal zone, the arid zone, and the humid highlands.

Coastal plants are observed in the narrow zone close to the shore and are distinctive due to their tolerance to salty conditions. Mangrove trees are one of the most common plants found in this zone, and they serve a significant function since the breeding sites for many birds, such as pelicans and frigate birds. They also give much needed shade regions such as iguanas and sea lions, as well as refuges for sea turtles.

The arid region is easily the most extensive zone in Galapagos and is comprised of plant species that are highly adapted to drought-like states, such as succulent cacti and leafless shrubs that flower and grow leaves only in the short rainy season.

Located above the dry zones would be the very lush and green, humid zones. In portions of this zone, Scalesia trees form an extremely dense forest in the humid zone, using their branches adorned with mosses, liverworts, and epiphytes–non-parasitic plants which use larger trees only for support. The humid zone is only found on the larger, higher islands. Nearly all islands in the archipelago don’t rise in altitude above the arctic zone.

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