How to Book a Last Minute Galapagos Cruise

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Galapagos cruise should be high on almost all peoples destination bucket list. For lots of, the Galapagos Islands holds a great amount of interest to those looking for one of the few remaining beautiful animals encounters on the globe. Because of its raw, natural beauty and wonderful fauna, the isolated Galapagos Islands must be traveled to by catamaran, and specifically, a luxury ship providing the very best standard of comfort on-ship. Taking a Galapagos small ship cruise means that you get access to the best visitor locations, most of which usually are closed to greater cruise ships.

When is the right time to visit the Galapagos?

The Galapagos Islands, based on the Pacific Ocean, about a thousand kilometers west of Ecuador, have a very peculiar climate, tropical and semi-arid, which has an incredibly hot and relatively stormy couple of years from January to May, and a dry and cool weather, but also foggy and misty, from July to November.

The surroundings of the Galapagos are dry, with the exception of the highlands of the bigger islands, which receive much more rain fall. As was mentioned by Charles Darwin, who as we know examined the details of the species located in the islands, their climate is cooler than an individual could expect from a location situated close to the Equator, due to the Humboldt Current, which reaches the region after circulating in the ocean west of South America. Anyway, here the weather is not the same from one year to the other, because there are completely different ocean flows which meet or alternate in the region (there’s also a hot current from Central America, that flows at a little length and is far more powerful on the years of El Niño), meaning that the weather conditions are tough to forecast.

As said before, in this isles there is two seasons: a hot season from January to May, having highest temperature ranges close to 29/30 °C (84/86 °F), and a relatively cool season from July to November, known as Garua, having day temperatures around 24/25 °C (75/77 °F). In the latter, evening conditions remain favorable, around 18/19 °C (64/66 °F), but you’ll notice often mists, which cause the condensation of tiny drops (known as garua by which the season receives its title), and the atmosphere is usually covered by very low clouds (due to the thermal inversion produced by the low-temperature marine current). This time is the least stormy of the entire year in shorelines and flatlands (considering that the Garua really doesn’t create substantial rain accumulations), though away from the sea, there may be quite a few tremendous rains. The top peak is the Vulcan Wolf, 1,707 meters (5,600 feet) high, situated on Isabela Island.

The warm season, from January to May, is alternatively the time of rains, but normally the rains usually are not abundant, and in any kind of occasion they take place in the shape of evening rains, which do not overshadow excessively the sun’s rays. The rainiest month is March.

On the coasts, the rainfall comes down to less than 600 millimeters (20 inches) annually, so it’s in no way abundant. This is actually the common precipitation in Puerto Baquerizo; we could see the fact that in the hot period, few millimeters (a few tenths of ) per month accumulate, because of mainly to drizzle and dew development.

Nevertheless, travelers run to the beaches during the rainy period of time, due to the fact in addition to being the sunniest, it’s the one in that the sea is the most warm.

It must be said that precipitation is intermittent, and can become more rich in the seasons of El Niño. During the most severe El Niño years, such as 1982-83 and 1997-98, the climate of these Galapagos turns into absolutely tropical, with higher temperatures and also plentiful rainfall. In the periods of La Niña, instead, the rains become more scarce, and there is a reduction in each air and water temperatures.

When to go

Generally speaking, the Galapagos could be traveled to all year round. However, the best time to travel to Galapagos, in case you also wish to go swimming and also sunbathe, runs from February to May, because it’s the hottest and sunniest, although there could possibly be many downpours or thunderstorms in the afternoon.

The cold period, from July to November, can be recommended to discover nature, mainly because it almost never rains in the plains and the climate is nice, even if you have to take into account mists, haze and cloudy air. From September to November the water can be a little tough, and this can disturb people who are afflicted by motion sickness, during boat travels from one island to the other.

What equipment you should bring

From December to May (hot period): light clothing, a lightweight sweatshirt for the evening, light raincoat or umbrella for rainfall showers; sun hat (in the end, we’re at the Equator). For trekking in the hills and the Vulcan Wolf, a bit warmer sweatshirt and raincoat, walking footwear.

From June to November (low-temperature cycle): light clothes, t-shirt or sweater and lightweight jacket for the night.

For the ocean, gear for scuba diving, water shoes or rubberized soled shoes.

The Galapagos Islands are probably the most famous wildlife-watching destination on the planet.

However, on top of that, it’s packed with wildlife at every turn. Within minutes -sometimes seconds- of landing onto this dot in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, you may be face-to-face with more strangely fearless and curious creatures than anywhere else on Earth.

Roughly 620 miles from the coast of Ecuador, and slap-bang on the equator, Darwin’s “Enchanted Isles” include a cluster of 13 “proper” volcanic islands (larger than four square miles) and six smaller islands along with more than 100 islets. Each one has its own unique atmosphere, distinctive landscape and inimitable wildlife.

You may see everything from penguins living in the tropics and boobies with bright blue feet to tool-using woodpecker finches and man frigate birds turning their wrinkled throat sacs in to exceptional, fully inflated red balloons. One day you might be watching time-worn giant tortoises from the highlands, and the next you might be snorkeling with playful sea lions in crystal-clear water. You could be sunbathing on black lava rocks next to prehistoric-looking marine iguanas or sitting with waved albatrosses as they perform their bill-circling, swaggering courtship displays (they look rather like Samurai warriors doing Lord of the Dance).

All this said, 170,000 vacationers visited the Galapagos last year so, not surprisingly, it is beginning to feel a little cramped. It is a high-profile place and lots of individuals wish to see it for themselves. The consequence of such an attack is that wildlife tourism is more closely controlled in the archipelago than anyplace else in the world. You are only permitted to visit tiny pockets of the federal park, so you can disembark (from small ships) only at designated landing areas, you need to walk just on clearly marked trails in only disciplined little groups, and you must be accompanied by local certified guides. Regulating tourism with this kind of military efficiency may feel extreme, but it is essential under the conditions. Ultimately, though, there needs to be a limit and in the not-too-distant future, visitor numbers might have to be capped.

The Way to Get to the Galapagos Islands

The Jose Joaquin de Olmedo International Airport in Guayaquil (GYE) receives flights from U.S. cities of Miami and New York, European cities of Amsterdam and Madrid, and major cities of Central and South America. Mariscal Sucre International Airport of Quito (UIO) receives flights in the U.S. via Atlanta, Dallas, Houston and New York; from Europe through Madrid and Amsterdam; also out of many major cities in Central and Southern America. We advise you to arrive in Ecuador at least two times before your Galapagos Cruise starts and catch your international flight home at least two days after your stay in the Galapagos. It’s possible to take profit of both of these days by visiting Quito, Guayaquil, or their surroundings. As soon as you have your flight to mainland Ecuador, becoming into the Galapagos Islands is simple. Located almost 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) from Ecuador’s coast, the only way to travel is by airplane. Whether Quito or Guayaquil, there are numerous flights every day that require passengers into the archipelago. TAME, AVIANCA and LAN are the airlines that run these paths. If you are flying from Quito, you will almost certainly have a brief stop in Guayaquil on your way to the islands. Reserve your Galapagos tour before you buy flight tickets to ensure correct dates. Check with your Galapagos tour or cruise company for information on booking your trip to the Galapagos including optimum arrival times to the Islands according to cruise/program plans.

Galapagos Facts

The estimated age of the islands is estimated between 4 and 10 million years. The Islands lie on the Nazca tectonic plate and are the plate’s main land mass. Intense heat brought on by the plates being pushed apart contributes to eruptions which create new volcanoes and form new islands (‘Hot spot’ notion. There happen to be approximately 13 volcanic eruptions in Galapagos at the last century.

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