Best Holidays to Galapagos Islands 2023

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A trip to the Galapagos Islands is most likely the expedition of a person’s entire life. Located 1,000 km from the Ecuadorian mainland, the islands chain is composed of 13 major islands, five of which are populated. Learn more about the well-known Islands taking a vacation with us!

The crucial reason for travelers to visit the Galapagos Islands is the plethora of wildlife, openly romping about that happen to be known to a lot of people primarily in the National Geographic Channel.

The Galapagos Islands will undoubtedly affect you seriously. Take a trip with our company and have the vacation of your life around sea lions, albatrosses, red sally light-foot crabs, and sneaky frigate birds. Make your dream become a reality and book with us right now!

When is the right time to see the Galapagos?

Because of the confluence of cold water currents coming from the west and the south, the Galapagos islands has an uncharacteristically dry and moderate weather for the tropics and is generally considered sub-tropical. This makes Galapagos vacation a year-round holiday alternative. Galapagos weather is considered tropical, refrigerated because of the Humboldt Current, and is also recognized by two main conditions:

The hot, wet season

Late December to June is definitely the hot and wet period, with March and April typically being the hottest and wettest weeks. Close to December, the winds fall down and the weather equator (located north of the geographic equator) adjusts south towards the Galapagos, triggering the westward-flowing current to slow down, decreasing the upwelling and allowing hotter water from the Panama Current to bathe archipelago. Galapagos climate is known by rain clouds that form when the inversion layer breaks down, along with the air heats up and climbs up, causing daily afternoon showers. Even in this period; however, the small elevations get only restricted rainfall.

The colder, dry season

This period, also called the “garua season” runs from very late June to December, when it is cool and dry with an increase of cloudier skies and occasional drizzle or mist (garua) during the day. August is the colder month. In this dry season, Galapagos weather is pleasurable, the water temperature is lower and there are generally clouds on the larger levels. Visibility is often decreased in the water due to plankton bloom, but this combination of situations brings in a much bigger activity in the water and food is abundant. Because Galapagos weather conditions are not too hot during this time of year, it is also the breeding interval for a lot of sea birds and shore birds, iguanas, sea lions and fur seals.

El Niño and La Niña

El Niño is a disturbance of the oceanic and atmospheric systems of the coastline of Latin America that triggers atypically hotter water temperature ranges, a switch in the direction of the winds, alterations in currents, and greatly increased rainfall. The increased rainfall contributes to the destructive floods on the Pacific, while, at the same time, resulting in drought in the western Pacific, as far as Australia. This event is anticipated by keeping track of a change in temperatures on the top of the sea, wind factors, and currents close to Ecuador and Peru.

The Galapagos were discovered by chance in 1535 by Father Tomas Berlanga, Bishop of Panama.

Due to the long distances involved, the only practical way to explore the Galapagos is by live-aboard boats, which traveling between islands, largely at night, and also create various stops each day. More than 80 vessels are licensed to operate from the archipelago and also there are countless combinations of stops and paths. Most cruises go ashore two times per day: 10 full days on the ship typically means 20 shore landings, 10-20 snorkels, and several panga rides (pangas are little, open outboard-powered boats) to approximately 10 different islands.

Exploring on your own is much harder. Getting around separately is catchy and all visitors should be accompanied by a licensed naturalist guide at all landing sites. However four islands (Santa Cruz, San Cristobal, Floreana and Isabela) do have hotels of varying dimensions and standards and a couple of boat operators provide day-trips.

Following in Darwin’s footsteps involves a flight from Quito or Guayaquil, on the mainland, to Baltra or San Cristobal. Some cruises leave from Baltra (the dock is a five-minute drive in the air terminal).

GalapagosInformation.com offers a variety of tailor-made live-aboard tours on many different boats carrying from 4 to 16 passengers.

Wildlife actions divergea lot, and every month has its own highlights. By way of instance, green turtles start their egg-laying in January; penguins interact with swimmers on Bartolome mainly from May until the end of September; humpback whales begin to arrive at June; July through to the end of September is the ideal period for many seabird activity; peak pupping for sea lions is approximately August, while their pups play aqua-aerobics with snorkelers at November; and December is the month for hatching giant tortoise eggs. So, always there is something about to happen.

The seas are usually calmer and clearer now of year (using 60ft-80ft visibility typical) and the water temperature averages 79° F (26°C), so this period is best for snorkeling.

The cool, drier, windier season (with intermittent drizzle or mist) is from June to November. Sea temperatures in the time of year drop to as much as 66F (19C) and visibility often goes down to 30ft-50ft, while sea swells can make some landings catchy.

Plan ahead if you want to see during the high season. Visiting outside of these periods will still provide lots of adventures and wildlife experiences, but prices may be lower with fewer other tourists around.

With minimal variation in air and water temperatures throughout the entire year, and numerous species that aren’t migratory, an Isabela Island cruise is a fantastic adventure at any time. Generally, however, the waters are clearer between January and March, making this a perfect time for avid snorkeling fans. The driest months are typically between August and December, perfect for beach lovers.

Pay a visit to the Galapagos in January to observe green sea turtles coming and laying eggs on the shores, and in April to find the eggs hatching. July is the prime month for visiting whales off the western coast of Isabela Island. Bird spotters will probably prefer to see Isabela Island between August and March, once the number of migratory birds is at its summit. October is the breeding period for fur seals, although brown nodes are sexually active in November. December is the best month should you wish to see the hatching of giant tortoises.

Before linking any Galapagos cruises, you will initially have to make your strategy to mainland Ecuador. International flights generally arrive at the country’s capital city of Quito, though it is also possible to take an international flight to Guayaquil. Flights to the Galapagos Islands leave daily 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 has the busiest airport around the Galapagos Islands, however flights arrives too on San Cristobal Island. Your tour operator will typically arrange transportation from the airport to your cruise departure point from Baltra or from San Cristobal. Isabela Island cruises generally depart from Puerto Ayora, a major port on Santa Cruz Island.

Many visitors in Galapagos are amazed to be greeted by desert-like vegetation–many are expecting a continuation of the lush greenery that they observed on mainland Ecuador. In fact, nearly all the archipelago’s land area is covered by the brown and gray vegetation frequently found in deserts. The Galapagos Islands are located in the Pacific Dry Belt, also in average years only the highest altitudes of the bigger islands receive enough rainfall to support tropical plant life.

In Geological terms, the islands are youthful, and a lot of the island’s vegetation reflects this fact; many species seem to be in the middle of the evolutionary process, making classifying them a difficult task. To date, the islands are believed to be home to between 552 and 614 native species of plants and roughly 825 introduced species, nearly all introduced by people. Over 100 of those introduced species have become established in the wild, with a lot of them exceptionally invasive and of major concern. Three introduced plant species have been eradicated. Mainland Ecuador, on the other hand, has approximately 20,000 species. The disproportion between species number on the Islands and the mainland highlights the reality that the Galapagos Islands are divided from the continent by a hostile saltwater barrier decreasing the prospect of arrival and, once a plant has come, establishment is difficult because of the harsh environment. It is worthy of notice that more than 30% of native plant species found in Galapagos are endemic (not found anywhere else on earth).

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

Coastal plants are found in the narrow zone close to the shore and are distinctive because of their tolerance to salty conditions. Mangrove trees are among the most common plants found in this zone, and they serve an important role as the breeding sites for many birds, such as pelicans and frigate birds. They also provide much needed shade regions such as iguanas and sea lions, as well as refuges for sea turtles.

The arid area has become the most broad zone in Galapagos and is comprised of plant species which are highly adapted to drought-like states, such as succulent cacti and leafless shrubs that blossom and grow leaves only in the brief rainy season.

Located over the dry zones would be the very lush and green, humid zones. In portions of this zone, Scalesia trees form a very dense forest in the humid zone, with their branches adorned with mosses, liverworts, and epiphytes–non-parasitic plants that use larger trees just for support. The humid zone is only located on the larger, larger islands. Nearly all islands in the archipelago do not rise in elevation above the arid zone.

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