Best Trip to Galapagos Islands

Trying to find a high score Galapagos tour operator? Travel with us. Highly recommended in TripAdvisor. Enjoy the best traveling experience of your life. The best rated service, multiple choices, high level rooms, trained guides. All Inclusive vacations, every month of the year. Best Trip to Galapagos Islands.

Go to Galapagos Islands in Ecuador can be a truly paradise, among the most outstanding wildlife in the world can be found over the Galapagos Islands. A journey to the Galapagos is the voyage of their existence for almost all visitors. The wild animals in Galapagos that you will encounter can’t be located in other regions, but here ocean and land wildlife and wild birds are more approachable.

You can easily find Boobies, giant tortoises, iguanas to name a few, will likely be observed definitely near on your adventures. If you love surfing or snorkeling, sea lions will be having fun with people and below them, turtles and tame sharks could be encounter.

Galapagos Weather by Month

Thanks to the confluence of cool water flows from the west and the south, the Galapagos archipelago has an infrequent dry and gentle weather for the tropics and it is frequently classified as sub-tropical. This makes Galapagos vacation a year-round vacation option. Galapagos weather is considered equatorial, cooled down by the Humboldt Current, and is also recognized by two main periods:

The warm, wet season

Late December to June is definitely the warm and wet period, with March and April typically remaining the hottest and wettest weeks. Around December, the trade winds drop and the weather equator (located north of the geographic equator) adjusts south in the direction of the Galapagos, creating the westward-flowing current to slow, reducing the upwelling and allowing hotter water from the Panama Current to bathe archipelago. Galapagos climate is characterized by rain clouds which develop once the inversion breaks down, and also the air gets warm and goes up, leading to regular afternoon showers. Even during this time of year; but, the low elevations get limited rainfall.

The colder, dry season

This time of year, also called the “garua season” goes from the later part of June to December, when it is comparatively dry and cool with an increase of cloudier skies and infrequent drizzle or mist through the day. August is the coolest month. During this dry season, Galapagos weather is nice, water temperature is lower and you will find typically clouds on the larger elevations. Visibility is frequently decreased in the water due to plankton bloom, but this mixture of circumstances generates a lot more action in water and food is abundant. Because Galapagos weather conditions are not very hot during this season, it is also the breeding period for many sea birds and shore birds, iguanas, sea lions and fur seals.

El Niño and La Niña Events

El Niño is a dysfunction of the oceanic and atmospheric systems of the coastline of South America which causes abnormally hotter water conditions, a shift in the course of the wind, alterations in currents, and considerably more rain. The higher rainfall contributes to the destructive inundating on the Pacific, and, at the same time, creating drought in the western Pacific, all the way to Australia. This event is anticipated by simply tracking modifications in temperature on the top of the ocean, wind conditions, and currents next to Ecuador and Peru.

Galapagos Islands Cruise Itineraries

Every licensed vessel sailing the Galapagos follows a 15-day route approved and established by Galapagos National Park. Throughout that period, a boat might not visit the exact same site twice, with the exception of the Charles Darwin Research Station on Santa Cruz. How lines segment the 15 days may fluctuate, but four-, five- and eight-day choices are the standard. Passengers can frequently combine these sections into 11-, 12- and 15-day cruises.

All ships basically follow the identical protocol, regardless of itinerary: Island visits and water-based activities are done during the day, and also the majority of navigation is performed immediately.

All cruises start or end 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.

Because the method of cruising continues to be standardized, choosing the right itinerary includes a whole lot to do with cruisers deciding which visitor sites are in their must-visit lists. Port research — particularly photo searching — is key. Keep in mind that the longer the cruise, the farther west the boat will reach. That’s not to mention the western islands are better — it is an issue of personal preference. When you rail is also an important consideration.

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

Most passengers will at least spend a day or two exploring Quito or Guayaquil pre or post-cruise. It’s basically necessary, provided the flight logistics.

Each of the Galapagos’ official visitor sites has something unique to offer, but travelers are going to be able to experience the greatest hits — sea lions, marine iguanas, lava lizards, endemic birds — about the majority of islands. Listed below are a couple of the most well-known spots.

Santa Cruz features the Galapagos’ most populous “city,” Puerto Ayora, also will be the island chain’s main tourism hub. The island offers visitors the sole opportunity to experience the Galapagos’ interior high-lands, one of a few places to spot giant tortoises in their natural habitat. Even the Charles Darwin research laboratory, a visit to which is contained on every travel, is also situated there.

Champion Islet’s waters transform into an aquarium teeming with life during September and October, when the water temperatures drop. Sea plants thrive, which attracts the marine monsters, which in turn brings in the sea creatures. Sea lions, especially the curious juveniles, often zip beyond and around the awkward humans in masks and fins.

South Plaza encircles less than one-tenth of a mile in area and is among the Galapagos’ tiniest visitor websites. But the tiny island, that was formed by volcanic uplift, makes a powerful impression with its color-changing ground vegetation, sea birds and colony of Galapagos land iguanas. The successful male iguanas could be seen standing guard in front of a cactus tree, waiting patiently to offer a hungry female with a piece of prickly fruit.

Rabida: makes a bold statement when you arrive during its iron-rich red beach. Just inland is a brackish lagoon where visitors often see flamingos, heads plunged underwater to spoon up crustaceans and algae with their bowl-like beaks.

Fernandina, the Galapagos’ youngest and westernmost island is famous for its not-infrequent volcanic eruptions, the latest of which was in 2009. It is located at the locus of this “hot spot” that created, and is still creating and shaping, the Galapagos. As people step across lava flows and around the huge population of land iguanas, they develop a first-hand comprehension of the ancestral roots of the islands.

Floreana is home of the Galapagos’ famous barrel-mailbox at Post Office Bay. For centuries, those visiting the famed Ecuadorian isles relied on the unspoken responsibility of fellow pirates and whalers to acquire letters to an intended destination. A mariner would render a dispatch, then pick through the pile for missives he can send (travel program permitting). The tradition continues today; cruise passengers visiting the website may leave and take postcards out of a (modern) barrel. Floreana is home to the Galapagos’ famous barrel-mailbox in Post Office Bay. For centuries, those seeing the famed Ecuadorian isles relied upon the unspoken responsibility of fellow pirates and whalers to Puerto Villamil and Nearby Regions – Isabela Island Cruises take in an assortment of intriguing points around the massive island. Puerto Villamil is a little port in the south east of this island, and it’s home to the majority of the island’s population. You can take pleasure in this fishing-community vibe, sample yummy freshly caught fish, engage with all the merry kids, shop for souvenirs in the stores that are vibrant, and respect the islets that dot the coast. Stroll along the boardwalk, leading through mangroves, and see flamingos, gallinules, whimbrels, and more. The Tortoise Breeding Center sits in the end of the boardwalk, helping to conserve sea tortoises. The harbor is often filled with little luxury yachts and other sailing vessels, many of which carry passengers on thrilling Galapagos cruises.

Galapagos Facts

A great number of unfearful wildlife, visitors can get up close and personal to some of the world’s rarest animals. The Galapagos was home to the sole surviving giant Pinta tortoise, “Lonesome George” which unfortunately died in June 2012. The convergence of three important oceanic waters flow brings an incredible mixture of marine life into Galapagos. The endemic Galapagos marine iguana is known as the only lizard to swim in the sea. Darwin’s research in Galapagos resulted in the groundbreaking theory of The Origin of Species.

In 1978 UNESCO nominated Galapagos since the first World Heritage site. The film Captain and Commander was filmed around the islands of Bartholomew and Santiago. The title ‘galapagos’, an old Spanish word for ‘saddle’, was originally employed by Bishop Tomas and his crew to describe the giant tortoises but the name stuck. As a result of early existence of both Spanish and English populations in Galapagos, the Islands have both Spanish and English names.

Darwin sailed to Galapagos on board the HMS Beagle at September 1835, when he was 26 years old. Throughout the five weeks he spent there, he went ashore to collect plants, stones, birds and insects. He detected the odd life forms and their adaptations to the harsh atmosphere. He noted that it was possible to differentiate which island a tortoise came from by the shape of their shell. His most well-known study is of the several species of finches that prompted his groundbreaking concept The Origin of Species, published in 1859.

Tours To The Galapagos Best Trip to Galapagos Islands

How To Travel To Galapagos Best Trip to Galapagos Islands

Exclusive catamarans to the Galapagos Islands July 2025

Galapagos Cruise Reviews 2023

Galapagos Islands To Visit

Galapagos Island Tours Reviews