Family Cruises Galapagos Islands 2025

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Galapagos holiday cruise has to be high on almost all peoples destination bucket list. For lots of, the Galapagos Islands possess a prodigious amount of intrigue to those seeking out one of the handful of remaining fantastic fauna encounters on the planet. Having a primitive, organic beauty and amazing fauna, the isolated Galapagos Islands needs to be traveled to by yacht, and more particularly, a high end cruise providing the best level of comfort on-ship. Traveling in a Galapagos little catamaran makes sure that you will get entry to a number of the finest visitor places, most of which usually are sealed to bigger cruise ships.

When is a good time to travel the Galapagos?

Because of the confluence of freezing water currents from the west and the south, the Galapagos archipelago has an uncharacteristically dry and gentle weather for the tropics and is usually classified as sub-tropical. This makes Galapagos vacation a year-round holiday choice. Galapagos weather is considered equatorial, chilled because of the Humboldt Current, and is recognized by two principal seasons:

The warm, wet period

Late December to June is definitely the hot and wet period, with March and April generally actually being the hottest and wettest months. Close to December, the trade winds go down and the climatic equator changes south toward the Galapagos, triggering the westward-flowing current to slow down, lowering the upwelling and allowing warmer water from the Panama Current to bathe archipelago. Galapagos weather conditions are characterized by rain clouds which develop in the event the inversion layer breaks down, and also the air gets warm and rises, contributing to daily mid-day rains. Even in this season; however, the small levels get only limited rain.

The colder, dry season

This season, generally known as the “garua season” extends from late June to December, when it is dry and cool with more overcast skies and occasional drizzle or mist (garua) during the day. August is the coolest month. During this dry season, Galapagos temperature is relaxing, the water temperatures are lower and you will find typically clouds on the higher levels. Line of sight is usually decreased in the water as a result of plankton blossom, but this mixture of conditions brings in a lot more action in water and also food is plentiful. Due to the fact Galapagos climate is not very hot during this time of year, it is also the breeding period for many sea birds and shore birds, marine iguanas, sea lions and fur seals.

El Niño and La Niña Events

El Niño is a disturbance of the oceanic and atmospheric systems of the shoreline of South America that causes abnormally hotter water temperatures, a shift in the direction of the wind, alterations in currents, and greatly more rainfall. The higher rainfall leads to the dangerous floods on the Pacific, and, at the same time, producing drought in the western Pacific, as far as Australia. This phenomenon is predicted simply by tracking variations in temperature on the top of the ocean, wind factors, and currents close to Ecuador.

Galapagos Islands Cruise Itineraries

Every licensed vessel sailing the Galapagos follows a 15-day path approved and established by Galapagos National Park. During that period, a boat may not visit the exact same site twice, with the exclusion of the Charles Darwin Research Station on Santa Cruz. How lines section the 15 days may fluctuate, but four-, five- and eight-day options are the norm. Passengers can often combine these sections into 11-, 12- and 15-day cruises.

All boats basically follow the same protocol, regardless of itinerary: Island visits and extra-curricular tasks are done during the day, and also the majority of navigation is performed immediately.

Since the approach to cruising continues to be standardized, picking the right itinerary has a lot to do with cruisers deciding which visitor sites are in their must-visit lists. Port research — especially photo searching — is key. Remember the longer the cruise, the further west the ship will reach. That is not to say the western islands are far better — it’s a matter of personal preference. If you cruise is also an important factor.

There’s one major exception: “Live aboard” ships carrying seasoned sailors are the only craft to visit the northern islands, Darwin and Wolf, prime places for scuba enthusiasts. At Darwin, where there is not any landing website, schools of hammerheads are known to congregate.

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

How to Get to the Galapagos Islands</h3

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. through Atlanta, Dallas, Houston and New York; from Europe through Madrid and Amsterdam; and out of many major cities in Central and Southern America. We recommend you to arrive in Ecuador at least 2 times before your Galapagos Cruise begins and catch your international flight home at least two days following your stay in the Galapagos. It’s possible to take profit of these two days by visiting Quito, Guayaquil, or their environment. Once you’ve your trip to mainland Ecuador, becoming into the Galapagos Islands is simple. Located almost 1,000 km (600 miles) off of Ecuador’s coast, the only way to travel is by plane. Whether Quito or Guayaquil, there are numerous flights every day that take passengers into the archipelago. TAME, AVIANCA and LAN are the airlines which operate these routes. If you are flying from Quito, you will most likely have a short stop in Guayaquil in your way into the islands. Reserve your Galapagos tour before you buy flight tickets to ensure correct dates. Check with your Galapagos cruise or tour company for information on booking your trip to the Galapagos including optimal arrival times to the Islands based on cruise/program plans.

Galapagos Facts

Abundant unfearful wildlife, visitors can get up close and personal to some of the planet’s rarest animals. The Galapagos was home to the only surviving giant Pinta tortoise, “Lonesome George” which sadly died in June 2012. The convergence of three major oceanic currents allow an incredible mix of marine life to Galapagos. The endemic Galapagos marine iguana is the only lizard able to float in the sea. Darwin’s study in Galapagos resulted in the revolutionary book of The Origin of Species.

In 1978 UNESCO designated Galapagos as the very first World Heritage site. The film Captain and Commander was filmed around the islands of Bartholomew and Santiago. The name ‘galapagos’, a classic Spanish term for ‘saddle’, was originally used by Bishop Tomas and his team to spell out 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.

Throughout the five weeks he spent there, he went to collect plants, stones, birds and insects. He detected the odd life forms and their adaptations to the harsh environment. He noted that it was possible to distinguish which island a tortoise came from by the form of their own shell. His most well-known research is of the several species of finches which inspired his revolutionary concept The Origin of Species, published in 1859.

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