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Galapagos cruise trip should be on top of virtually all parent’s destination bucket list. For lots of, the Galapagos Islands offers some intrigue to those seeking out one of the few remaining outstanding animals encounters on the planet. Because of its raw, magnificence and impressive wildlife, the remote Galapagos Islands must be visited by cruiser, and more specially, a high-class catamaran offering the best amount of accommodation on board. Taking a Galapagos small ship cruise ensures that you will gain access to several of the finest visitor locations, most of which are usually forbidden to greater cruise ships.

When is the right time to travel the Galapagos?

The Galapagos Islands, found in the Pacific Ocean, around a thousand kilometers west of Ecuador, have a very distinct weather conditions, warm and semi-arid, that has a very hot and relatively stormy period through January to May, as well as a cool and dry period, but also foggy and misty, coming from July to November.

The landscapes of the Galapagos are barren, with the exception of the highlands of the larger islands, which obtain much more rain. As was already noted by Charles Darwin, who as you may know observed the details of the species located in the isles, their weather conditions are cooler than a person could be expecting from a location located close to the Equator, due to the Humboldt Current, which often reaches the area after circulating in the water west of Latin America. Anyway, here the climate is not the same from one year to the other, because there are various ocean currents that meet or take turns in the area (additionally there is a hot current from Central America, that flows at a small range and is far more active in the periods El Niño), therefore the weather conditions are tough to anticipate.

As said before, in this islands there’s two seasons: a hot season from January to May, with highest temperatures about 29/30 °C (84/86 °F), as well as a relatively cool period coming from July to November, named Garua, having day temperatures about 24/25 °C (75/77 °F). In the latter, evening temperature conditions stay favorable, approximately 18/19 °C (64/66 °F), although you’ll notice frequently mists, which result in the condensation of small drops (known as garua by which the season takes its name), and the atmosphere is usually covered by very low clouds (due to the thermal inversion produced by the low-temperature ocean current). This time is the least rainy of the year in shorelines and flatlands (since the Garua does not produce significant rain accumulations), though on inland hills and mountains, there may be many actual rains. The top peak is the Vulcan Wolf, 1,707 meters (5,600 feet) high, positioned on Isabela Island.

The hot period, from January to May, is instead the rainiest period, although most of the rains are usually not considerable, and in any event they happen in the form of evening rains, which do not eclipse excessively the sun’s rays. The rainiest month is March.

Nevertheless, travelers flock to the beaches during the rainy period, because in addition to being the sunniest, it’s the one in which the ocean is the hottest.

It must be declared rainfall is irregular, and may be a little more rich in the years of El Niño. Through the most serious El Niño years, such as 1982-83 and 1997-98, the weather of Galapagos becomes totally tropical, with higher temperature conditions and also plentiful rain. In the periods of La Niña, instead, the rains become a little more scarce, and there is a decline in each air and sea temperatures.

When you should visit

In general, the Galapagos may be visited all year round. However, the optimum time to go to the islands, in case you also wish to go swimming and sunbathe, runs from February to May, because it is the hottest and sunniest, however, there could possibly be several rains or thunderstorms in the morning.

The low-temperature season, from July to November, is often recommended to discover the outdoors, mainly because it hardly ever rains in the flatlands and the climate is pleasant, even if you need to take under consideration mists, haze and foggy skies. From September to November the water can be a little challenging, and this could bother those who suffer from movement sickness, during boat trips from one isle to another.

What clothes you should pack

From December to May (warm season): light clothes, a light sweatshirt for the night time, light raincoat or outdoor umbrella for rain showers; sun cap. For trekking in inland hills and the Vulcan Wolf, a bit warmer sweatshirt and raincoat, trekking shoes.

From June to November (low-temperature season): light clothes, t-shirt and lightweight jacket for the evening hours.

For the ocean, equipment for surfing, water shoes or rubber soled shoes.

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, a boat may not visit the same site twice, with the exclusion of the Charles Darwin Research Station on Santa Cruz. How lines segment the 15 times can vary, but four-, five- and – eight-day options are the norm. Passengers can frequently combine these segments into 11-, 12- and 15-day cruises.

All boats basically follow the identical protocol, irrespective of itinerary: Island visits and extra-curricular tasks are done throughout the day, and also the majority of navigation is performed overnight.

Since the method of cruising continues to be standardized, picking the right itinerary has a lot to do with cruisers determining which visitor sites are on their must-visit lists. Port research — especially photo searching — is key. Remember that the more the cruise, the further west the ship will reach. That’s not to mention the western islands are far better — it is a matter of personal taste. When you rail is also an important factor.

There is one main exception: “Live aboard” boats carrying experienced divers are the only craft to visit the northern islands, Darwin and Wolf, prime places for ski lovers. In Darwin, where there’s not any 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 is basically necessary, given the flight logistics.

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

Santa Cruz includes the Galapagos’ most populous “city,” Puerto Ayora, and will be the island chain’s main tourism hub. The island offers visitors the only chance to experience the Galapagos’ inside high-lands, one of a couple areas to see giant tortoises in their natural habitat. Even the Charles Darwin research laboratory, a visit to which will be contained on each travel, can be situated here.

South Plaza encircles less than one-tenth of a mile in place and is one of the Galapagos’ smallest visitor sites. Nevertheless, the tiny island, which was shaped by volcanic uplift, makes a strong impression with its color-changing ground vegetation, sea lions and colony of Galapagos land iguanas. The effective male iguanas can be seen standing guard before a cactus tree, waiting patiently to offer a hungry female using a part of prickly fruit.

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

Espanola is the southernmost island, home to the famous waved albatross, a child-sized bird with an eight-foot wingspan. According to the Galapagos Conservancy, every year the entire planet’s population of adult Waved Albatrosses yields to Espanola during the nesting season from April to December. “Spiritual expertise” is a frequent descriptor.

Fernandina, the Galapagos’ youngest and westernmost island is best known for its not-infrequent volcanic eruptions, the latest of which was in 2009. It is situated at the locus of the “hot spot” that generated, 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 firsthand understanding of the geological origins of the islands.

Floreana is home of the Galapagos’ famous barrel-mailbox at Post Office Bay. For centuries, those seeing the famed Ecuadorian isles relied upon the unspoken duty of pirates and whalers to acquire letters to a planned destination. A mariner would leave a dispatch, then select through the pile for missives he could personally deliver (travel schedule allowing). The tradition continues today; cruise passengers visiting the website can depart 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 famous Ecuadorian isles relied upon the unspoken responsibility of pirates and whalers to Puerto Villamil and Nearby Areas – Isabela Island Cruises take in a variety of interesting points around the large island. Puerto Villamil is a small vent in the south of this island, and it is home to the clear majority of the island’s population. It’s possible to take pleasure in this fishing-community vibe, sample tasty freshly caught fish, participate with the cheerful children, shop for souvenirs from the colorful stores, and respect the islets that dot the coast. Stroll along the boardwalk, leading through mangroves, and watch flamingos, gallinules, whimbrels, and more. The Tortoise Breeding Center sits at the end of the boardwalk, helping to conserve ocean tortoises. The harbor is frequently full of small luxury yachts and other sailing boats, many of which carry passengers on thrilling Galapagos cruises.

Isabela Island Cruises enable guests to discover the natural beauty of the biggest island of the Galapagos. Straddling the Equator, Isabela Island is found in the western portion of the Galapagos archipelago, near the volcanic Galapagos hotspot that created the island group. A lesser-visited region, it is also among the most varied, which is no mean feat in an area that’s already famous for being among the most diverse areas on Earth.

Giant Tortoises

The giant tortoises of Galapagos are one of the most famous of the temples of the Islands. While giant tortoises once thrived on the majority of the continents of the Earth, the Galapagos tortoises currently represent one of the remaining two types of giant tortoises in the entire world -another group living on Aldabra Atoll in the Indian Ocean. The Galapagos Islands were named for their giant tortoises; the Spanish word galapago meant saddle, a term early explorers used for its tortoises on account of the form of their shells.

The closest surviving relative of the Galapagos giant tortoise is the little Chaco tortoise from South America, although it is not a direct ancestor. Scientists believe the first tortoises came to Galapagos two–3 million years back by drifting 600 miles from the South American coast on vegetation rafts or on their own. They were massive animals before coming in Galapagos. Colonizing the eastern-most islands of Española and San Cristobal first, then they dispersed throughout the archipelago, eventually establishing at least 15 separate populations on ten of the largest Galapagos Islands.

Even though there is a great deal of variation in size and form among Galapagos tortoises, two main morphological types exist -the domed carapace (like their ancestral form) and the saddle-backed carapace. Domed tortoises are normally much larger in size and do not have the up thrust to the front of the carapace; they live on the bigger, islands having humid highlands where forage is generally plentiful and readily obtainable. Saddle-backed shells evolved on the arctic islands in response to the absence of available food. The front part of the carapace angles upward, allowing the tortoise to expand its mind higher to reach the higher vegetation, such as cactus pads.

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