Day 1: Quito – Santa Cruz Island

Transfer from your selected hotel to the airport in Quito. The airport is located in the town of Tababela, about 43 km from Quito and it will take approximately 45 minutes to one hour to arrive.

AM. Flight to Galapagos Islands from Quito: Upon arrival at Baltra Airport, your guide welcomes you (with a sign of Santa Cruz II) and brings you to the ship, where the captain and the rest of the crew await you with a welcome drink.

PM. Santa Cruz Island : Bachas Beach – After a wonderful lunch on board, your naturalist guide gives you a short explanation about the afternoon activities. And then your Galapagos adventure really starts! You visit Bachas Beach with its beautiful white sand beach made out of decomposed coral. This stunning tropical beach is a popular nesting site for sea turtles. You and the rest of the group walk to a small lagoon located right next to the beach, where occasionally Galapagos flamingos can be seen. Also, other bird species, like black-necked stilts and whimbrels can be spotted here. Further along the beach, you meet very likely a colony of sea lions relaxing on the beach. You also have time to relax on this stunning beach and enjoy the company of the playful sea lions. Before dinner, you learn more about the Galapagos Islands and the Santa Cruz II during the welcome reception, followed by a delicious dinner.

INCLUDED: Departure transfer, private transportation, English speaking guide for the transfer, cabin, cruise, dinner, English speaking guide, shared excursion, lunch, arrival transfer, domestic flight.

Day 2: Santiago Island: Buccaneer Cove & Egas Port

AM. Santiago Island: Buccaneer Cove – This amazing place is located on the northwest coast of Santiago Island and thanks to its name to the interesting history of this cove, where sailors, pirates, and whalers anchored their vessels to look for fresh water and food in the higher parts of the island. Nowadays, Buccaneer Cove has remains of an eroded shoreline that is home to seabirds, sea lions, and fur seals. Boobies, pelicans, and gulls use these rocks as feeding grounds and nesting sites. You can also see Galapagos fur seals searching for shade on the rocks and sea lions swimming playfully in the waves.

PM. Santiago Island: Egas Port – In the afternoon, you leave the ship again to visit Egas Port, a black sand beach. Behind the beach, you find ‘El Crater’, a saltwater lagoon that becomes a potential salt mine during the dry season. In the past, people made attempts to exploit salt here without major success. The walk along the shoreline, especially at low tide, allows you to observe many marine species, like marine iguanas sunbathing on the rocks and sea lions playing in the water. At the end of the trail, a series of sea caves create a perfect resting place for fur seals and night herons.

INCLUDED: All-inclusive, cabin, cruise, English speaking guide, shared excursion.

Day 3: Rabida & Bartolome Island

AM. Rabida Island – This morning you explore Rabida Island, unique because of the red-colored rocks and beach. The volcanic material of the island is very porous and external factors such as rain, saltwater, and sea breeze have oxidized the sand and rocks. You visit the east coast of Rabida Island, to admire a beautiful red sand beach where sea lions enjoy the morning sun. You and the rest of the group follow a short trail of a bit more than one kilometer to the lagoon behind the beach, where you might spot a colony of flamingos. During the walk, you can observe beautiful land birds, such as finches, doves, yellow warblers, and mocking birds.

PM. Bartolomé Island – One of the most famous islands of the Galapagos, because of the stunning views the highest point provides its visitors with. Your guide takes you up to the viewpoint while telling you more about the island, its flora, and fauna. It is a bit of a climb, but the amazing moonlike landscape of volcanic formations contrasting the blue ocean is definitely worth it. Then, you head to a beautiful beach nearby to snorkel with colorful fish, sea turtles, and other marine species. With some luck, you even see Galapagos penguins here! A short walk brings you to another part of the beach, where swimming is not allowed, to spot white-tipped reef sharks swimming along the shoreline.

INCLUDED: All-inclusive, cabin, cruise, English speaking guide, shared excursion.

Day 4: Genovesa Island

AM: Genovesa Island: Prince Phillip’s Steps – A dinghy brings you to El Barranco, where you go on land to walk up Prince Phillip’s Steps. It is a steep climb, but once at the top, many sea bird species give you a warm welcome. The natural erosion has created an ideal nesting site for storm petrels, red-footed boobies, and masked boobies. Afterward, a dingy ride along the shoreline gives you the opportunity to see fur sea lions and several species of seabirds.

PM. Genovesa Island: Darwin Bay – A wet landing brings you to a beautiful white coral sand beach. This site is one of the favorites for birdwatchers: masked boobies, wandering tattlers, lava gulls, whimbrels, yellow-crowned, and black-crowned lava herons, and yellow warblers can be seen here. Continuing the trail, you climb gradually to the edge of the cliff to see red-footed boobies nesting in the mangrove trees.

INCLUDED: All-inclusive, cabin, cruise, English speaking guide, shared excursion.

Day 5: Santa Cruz Island: Giant Tortoise Reserve and departure

After breakfast, your luggage is taken to the airport, while you visit the Giant Tortoise Reserve. A bus ride to the highlands of the island brings you to the last highlight of the cruise: giant tortoises in the wild, an amazing experience! You can observe two species of giant tortoises living in the green fields and in forests of Galapagos daisies, orchids, and bromeliads. The highlands of Santa Cruz are very green, because of which the giant tortoises have a good life here.

After this visit, you are brought directly to Baltra Airport by bus and boat. From Balta Airport, you fly back to Quito or Guayaquil.

*Please note that itineraries are subject to change without previous notice due to operational purposes, policies of the Galapagos National Park authorities, weather conditions, and for the comfort of the passengers.

INCLUDED: Breakfast, English speaking guide, departure transfer.