Galapagos Adventure Sailing (Southern Route): Detailed Itinerary

Sample Itinerary for Adventure Sailing (Southern Route):

Because of the Galápagos’ famed natural history and remarkable creatures, these remote islands are revered the world over.  In an effort to protect and preserve these “enchanted isles”, that literally changed the world, access is restricted and regulated.  On this sailing adventure, our special permit allows us to visit these protected sites

Day 1 (Friday) - Arrive Quito, Ecuador

Upon arrival in Quito, you will take a short taxi ride to your hotel, Vieja Cuba.  "Meet and greet" services are available for the airport for an additional fee so please just let us know if you need assistance.

Day 2 (Saturday) - Day in Quito

Today you can sleep in and enjoy a leisurely breakfast at the hotel.  Options are available for a city tour of Quito or a full-day excursion to Otovalo, Ecuador's largest outdoor market.  Tonight we will meet for a welcome dinner at 7pm with your adventure guide and go over the morning departure details.

Day 3 (Sunday) - Flight to Baltra, Bachas Beach, Santa Cruz

After breakfast, we will transfer back to the national airport for your flight to Galápagos.  The domestic terminal is small but we will want to arrive at least 1.15 hours prior to your flight from Quito to Baltra (which is adjacent to Santa Cruz).

Once in Galápagos, your guide and naturalist will take you to our yacht moored in the harbor.  Our boats are based out of Baltra and this will save you commuting 1.5 hours across to Santa Cruz where most other trips begin.  While the majority of visitors are taking a bus, ferry, another bus and a dinghy ride, you will have already checked in to your cabins and be under sail before we serve you lunch.

Soon after we set sail we will visit a beautiful beach where we can explore and test out our snorkel gear.  The name Bachas is spanglish for "barges" which were wrecked offshore during World War II.  A common first landing site, there is a delightful swimming beach and lagoon.  The lagoon hosts great blue herons and small waders such as sanderlings and semi-palmated plovers.  The beach is a nesting area for green sea turtles (especially November to February).  The expansive white sands here are also home to sea lions and flocks of blue-footed boobies demonstrating their acrobatic dives.  Pelicans, tropic birds and herons may also be part of the mix.  Later in the day we’ll gather for the first in a series of congenial on board dinners as we navigate our way to Santa Cruz.

Day 4 –  Hiking, biking, surfing or scuba diving - Santa Cruz and Charles Darwin Station

After a glorious breakfast, we will explore the island of Santa Cruz.  This morning we will go up to the highlands to see the giant tortoises.  Located in a private sanctuary, you have the opportunity to walk around and photograph these massive creatures in the wild.  Today we have lunch at a favourite local restaurant featuring fresh fish and seasonal lobster.  The afternoon provides a variety of options to consider.

Our personal favourite is hiking into Tortuga Bay for swimming, surfing or body surfing in the waves.  Arguably one of the top ten beaches in the world, Tortuga is worth a visit.  Biking is also another option to consider for exploring the island.  In either case, you may want to take in a few of the local art galleries or visit the Charles Darwin Research Centre where most of the efforts to protect and preserve the native flora and fauna are developed.

This main center has a variety of dive charter companies and is one of your chances (unless organized in advance) to take in a dive tour.  You will need to show current certification and generally can get 2 dives in for approx $250 per person.  A single "resort dive" is also available for those not certified but only one dive with an instructor is included for the same price.  Please be aware that the diving is extra and is not affiliated with your ROAM package.  Tonight we will dine on board and then navigate to San Cristobal Island.

Day 5 – Snorkeling, SUP's & Sea Kayaking - Cerro Brujo, Leon Dormido and Isla Lobos

Today we awake to new scenery on the north side of San Cristobal Island and a beautiful site known as Cerro Brujo.  We will be welcomed by friendly sea lions, blue-footed boobies, pelicans and marine iguanas. Soon after we will cruise Leon Dormido better known as Kicker Rock.  Keep your eyes peeled for sea turtles. manta rays and the many birds overhead. This volcanic tuff cone rises almost 500 feet straight out of the ocean and provides a wonderland for marine life.  If the currents are in our favour, we will dawn snorkeling gear and explore this popular dive site.  We will drift along allowing big schools of fish to pass and try and keep track of all the species we will see as there are 450 of them in Galapagos!  For those who are more adventurous one of the sites has hundreds of sharks that we may get to snorkel with.  Optional dives can be organized for those who are certified.  We will also have an opportunity to launch a few sea kayaks for exploration and for surfers, San Cristobal is also home to some of Galapagos' largest surf breaks.

All the snorkeling and paddling will work up an appetite and we will re-fuel our bodies with a delicious lunch before heading to Isla Lobos where we can jump right off the catamaran to swim with playful seal ion pups.  Also known as Sea Lion Island, Isla Lobos is a haven for these playful creatures and the more you mimic their aquatic acrobatics the better the performance they put on for us.  Tonight we will dine on board and evening cruise to our next spot in paradise.

Day 6 – Hiking at Espanola and snokel/kayak Gardner Bay

This morning we arrive at Espanola, the oldest and most southern of the Galapagos Islands.  We take to the land and walk along the island's coast to Punta Suarez admiring the wildlife all the way.  The coast is lined with marine iguanas, a species found nowhere else on earth.  This provides fantastic photo opportunities as we watch them pile up on the shore to sunbathe and excrete salt out the nostrils after feasting on the algae that grows under the sea  Espanola is also the only place in the world that the stunning Waved Albatross, with its 7-8 foot wingspan, touches land.  This is the nesting ground and provides the hatchlings a practice area until their first flight, which will take them all the way to Patagonia!  Boobies, tropic birds and swallow-tailed gulls also breed here.  If the tide is right, watch as a blowhole shoots water high into the air in a spectacular show of power.

We return to the boat and enjoy lunch on our way to Gardner Bay.  Here we will find two brilliant white beaches separated by a rocky outcrop.  We will take our time here and let the wonders of the Galapagos surround us.  The inquisitive Hood mockingbird and Galapagos hawk may approach and you may see tank-like tracks of nesting sea turtles (Jan to April).  As we snorkel through crystal clear waters we may see these turtles among the beautiful fish and sea lions.  Watch the sunset over this spectacular bay before we return to the boat for the evening.

Day 7 – Hiking and snorkeling - Floreana Island and Post Office Bay

We take our panga (zodiac) over to Punta Cormorant and disembark on to a beach like no other in Galapagos.  The green sand is due to the olivine and the Palo Santo forest leads us to a brackish lagoon that hosts flamingos  and then on to a white sand beach known as "flour beach" due to the fine sand.  Watch the rays flutter in the shallow water, or if you have unshakable nerves, shuffle into the ocean and let them swim around your feet.  This beach is also popular nesting area for sea turtles and we may see countless mating couples in the waves rolling into shore.

Next, we move back to our underwater world and go with the flow of the current as it carries us past steep walls and volcanic formations.  This deep blue sea is teeming with large schools of colourful fish.  Watch for parrot fish, Sargent majors, damsel fish and even gentle white-tipped sharks.

Moving back on to land, we learn about the stranger-than-fiction history of Floreana complete with pirates, whalers, convicts and colonists.  We will visit Post Office Bay established in 1792 but there is no need for stamps.  Sort through the piles of post cards and letters left by past visitors of the island and if you find a letter addressed to someone near your home, take it with you and deliver it by hand keeping with this long standing tradition.

Day 8 –Hike, snorkel and kayak at Isla Santa Fe and South Plaza

We visit the north-eastern corner of the island in the sheltered bay where it is possible to view rays and turtles in the shallow clear water.  Santa Fe is noted for its large colony of sea lions.  We will navigate past the cows and pups while trying avoid disturbing the bull male who is overseeing the harem.  We follow a trail winding its way through prickly pea rand cotton brush to the top of a cliff with a dramatic overlook of the bay.  Here we watch for endemic Santa Fe land iguanas feasting on the cactus fruit below the tress and Galapagos hawks soaring above searching for food.

We'll set sail over to South Plaza just off the tip of Santa Cruz.  This is one of the most concentrated wildlife sites in the entire archipelago.  We will follow a trail up from a small dock past sea lions, prickly pear and a cliff where we spot the endemic yellow-tailed mullet.  This is an excellent place to photograph birds.  We will return to the boat and have a chance to jump in the water for some great snorkeling before cruising north.

Day 9 – Kayak and snorkel - Sombrero Chino and Bartolome Island

Sombrero Chino or "Chinese Hat", will be easy to identify and will also mark our first snorkeling spot for the day.  There are often a group of curious penguins here and they have been known to gaze at the reflection in our snorkel masks then rocket away with impressive speed.  Once aboard the boat again, we'll lunch as we sail to Bartolome, one of the most picturesque islands on the tour.  The hike to the top provides many great examples to help us understand how this unique volcanic landscape was formed and lends a stunning view of our boat and Santiago Island to the north.  Back on our panga, we we'll drift past the penguins perched on the shoreline and then its into the water again for snorkeling around Pinnacle Rock amazed by the incredible marine life once again.  Back on the catamaran for the night and let the gentle rock of the boat lull you to sleep after a satisfying dinner.

Day 10 (Sunday)

Bird life abounds as the morning sunrise lights up pink skies.  Reality sinks in that this is our last day in this island paradise as today we will make our way to the airport at Baltra.  But first, a tranquil journey through the still waters and beautiful mazes of mangroves called Black Turtle Cove.

Tonight we will regroup in Quito for a farewell dinner to share memories and laughs before retiring to our overnight accommodations.  Please note guests flying on Delta may depart this evening from Quito

Day 11 (Monday)

After an early breakfast at the hotel, take a taxi to the airport to catch flights home or get ready for your next adventure in Ecuador.