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How to:

Choose an Itinerary

Since January, 2012, all Galápagos vessels follow a two-week itinerary, visiting selected sites only once during that period. In Galápagos, there's no such thing as a “best” island, so if you're planning your first visit, just decide on the number of nights you'd like to spend, and then choose a ship that offers a cruise of that length. Typical itineraries are:

3 nights,
4 nights,
7 nights,
7 nights (alternate version; 3, then 4 nights),
10 nights (7, then 3 nights),
11 nights (4, then 7 nights),
14 nights (3, 4 then 7 nights, or 4, 7 then 3 nights).

Choose Islands to Visit

If you'd like to visit a particular island that you've heard about, then simply select that island and see which itineraries visit it. (See Itinerary/Island Selector below.)

Choose a Ship

Two websites may help you to make the big decision:

Galapagos Adviser: a comprehensive, searchable database designed to help you identify the ship that best meets your interests based on its class, size, amenities, itineraries, etc. and then you can contact the ship owner directly.
Galapagos Cruise Links: a “last minute” platform on which ship owners post their availabilities directly — find your cruise, and contact the ship owner to book.

Choose Season to Visit

The Weather and Climate page at the Quasar Expeditions website displays a table of monthly air and water temperatures, hours of clear skies and average rainfall. NOTE: During cooler months, sea temperatures are sometimes almost 10° F. lower than shown in the table.

Find a Visitor Site

A list of Galápagos Islands terrestrial and marine Visitor Sites has been prepared from data provided by the Galápagos National Park Service. The list may be sorted by site, island name, category or description. Hover mouse pointer over the “?” icon on the Visitor Sites page to display additional information about the list.

The Park Service has also published a table of Marine Visitor Sites, with latitude and longitude for each site.