The Northern Isles (Galapagos Cruise)

Depending on the arrival time of your flight, we can arrange a city tour for you. Contact us for suggestions.

La Casona de la Ronda
La Casona de la Ronda is a boutique hotel set in an 18th-century home in Quito's historic centre.

The rooms are beautifully made up with dark wooden furnishings and parquet floors. They feature wide windows with shutters to allow in lots of natural light, and open onto a central courtyard ringed by wooden balustrades. A cooked breakfast is served each morning in the courtyard, or in the indoor lounge/cafe area.

After a safety briefing and check-in, lunch will be served on board while you sail to Santa Cruz Island, located in the heart of the Galapagos archipelago.

Arriving at the port of Las Bachas, on the northern shore of the island, disembark for an afternoon of swimming and snorkelling off the white sands coral beach. Just steps from the beach is a lagoon where you may see flamingo, stilts, pintail ducks and migratory birds as well as the ubiquitous Sally Lightfoot crabs. Depending on the time of year, you may even see turtles nesting on the beach.

Return to the Santa Cruz for dinner and overnight.

Santiago Island also has a curious history. In an earlier era, during the 17th and 18th centuries, it was also a hideout and resting point for pirates, and in 1835, it was the second island visited by Charles Darwin’s and his crew on the HMS Beagle.

Your first stop of the day is Buccaneer Cove, where you will learn more about Santiago’s pirate history, while also having the opportunity to spot sea birds, sea lions and see some of the area’s incredible rock formations from a panga (a small fishing boat)

In the afternoon, you visit Puerto Egas, named after Hector Egas, the owner of a salt extraction company who mined the crater here in the 1960s. After disembarking the ship, you head inland on a short walk to visit a Galapagos fur seal colony. The rocky coastline at Egas Port provides the perfect amount of shade for these seals. While at Egas Port you will also have the chance to swim and snorkel – sea turtles are often found in the waters around the port.

The birdlife on Rabida Island is fantastic. Depending on the time of year you may see flamingos, nesting brown pelicans, blue-footed and Nazca boobies, pintail ducks, Galapagos doves, mockingbirds and nine species of finch. From the beach you can snorkel or alternatively take a trip on the glass-bottomed boat.

From Rabida Island your cruise continues circling Santiago to arrive at Bartolome Island, located just off the east coast of Santiago. Keep a lookout for dolphins along way, as they are not uncommonly sighted around Santiago’s eastern shores.

Bartolome Island is home to the Galapagos’ most iconic site – Pinnacle Rock. On arrival you will have time for swimming and snorkelling, and glass-bottom boat trips. The waters around the base of Pinnacle Rock are a habitat for sea lions, white-tipped and black-tipped sharks, rays, octopus and the Galapagos penguin. From the coast at Pinnacle Rock you can then hike the short distance to the summit of the island for fantastic views of the archipelago and the famous Pinnacle itself. This is a moderately steep climb aided by a wooden staircase, resting platforms and handrails – the view from the top is worth the effort!

The day ends with a tour of the rugged and volcanic shoreline by panga boat.

On arrival at Prince Philip’s Steps you have a steep but short climb to a flat, rocky plateau that is home to large colonies of Nazca and red-footed boobies, great frigate birds and storm petrels. For anyone not wanting to do the climb there is the chance to sea kayak or take a trip on the glass-bottom boat.

In the afternoon, continue to Darwin Bay where you can go swimming and snorkelling; often sea lions are spotted playing in the waters of the bay. You also have a short walk to see more of the birdlife on the island, including frigate birds, gulls, herons, finches and mockingbirds; it is no wonder that Genovesa Island has recently become known as ‘Bird Island’!

While your luggage is transported to Baltra you will head inland to the lush highland forests of Galapagos daisies, orchids and bromeliads, which are home to two species of giant tortoises. You will visit the Tortoise Reserve before transferring back to Baltra airport for your flight to Quito.

On arrival at Quito airport, you will be met and transferred to your hotel, the Casona de la Ronda, with the rest of the day at leisure to explore the city.