Galapagos Cruise on board Legend | 5 days

Fly from Quito or Guayaquil to the Galapagos Islands (return flights additional).

Arriving in Galapagos, passengers are picked up at the airport by our natural guides and taken (ten-minute bus drive) to the pier to board the M/V Galapagos Legend.

Afternoon: Mosquera Islet
Wet Landing. This tiny, low lying islet, covered in coral sand, is set between the North and South Seymour Islands. It is home to a group of sea lions that come to laze on the soft white sand. It is a good spot to observe shorebirds as well as herons, lava gulls, and boobies. Snorkeling or diving here one can often see sharks, rays, and barracudas.

Please note: this itinerary is based on the 5 days/4 nights West itinerary B, departing on Thursdays, please ask us for other itinerary options

Morning: Egas Port (Santiago Island)
Wet landing. The black volcanic sand sets this landing apart from most. It is best known for the dramatic shoreline where we meet a host of species that chose to live between land and sea. Particular among these are the endemic Galapagos fur seals which maintain a small colony at the end of our walk. Other species of note include American oystercatchers, sea lions, waders, herons, lava lizards and even Galapagos hawks. An optional visit takes us to an abandoned salt mine famous in its day for supplying salt to mainland Ecuador.

Afternoon: Rabida Island
Wet landing. Lying at the heart of the archipelago this dramatic island, with its distinctive red-sand beach, is home to sea lions, mockingbirds, finches, endemic Galapagos doves, and vermillion flycatchers. A walk takes us through a forest of palo santo and cacti to a beautiful overview of the bay. Snorkeling here can be excellent, often with large schools of black-striped salemas, sea lions, and the ubiquitous turtles.

Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner is Included

Morning: Urbina Bay (Isabela Island)
Wet landing. At the far end of a long, level hike we arrive at a strange phenomenon where large blocks of coral lie completely exposed after a dramatic geological uplift in 1954. Located at the western base of Alcedo Volcano we hope to run into a few very impressive land iguanas as well as some of the volcano’s endemic Galapagos giant tortoises during the wet season.

Afternoon: Tagus Cove (Isabela Island)
Dry landing. A well-known hideout and deep water anchorage in the days of pirates, Tagus Cove was also one of the few sites visited by Charles Darwin and the HMS Beagle in 1835. A beautiful hike leads us past an overview of Darwin Lake and on to a stunning volcanic landscape revealing Isabela island’s dramatic northern volcanoes. Once back at sea level the perfect activity is to snorkel along a submerged wall with turtles, lots of fish, penguins and potentially flightless cormorants. You might even be tempted by a panga ride or kayak!

Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner is Included

Morning: Espinosa Point (Fernandina Island)
Dry landing. The youngest island of Galapagos and one of the most pristine in the world. Fernandina is simply the “marine iguana capital of the world”. This desolate volcanic backdrop is home to a huge concentration of these enigmatic reptiles. Incongruously, sharing the same shoreline, we can find the diminutive Galapagos penguins. Here we also have the exciting opportunity to snorkel with marine iguanas feeding underwater, penguins, turtles and the bizarre, endemic, flightless cormorants.

Afternoon: Vicente Roca Point (Isabela Island)
Great deep-water snorkeling at one of the richest marine havens on Earth, the Bolivar Channel. Accessible by water, we take a dinghy ride along the coast to observe a great diversity of sea and coastal birds; Nazca and blue-footed boobies, noddies, brown pelicans, penguins, flightless cormorants. The upwelling of cold water currents in this part of the Galapagos gives rise to an abundance of marine life, a perfect place for deep snorkeling.

Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner is Included

Highlands Tortoise Reserve (Santa Cruz Island)
Dry landing. In the central highlands of Santa Cruz Island we have our best opportunity to interact at close quarters with totally wild, Galapagos giant tortoises. A short walk among these huge, 600lb reptiles will also offer the chance for more highland species, especially several species of the famed finches.

OR (for Extended Cruises only)
Pit Craters (Santa Cruz Island)
A visit to the collapsed, twin sink holes (Gemelos) puts us in a stunning forest of the endemic tree-forming Scalesia. Apart from the dramatic scenery this area is well known for its diversity of passerine bird species.

After this visit, we will make our way to the Baltra airport for the flight to mainland Ecuador.

Breakfast is included today.

*Although the flight is not included in the price, this will be added & included to your booking