The Galapagos Islands have spectacular flora and fauna all year round, much of which can be found nowhere else on Earth. The best option for a visit is on a Galapagos cruise where you sleep on the yacht and spend your days exploring the islands or swimming, snorkeling or scuba diving in the surrounding waters. There are several kinds of cruises available to the Galapagos…
Naturalist Cruises: On this cruise you do guided land visits on foot. You’ll have some time at the beach to swim and snorkel with sea lions or iguanas and observe the marine life. You’ll visit one spot in the morning, have lunch on the yacht while navigating to the next spot, and visit another spot in the late afternoon.
Active Cruises: Similar to Naturalist Cruises but you have the possibility to Scuba Dive. Depending on the cruise you can do up to about 4 immersions on a 8 Day cruise. The responsible yacht operators use a specialized diving operator who will take you to special diving spots during the cruise. That means that you will miss the land visits during your “Diving Days”.
Diving Cruises: These cruises are for the experienced diver only. To participate you should have at least 50 logged open-water dives during the last calendar year. Make sure that the diving cruise you pick includes Darwin and Wolf Islands, as they offer spectacular diving. This kind of cruise is probably of little interest for a non-diver because you do only a very few land visits.
Galapagos cruises are available for 4, 5 or 8 day trips, and several types of vessels will be available.
Large vessels up to 100 Passengers: The Galapagos National Park authorities don’t allow vessels with more than 100 passengers onboard to ‘park’ at the islands. So, vessels that could carry more than 100 passengers will never be sold out and good cabins are often available.
All these large vessels are very well organized when visiting the islands, and there will typically be one guide per 15 or 16 passengers, so the tour groups are kept fairly small.
Motor yachts for up to 20 Passengers: A motor yacht is a great option to explore the Galapagos Islands. You travel with an intimate group and easily make new friends onboard.
You travel overnight from island to island, and cabins on the lower deck will have some motor noise during your at-sea time. During the day you might hear the electric generator. If you do have a choice of cabin assignments, book an upper deck unit to minimize this intrusion.
Depending on the yacht, there are cabins with upper and lower berths, or two lower berths. To put it another way, bunk beds or 2 regular beds. The lower deck cabins on motor yachts tend to have the ‘upper and lower berths’ arrangement.
Sailing yachts for up to 16 Passengers: This is the most authentic Galapagos experience. Accommodation is in often in cabins with upper and lower berths on the lower deck. The engine and generator noise you experience will depend on whether wind conditions allow the vessel to actually use its sails. If not, you’d experience the same noises as on a motor yacht.
Most sailing yachts used on Galapagos cruises have a beautiful interior, but moving around is often not as easy as onboard a motor yacht. Often you have to go up a ladder instead of stairs, and taller guests may notice a lack of headroom when moving around the yacht’s interior.
If you’re thinking of taking the whole family, be aware that most quality yachts have an age restriction of 7 – 10 years for children. On all the yachts you have to sign a “Waiver of Liability” if your child is less than 12 years old.
Think twice before bringing children less than 10 years to the Galapagos if you want to enjoy the trip yourself. Consider that the sea can be rough at any time and the journey by zodiac from the yacht to the island that you visit can be wet for the guests and difficult for children. Most yachts don’t offer children’s discounts, and on most cruises there is nobody onboard to look after your children.
The exceptions are special “Family Cruises” that leave usually during the US School Holidays and are offered on some medium sized deluxe-class motor yachts. On these cruises, 7 years is the age limit and there is a special naturalist guide onboard to look after the children.
Which ever tour you choose, a Galapagos cruise is expensive and needs exact and professional planning. Make sure that you travel with an expert Galapagos tour operator who ensures that you will have the “Once in a Lifetime travel experience” you will be talking about for years!
Peter Lauffer
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What is the average price of a Galapagos cruise?
What is the average price per person of a 1 week cruise in the Galapagos?
it depends on the time you will be going.
Which agency you choose.
check this website
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References :
http://www.galapagoscruise.com.ec/