8-Day Galápagos Yacht Cruise: Luxury Island Trip

The 8-day Galapagos yacht cruise begins at Seymour Airport on Baltra, a small island off the north coast of Santa Cruz. The team meets you in the arrival hall and takes you to the VIP lounge while they handle baggage and the airport checks, which can take up to an hour. A 20-minute transfer then brings you to the vessel.

Lunch is served right after you step on board. Before setting sail, everyone joins the required safety briefing. The crew fits your snorkeling equipment and provides a complimentary dry bag alongside a reusable water bottle for you to keep.

In the afternoon, the tenders land on Bahía Borrero, a white beach on the north shore of Santa Cruz. Small ground finches and cactus finches gather in the coastal scrub. Your first underwater excursion in the calm bay offers regular opportunities to swim alongside green sea turtles.

Meals included: Lunch / Dinner

During the night, the yacht sails north across the equator to Genovesa Island, a collapsed volcano whose flooded crater forms Bahía Darwin. The morning starts on its coral-sand beach, with a walk among nesting seabirds and a snorkel with tropical fish and fur seals.

After lunch, the tenders follow the dark cliffs of El Barranco, where fur seals sleep in the cracks of the rock. Then, land and walk 1.5 km across the lava plateau, through colonies of red-footed boobies, great frigatebirds, and Galapagos storm petrels.

Enjoy a delicious dinner and choose between a film night in the lounge or to contemplate the starlit sky from the sun deck, far from any town lights.

Meals included: Breakfast / Lunch / Dinner

Early risers can join a workout session or a guided meditation up on the sun deck. The first landing is a dry one at Bahía Sullivan, on Santiago, where you walk over ropy pahoehoe lava that flowed little more than a century ago and still looks freshly poured.

Back on board, lunch is followed by a talk from one of the naturalist guides. In the afternoon, the yacht anchors off Sombrero Chino, an islet shaped like a small hat by its crater. The calm channel is good for a first long snorkel, with sea turtles, stingrays, sea lions, and Galapagos penguins. If you want more adventure, there is time to take out a kayak or a paddleboard.

Meals included: Breakfast / Lunch / Dinner

The Aqua Mare Cruise drops anchor at Bartolomé early. A mild climb takes you to the top of a spatter cone, the view that appears on most photos of the islands: Pinnacle Rock, two curved beaches, and the dark lava of Santiago behind.

Later, it’s time to cool off in the water off Punta Bartolomé, where reef sharks, sea turtles, and Galapagos penguins are regular sightings. Have lunch while the yacht crosses to the north coast of Santa Cruz.

Cerro Dragón is the destination for the afternoon. Recognized in 1975 as one of Santa Cruz’s final strongholds for healthy land iguana populations, it has since seen their numbers recover thanks to a dedicated breeding initiative.

Meals included: Breakfast / Lunch / Dinner

The morning is spent in Puerto Ayora, the main town of the islands. At the Fausto Llerena Breeding Center—run by the national park next to the Charles Darwin Station—young and adult tortoises are kept apart by island of origin and age. The guides explain how the breeding and return program has rebuilt several island populations.

On the way back, stop at a specialty coffee shop to taste coffee grown in the Santa Cruz highlands. Enjoy the free time to walk around the town.

After lunch, drive up to the Manzanillo reserve, where giant tortoises graze freely in the green highlands. Look for Darwin’s finches, yellow warblers, flycatchers, cattle egrets, and, if you are lucky, the shy Galapagos rail. Divers spend the morning at North Seymour and rejoin the group at Manzanillo.

Meals included: Breakfast / Lunch / Dinner

Española Island is the oldest and most southerly island on this Galapagos cruise itinerary, featuring more endemic species per visit than most landing sites. After a guided meditation on the upper deck, land at Punta Suárez to walk among marine iguanas, lava lizards, Española mockingbirds, and, in season, nesting waved albatross.

After lunch, the tenders head to Islote Osborn, a cluster of small islets where you snorkel with young sea lions and shoals of reef fish. The last stop is Bahía Gardner, a long coral-sand beach with one of the largest sea lion colonies in the archipelago.

Happy hour at the bar is the end of the day on Española. The yacht then sails through the night to Santa Fé.

Meals included: Breakfast / Lunch / Dinner

Santa Fé is one of the oldest islands in the group. A morning walk crosses a forest of palo santo trees and giant prickly-pear cacti, where Darwin’s finches, mockingbirds, lava lizards, and land iguanas live. Back at the shore, you can snorkel with sea lions and sea turtles, or take a kayak or a paddleboard out on the bay.

Savor lunch on board while sailing toward Plaza Sur, a picturesque islet situated off Santa Cruz’s eastern coast. After spending around 2 hours on a guided walk along its rocky cliffs and flat terrain, unwind with an evening glass of wine under the starry sky during the final full night of your Galapagos yacht tour.

Meals included: Breakfast / Lunch / Dinner

After an early breakfast, say goodbye to the crew and step ashore in Puerto Ayora at 7 AM. On the road north across Santa Cruz, the transfer stops at Los Gemelos, two large pit craters in the cloud forest of the highlands.

Your 8-day Galapagos yacht cruise concludes with a 2-hour journey to Baltra’s Seymour Airport, arriving in good time for the suggested 10:11 AM mainland flight.

Meals included: Breakfast