8-day cruise from £3,421

Galápagos Islands Cruise - Cruise Ship

Fly from Guayaquil or Quito to Baltra
Saturdays, 7 nights

Eclipse

This luxurious cruise ship offers an excellent range of facilities and attention to detail while being fast enough to travel between the more distant islands and anchor close to the smaller bays. 

The 27 air-conditioned cabins create a feeling of roominess enhanced by bright contemporary décor reflecting the natural light which enters through portholes or windows. Furnishings feature local wood, seike. Ship's amenities include a Jacuzzi, library/video room, shop, observation deck and al fresco dining. The 48 passengers are cared for by 29 crew and 4 naturalist guides, who strive to create an informal atmosphere.

8-day cruise cruise Itinerary

Saturday: Cruise from Baltra Island to Santa Cruz island and visit the beach Las Bachas, where turtles nest.

Sunday: James Island: The dark sands at Puerto Egas are inhabited by Sally Lightfoot crabs. There is also a visit to Bartolomé Island with beautiful white-sand beaches.

Monday: Santa Cruz Island: A short walk to Dragon hill, with excellent views of the bay and a land iguana nesting site. Continue to Rabida Island, which consists of a cluster of steep-sided, coalescing volcanic domes, flows, and cones.

Tuesday: Isabela Island: In the morning you will reach Isabela Island and the lofty cliffs of Tagus Cove where a trail leads up to a ridge with lovely views. A short crossing takes you to Isabela Island: the largest in the archipelago the island is and made up of a chain of five active volcanoes, each with its own species of giant tortoise.

Wednesday: Fernandina Island: Fernandina Island is the youngest and most volcanically active of the islands. At Punta Espinosa a sandy trail takes you through the nesting areas of vast colonies of marine iguanas. A short crossing to Isabela Island where the remnants of an ancient volcano forms two turquoise coves with a bay well protected from the ocean swells. At Punta Vincente Roca masked and blue-footed boobies sit perched along the point and the sheer cliffs, while flightless cormorants inhabit the shoreline.

Thursday: Santa Cruz: Visit the Charles Darwin Research Centre with its famous giant tortoises. In the afternoon there is a guided visit to the interior highlands.

Friday: Española Island:Hosting one of the biggest wildlife populations in the archipelago, with many species, such as waved albatross, settling on the cliffs and pebbles. At Gardner Bay there is a fine white-sand beach frequented by a colony of sealions, and turtles nest here. At Punta Suarez you will see a spectacular blow-hole with spray shooting 30m into the air.

Saturday: Return to Santa Cruz, and visit Black Turtle Cove, where mangroves thrive in the tidal lagoon and marine turtles may be spotted, before arriving at Baltra for the return flight to the mainland.