Admire the wonders of the Galapagos in a truly memorable 8-day family vacation. Snorkel, swim, and kayak in pristine crystalline waters, and visit the Charles Darwin Research Station to meet the giant tortoise and land iguana breeding and rearing program. Prepare your family for daily land excursions, amazing animal encounters, and shipboard educational activities for children such as star-gazing, board games, and movie nights.
Highlights
Visit the Chinese Hat Islet, a fairly recent volcanic cone
Meet sea lions, marine iguanas and blue-footed boobies in North Seymour
Enjoy kid-friendly snorkeling excursions at Devil´s Crown
Explore the Tortoise Reserve and see giant tortoises in the wild
Involves minimal physical effort and is typically associated with leisurely activities. Activities are low-intensity or last less than a few hours each day.
Arrive at the airport in San Cristobal and transfer to the Evolution. After lunch, sail to Leon Dormindo, an amazing rock formation that rises 500 feet out of the ocean. Then celebrate with your family your first equatorial sunset with a welcome cocktail, followed by a delicious dinner. The ship has a kids menu for the younger members in your family.
Day 2: South Plaza Island | Punta Carrion | Mosquera Island
Travel to South Plaza, a small island covered in Opuntia cacti. The island is home to one of the largest sea lion colonies in the Galapagos archipelago and also features many colorful yellow and red land iguanas. Prepare your family for a brief hike over the terrain for views of the island.
Spend the early afternoon of excellent family and kid-friendly snorkeling at Punta Carrion, followed by a excursion to Mosquera Islet. On Mosquera, you may see one of the largest sea lion colonies in the Galapagos and possibly an orca whale!
Journey on to Chinese Hat. This island derived its name from its distinctly conical shape. Chinese Hat is an ideal destination for viewing volcanic formations, such as lava tubes and flows, and is also home to sea lions, marine iguanas, and Galapagos penguins.
Then head to James Bay in Santiago. Walk along a black beach and snorkel with tropical fish and sea turtles in the Bay's crystal-clear waters. On shore, choose a family walk on a trail that leads to a series of crystal-clear grottos full of sea lions, fur seals, and samurai-like marine iguanas. You may even spot a Galapagos hawk!
Set sail for Darwin Bay and land on its sandy white coral beach. Hike a half-mile trail through the mangroves and view Nazca boobies, red-footed boobies, and swallow-tailed gulls. Tidal pools are teeming with young sea lions and reef fish, and the occasional hammerhead shark can be found among the rocks.
Snorkel with your children in the water before heading to El Barranco, also known as Prince Phillip's Steps. Hike up the steep rocky face to the top of a cliff where you can see red-footed boobies, short-eared lava wwls, Galapagos swallows, and Galapagos doves.
Sail for North Seymour Island to view Galapagos sea lions, blue-footed boobies, and magnificent frigatebirds. Characterized by its arid vegetation zone, North Seymour is unique in landscape and in feeling.
After lunch, sail to Santa Fe Island, where you may explore one of the most beautiful and sheltered bays in the Galapagos, which is excellent for snorkeling! Santa Fe is one of the best places to find sea turtles, sea lions, and the Galapagos white-tipped shark. Then head to shore and walk up a nearby cliff to observe land iguanas through an area of Opuntia cacti.
Spend the day with your family on the historical Floreana Island. Start the day in Post Office Bay, where British whalers set up a barrel as the island's Post Office. The tradition continues today, and you could even send a postcard home!
In the afternoon, visit Punta Cormorant, where you can visit two unique and highly contrasting beaches. One is a green-colored olivine beach, and the other an iron-red beach. In between the two beaches lies a salt lagoon that is frequented by flamingos, stilts, pintails, and other wading birds. In the late afternoon, head to Devil's Crown for some phenomenal kid-friendly snorkeling. This region is home to a variety of coral, wrasses, pencil sea urchins, amberjacks, angelfish, and many other species.
In the morning, sail for Santa Cruz and begin your day with a tour of the highlands. The trail passes through a number of distinct vegetative zones and affords explorers with lovely views of Santa Cruz's lush, rolling hills.
In the afternoon, tour the Charles Darwin Research Station and prepare your children to view the tortoises in various stages of life. Newly hatched tortoises average 3 inches long, while the adults can reach over 4 feet. Stretch out your hand and interact with these gentle giants.
Day 8: Santa Cruz Island | Baltra | Disembark
1 Breakfast
Spend a family morning in Black Turtle Cove, a gorgeous mangrove estuary. Take a panga ride and search for spotted eagle rays, white-tipped reef sharks, diamond-shaped mustard rays, Pacific green sea turtles, and many different shore birds.
After this last excursion, transfer with your family to the airport for your connecting flight to the mainland.
Apologies for the inconvenience. Prices for not yet published. Below per person rate based on previous season. Contact us to confirm upcoming season pricing.
Prices for are estimated based on inflation. Contact us to confirm pricing and availability for your desired departure date.
$5,780
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Cabins D1-D4
Located on the Darwin Deck, 4 ample deluxe staterooms (twin and double) and port-holes.
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Cabin C4
Located on the Cormorant Deck, premium stateroom.
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Cabins C1-C3 & C5-C9
Located on the Cormorant Deck, 8 premium staterooms (twin and double) with portholes.
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Cabins A2-A3
Located on the Albatross Deck, 2 Master Suite with ocean-view windows.
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Cabin A1
Located on the Albatross Deck, twin suite with ocean-view windows.
Child Discount
15% discount for children under age 15 at time of Galapagos cruise. Child discounts are conditional and may not apply on certain departures. Please contact us for more information.
Children under 12 may receive discounts on Galapagos flight fares and entrance fees. Contact us for details.
Initial deposit is $700 per person, and most travelers will call our office and pay the deposit with a credit card.
Final payment is due 70 days prior to departure by bank transfer, check or credit card. All final payments by credit card may be subject to a surcharge and maximum of $20,000 charge
For full cancellation policy details, please contact us for a quote.
Included
7 Breakfasts, 6 Lunches, 7 Dinners
7 Nights Accommodations
Accommodations as listed
Ground transportation as listed
Activities as listed
Meals as listed
Access to a 24-7 Emergency line while traveling
Bilingual Naturalist Guide
Snorkeling equipment, wetsuits, and kayaks are all included in the cruise cost and are available for you use on board.
Adventure Life Pre-departure Services and In-Country Assistance (Quito Representative)
Shore Excursions, Swimming and Snorkeling
Transfers and Baggage Handling in the Galapagos
Excluded
Gratuities
Travel Insurance
Personal Expenses
Flight costs (please request a quote)
Additional excursions during free time
Galapagos Park Entrance Fee: $200 per adult, $100 per child under 12 (fees of $100 per adult and $50 per child valid on arrivals throughAug 1, 2024). Payable upon arrival to the Galapagos, only in cash dollars. Subject to increase by Galapagos Park Service.
Kate was great to work with in the planning stage. She was prompt, helpful, and efficient. Our tour guide, Edwin, was knowledgeable and passionate. We were very happy to have traveled with Adventure Life, it made the trip easy and a true pleasure. We could concentrate on enjoying the experience rather than the details of travel.
Lisa Bridge
TrustScore 4.8 | 122 reviews
TrustScore 4.8 of 5
Based on 122 reviews on
55 minutes ago
Franny helped us put together a great itinerary, was very responsive and so helpful. We ended up not being able to use Adventure Life for our trip, but would definitely use them in the future.
Sara Grosch
5 hours ago
Jess H helped plan an incredible holiday to Costa Rica for us. She was great from the start, she really listened to what we wanted from the trip and took into account mobility issues by arranging different excursions. The whole planning process was easy and stress free even with us being in the UK and them being in the US. I would highly recommend using Adventure Life to anyone thinking of planning a trip. They are also priced very competitively which made it even better.
Samantha Broadhurst
7 hours ago
Clara bent over backwards to accommodate all my needs and concerns, and is still helping me with more scheduling of different parts of my trip
customer. Martin Cohen
1 day ago
COSTA RICA a trip of a life time travelling round this beautiful country. All went like clockwork even when the weather was against us and all transfers seemed to be part of the holiday not a chore. Would definitely use Adventure Life again having previously used them 20 years ago!!
Cynthia Calton
1 day ago
Adventure Life helped me plan my trip to Antarctica. They always responded fast to my emails and were a pleasure to deal with.