10 Day Galapagos Tour: Three Islands by Land and a Yacht Day

This 10 day Galapagos tour gives you three nights on each of the three main inhabited islands: San Cristóbal, Santa Cruz and Isabela. You sleep in hotels in town, cross between the islands by speedboat in the morning and spend one full day on a yacht to an uninhabited island. It costs USD 2,598 per person for two travelers, with 9 hotel nights, breakfasts, the Kicker Rock and yacht days, transfers and a naturalist guide on every excursion.

Your 10 day Galapagos tour at a glance

How the ten days are planned

You fly into San Cristóbal and fly home from Baltra. That order saves a speedboat crossing: the trip has three, at 7 a.m. or 6 a.m., when the sea is usually calmer, and you never take a boat on the day you fly. Kicker Rock comes on day 2, before you have spent a day on the water, and the yacht leaves from Santa Cruz on day 5.

On Isabela you have three nights, so the volcano hike, the snorkel at Los Túneles and the boat back to Santa Cruz each get their own day. You end with a full day on Santa Cruz and a short drive to the airport.

Why give the islands ten days

San Cristóbal is the island most shorter trips leave out, and it has Kicker Rock, the best known snorkel in the islands, plus the oldest town and its own giant tortoise. With ten days you add it without rushing the other two: Santa Cruz for the tortoises and the yacht day, Isabela for the volcano, the sharks and the lava tunnels.

Take this tour if it is your first time in the Galápagos and you can give it ten days, or if snorkeling is the reason you are going. With a week, our 7 day Galapagos tour covers Santa Cruz and Isabela. If the far western islands matter most to you, only a cruise reaches them. Compare all our Galapagos land tours on one page.

10 day Galapagos tour price

Prices are per person in US dollars, in tourist superior hotels. Not included: flights to the islands, the Galápagos National Park entrance fee (USD 200 for foreign adults) and the USD 20 Transit Control Card. Yacht days to Bartolomé and North Seymour have daily visitor limits, so booking three to six months ahead gives you the best chance of the island you want.

Best time for this tour

It works in any month. From January to May the sea is warmest, around 24 to 26 °C, which makes it the best season for snorkeling, and short rain showers turn the highlands green. From June to November the water drops to about 21 to 23 °C, the highlands are often misty and you will want a wetsuit at Kicker Rock and Los Túneles. The crossings can be rougher from July to December. Our month by month guide to the best time to visit the Galapagos has the details.

What to pack

Bring your passport and cash for the park fee, plus extra cash for Isabela, where the few ATMs often run dry. Pack reef-safe sunscreen, a hat, a rash guard and a light rain jacket, closed shoes with grip for the lava on Sierra Negra and sandals for the beaches. Take seasickness tablets for the three crossings and a reusable bottle, since single-use plastics are banned on the islands.

Add a few days on the mainland

Almost every flight to the islands leaves from Quito or Guayaquil, so many travelers spend a few days on the mainland first. Our Ecuador and Galápagos tours join the Andes and the islands in 9, 12 or 14 days, and the 4 day Amazon tour from Quito fits before the flight. Browse all our Galapagos tour packages.

10 day Galapagos tour FAQ

Highlights

• Three nights on each of the three main inhabited islands: San Cristóbal, Santa Cruz and Isabela
• A full day of snorkeling at Kicker Rock (León Dormido)
• A yacht day to an uninhabited island, on the permit the National Park assigns
• Reef sharks at Las Tintoreras, sea turtles at Los Túneles and the Sierra Negra caldera
• Three speedboat crossings, all in the morning, and none on the day you fly

Itinerary

1. Day 1Arrival on San Cristóbal and the walk to Cerro Tijeretas

   

   Your flight from Quito or Guayaquil lands on San Cristóbal, at the edge of Puerto Baquerizo Moreno, the capital of the islands. We meet you at the airport and take you to your hotel. Sea lions sleep on the town beach and on the benches along the waterfront, so watch your step.

   In the afternoon you walk with your guide to the Interpretation Center, which tells the natural and human history of the islands, and up the trail to Cerro Tijeretas. From the top you look over the bay where Darwin first came ashore in 1835, and the cove below is a calm place for a first swim. Overnight in Puerto Baquerizo Moreno.

   Overnight: Puerto Baquerizo Moreno

2. Day 2Snorkeling at Kicker Rock

   

   A boat takes you out to Kicker Rock, which locals call León Dormido: two eroded volcanic cones that rise straight out of the sea, about 45 minutes to an hour from town. You snorkel in the channel between the rocks, where sea turtles and rays pass below you and, on many days, Galápagos sharks. The water is deep there, and the crew lends you a vest if you want one.

   Lunch is served on board. On the way back the boat stops at a beach for time on the sand, usually Cerro Brujo or Puerto Grande, depending on the park schedule for that day. Back in Puerto Baquerizo Moreno in the afternoon.

   Overnight: Puerto Baquerizo MorenoMeals: Breakfast, Lunch

3. Day 3El Junco lake, giant tortoises and Puerto Chino beach

   

   Today you drive up into the highlands with your guide. El Junco is a freshwater lake in an old crater, about 700 m above the sea, and frigatebirds fly down to it to rinse the salt from their feathers. Further on, the Galapaguera of Cerro Colorado protects the giant tortoise that lives only on San Cristóbal.

   The road ends at Puerto Chino, a white sand beach on the far side of the island, where you have time for a swim before the drive back. Overnight in Puerto Baquerizo Moreno.

   Overnight: Puerto Baquerizo MorenoMeals: Breakfast

4. Day 4Speedboat to Santa Cruz and tortoises in the highlands

   

   You take the 7 a.m. speedboat to Santa Cruz, about two hours. The sea can be rough, so take a seasickness tablet before you board. In Puerto Ayora you check in at your hotel and have lunch in town.

   In the afternoon you go up to El Chato, a ranch where giant tortoises walk free among the pastures, and you walk through a lava tunnel nearby. Overnight in Puerto Ayora.

   Overnight: Puerto AyoraMeals: Breakfast

5. Day 5Yacht day to an uninhabited island

   

   An early transfer takes you to the yacht for a full day on an island where nobody lives. The National Park assigns the island: Bartolomé, North Seymour, Santa Fe or South Plaza, with one to two and a half hours of sailing each way.

   North Seymour has blue-footed boobies and frigatebirds nesting next to the trail. On Bartolomé you climb about 370 wooden steps to the view over Pinnacle Rock. On Santa Fe you look for the land iguana found only there, and South Plaza has land iguanas and a sea lion colony. Lunch is served on board, and there is usually a snorkel stop before the trip back. Overnight in Puerto Ayora.

   Overnight: Puerto AyoraMeals: Breakfast, Lunch

6. Day 6Speedboat to Isabela and reef sharks at Las Tintoreras

   

   The 7 a.m. speedboat takes you to Isabela, about two hours. We cover the dock fee in Puerto Villamil and take you to your hotel.

   In the afternoon a short boat ride crosses the bay to Las Tintoreras, a lava islet. Whitetip reef sharks rest in a narrow channel, marine iguanas cover the rocks and, with some luck, a penguin swims past. Overnight in Puerto Villamil.

   Overnight: Puerto VillamilMeals: Breakfast

7. Day 7Sierra Negra volcano

   This is the longest walk of the trip: about 18 km and six hours along the rim of the Sierra Negra caldera, one of the widest in the world, and across lava fields. From June to November the highlands are often misty and the trail can be wet, so bring a rain jacket. Carry water and something to eat.

   The rest of the afternoon is yours. Concha Perla, a calm cove next to the dock, is a good place to snorkel with sea lions on your own. Overnight in Puerto Villamil.

   Overnight: Puerto VillamilMeals: Breakfast

8. Day 8Blue-footed boobies at Cabo Rosa and snorkeling at Los Túneles

   A boat follows the coast to Cabo Rosa, about 45 minutes from Puerto Villamil, where blue-footed boobies nest on the lava. At Los Túneles the old lava forms arches and channels in shallow water, and you snorkel among sea turtles, whitetip reef sharks and seahorses, often with rays nearby.

   Lunch is included on the boat. Back in Puerto Villamil in the afternoon.

   Overnight: Puerto VillamilMeals: Breakfast, Lunch

9. Day 9Back to Santa Cruz, Tortuga Bay and Las Grietas

   

   You take the 6 a.m. speedboat back to Santa Cruz. From Puerto Ayora you walk about 2.5 km on a paved path to Tortuga Bay, a long white beach where marine iguanas lie in the sun; the sheltered cove at the far end is calm enough to swim.

   After lunch a water taxi crosses the bay to Las Grietas, a deep crack in the lava filled with clear water. You finish at the Charles Darwin Research Station, where young tortoises grow until they can go back to their home island. Overnight in Puerto Ayora.

   Overnight: Puerto AyoraMeals: Breakfast

10. Day 10Flight home from Baltra

    After breakfast we drive you across Santa Cruz to the Itabaca Channel, where a short ferry crosses to Baltra and the airport. Plan to leave Puerto Ayora about three hours before your flight to Quito or Guayaquil.

    Meals: Breakfast

Prices per person