As with most places, the Galapagos are easier to navigate when your mindset aligns to the place you are visiting. Importantly, the Galapagos islands are a national park. So, they are first and foremost a reserve for the plants and animals that live there and second a livelihood for the people. Finally, they are a privilege for a limited number of visitors.
It is equivalent to the Serengeti. Perhaps in the 1970’s it was OK to park your VW bus anywhere in the Serengeti or island hop at your leisure through the Galapagos. But today both are highly curated, with purposeful and sensible rules to protect the fragile ecosystem.
As a result, the Galapagos are expensive, tightly controlled and well managed. So long as you enter with that understanding, you will have a fun, fascinating and interesting experience.
Entry with an Agent
For cruisers, it is easier and more time and cost effective to use an agent to arrange your stay in the Galapagos. They deal with all the permit and entry paperwork, can provide a clear and up to date understanding of the rules, support your preparation for entry and trouble shoot issues during your stay. From the authorities’ perspective, the agent is responsible for you during your stay so the agent is incentivized to ensure that all goes well. They can also provide an itinerary, arrange day trips and, if you happen to be a super yacht, support reprovisioning, bunkering, etc.,
It is best to start the process about 60 days before entry. Although it typically takes about 45 days and can be squeezed into 30 days. Still the more notice the better, and there is some grace in terms of arrival times given that sailing is subject to the weather.
As an example of an experienced agent, I met with Johnny Romero ( in January 2026) who runs galapagosyachtservices.com with his brother Juan Carlos (+593 99 468 8793). Johnny can be reached at info@galapagosyachtservices.com or +593 99 933 0494 (WhatsApp). I’ve not used his services as a client but he seemed capable, knowledgeable and had a clear understanding or the needs of different cruisers from bare bones to white glove service.
My estimate (could be wrong) for a 40 ft boat with 3 on board for two weeks I would budget $2K to $3K USD at a minimum.
Some basics to be aware of
The currency of the Galapagos (like the rest of Ecuador) is the USD. Prices in restaurants, shops and grocery stores are similar to a modestly priced city in the US. Puerto Aroya (Santa Cruz Island) has a reasonably priced grocery and general store right at the port.
Spanish fluency is helpful but English is acceptable for tourist related activities.
There are four designated ports for cruisers, one on each of the four most populated islands (Santa Cruz (the largest), San Christobal, Isabella and less visited Floreana.) These are the only anchorages that you can stay in without a park cruising permit. If you drop anchor overnight anywhere else you will need to pay a fee of $200 per person per day and have a full-time guide on your boat (need a cabin and provide food) as well as pay about $400 to $500 per day for the guide. So, if you really want to cruise with your own boat and have say 3 people on board, budget about $1,000 per day ($200×3 + $400). Since day trips are about $100 to $150 and some excursions can be done for free, the most economical way is likely to simply stop at each port for a few days and visit the snorkel and dive sites on a day trip with the land lubbers. There are exceptions to this such as the west side of Isabella which cannot reasonably be accessed by a day boat so you might want to spring for a cruising permit for a few days to see this part.
The Darwin and Wolf islands (over 100 NM to the North of the main islands) boast whale sharks, great diving and require a boat to accompany your boat reportedly boosting the cost of visiting these islands to thousands of dollars per day.
The authorities require you to keep your AIS on at all times and they monitor where your boat is and how long it is in a particular spot. Even with a cruising permit you can only stay for the time period set out in your itinerary. Given that cruisers typically put up a $5,000 bond that can be pulled for overstaying an anchorage, it can be expensive to test the rules.
When in the reserve (the entire island archipelago), you can swim, dive and kayak but no other water sports such as kiting, wake boarding or jet skis are permitted.
Logistics and getting around
Santa Cruz island has the biggest town (Puerto Ayora) with 12,000 residents and many independent tour agencies, shops, restaurants, hotels, land and water taxis. It is effectively one enormous resort operated by a myriad entrepreneurs. There is a fast ferry boat to San Christobal and Isabella that takes about 2 hours (morning and afternoon). It is a covered, comfortable, mono V-hull launch that seats about 40 people. With 600 hp it runs at about 18 knots. In modest seas it is comfortable but you are effectively just on a commuter bus occasionally looking out of the window on your way from A to B. Cost is $30 and pre-booking is a very good idea. There is limited upstairs seating for a better view. Best to arrive at the dock at least 30 mins before departure if not an hour as there can be a long line to pass customs. There are different docks. To find the correct one, look for the long line.
Taxi’s on land:
It appears that all or the land taxis are double cab Toyota Hilux pickup trucks. They seat 4 and carry all types of gear. Plus, you can put your rental bike in the back and they can take you to the top of the island.
Around town they are $2 and reasonably priced everywhere on the island. Rolando, his brother and Dad are all taxi drivers on Santa Cruz island. Rolando can be reached at +593 98 826 6987.
Taxis on the water
There are yellow water taxis that cost $1, $2 to $5 depending on destination. Just jump on and pay the driver cash. Sometimes they are used to transfer to the tour boat or the interisland launch.
Tours
The day boats for the longer snorkel trips carry 20 passengers, with a cabin and outdoor seating. There is a captain, cook/crew and a guide. A very good cooked lunch is served. The cost runs about $130 to $150 if booked from a low-cost agent. Typically, these boats depart around 9am and are back by 3:30pm.
Agents for tours: All day tour bookings go through agents. All agents book essentially the same trip. There is no difference in service on the trip based on how much you pay. If you pay more through a more expensive agent they will walk you to the correct dock and flutter about a bit but once you get used to the lay of the land the logistics are so easy there is no reason not to just book through any agent. Once on the boat, you are all treated equally well regardless of how much you paid.
There is a separate tip for the guide and for the Captain / Cook. A tip of $10 each is average, $20 each brightens their day.
After you book, the booking agent will tell you where to go and when to be there. On the day simply go to the requisite dock 30 mins in advance. A naval administrator in a military uniform will check your name off the clip board and then you can get on the boat. It is well organized and if you are at the right place at the right time you will be OK.
The following agents are reasonable priced:
Yogo Alvear – Super awesome guy. Also runs a small guest house La K-Leta and bike tours. His wife runs swim tours and works for Swim Trek. The agency is called The Darwin Path thedarwinpath.com +593 98 879 0334 Yogo can give you a cool bike tour or a self-tour on Santa Cruz island.
Agents who offer a basic service are Padi at +593 989231153 and Julyjo Tours +593 93 935 6505 – They are conversational in English and will get you the same basic package at the standard rate. It should be base + 15% but it is unclear what the base is.
On San Chrisobal, David was a really good guide / dive guide. While much of what we did would be possible to do for free without a guide, David was really good and worth it. David is at +593 99 864 7241. David is a fully qualified and very experienced scuba dive master.
I can recommend these two, single day snorkel trips from Santa Cruz Island:
• Pinzón: Encounter sea lions, turtles, and reef sharks.
• Santa Fe: Snorkel with playful sea lion colonies.
Station beach or Playa De la Estacion is a favorite with locals particularly at dawn and good for swim exercise. The Darwin station is worth a visit. Both are accessed by walking down Charles Darwin street.
On Santa Cruz, Two restaurants with good views are Almar Seafood and Grill (Food is pretty good) and Bahia Mar (nice for a drink). Dimati Pizza a few blocks in from the beach road has really good food pizza and pasta etc.,
Geoff’s Bio
Geoff has sailed and raced recreationally in the New Zealand and the US east and west coasts. He has previously crossed the Atlantic, bare boat chartered in French Polynesia and recently helped deliver a sailboat from New Zealand to Fiji.
Geoff is currently scheduled to do the PPJ on a fellow sailors Beneteau 473 from the Galapagos to the Marquesas in late March 2026.
