Ecuador · 6 days · Moderate
6-Day Galápagos Multisport
The same islands, approached under your own power. You bike down the Santa Cruz highlands, kayak Tortuga Bay and the Tintoreras channels, hike the Sierra Negra caldera and snorkel Los Túneles — and you see a side of the archipelago that a day boat never shows you.
Short answer
6-Day Galápagos Multisport is a 6-day, 5-night Ecuador itinerary starting in Baltra airport, Santa Cruz and finishing in Baltra airport, for private; day-boat excursions shared, as the park requires. It is quoted on request, because the price moves with dates, party size and hotel category. On top of that sit the mainland–islands flight and US$230 per adult in mandatory fees, which no operator is allowed to include — US$200 for the National Park, US$20 for the transit card and US$10 collected at the pier on Isabela. Every day of it is published below, and we rebuild it around your dates at no extra cost.
Highlights
- Mountain biking from the highlands down to the coast on Santa Cruz
- Kayaking Tortuga Bay, where turtles surface beside the boat
- Sierra Negra on foot — the second-largest active caldera on the planet
- Snorkelling Los Túneles among the lava arches
How this trip moves
5 nights, 2 places to unpack
The thing most itineraries hide is how much of your holiday is spent getting somewhere. Here it is up front.
Where you sleep
- Puerto Ayora 2 nights
- Puerto Villamil 3 nights
The shape of it
- 1 The day you get there
- You sleep here
- Flight
- Boat
- Road
Day by day
- Day 1
Quito to Baltra, and the highlands by bike
Morning flight from Quito’s Mariscal Sucre airport (or from Guayaquil) to Baltra, two hours, or a little more with the usual stop in Guayaquil (flight not included). Then the park fee and the transfer up into the highlands. Bikes from the top down through the farm belt to the coast, stopping wherever a tortoise is in the road — which is often.
- Change of base
- Flight + Road
- Meals
- Not included
- You sleep at
- Puerto Ayora
- Day 2
Tortuga Bay — hike and kayak
The walk out to Tortuga Bay along the paved trail, then kayaks in the sheltered bay: turtles, rays, sharks in the shallows and marine iguanas on the rocks. Charles Darwin Station in the afternoon.
- Change of base
- None — you stay where you slept
- Meals
- Breakfast
- You sleep at
- Puerto Ayora
- Day 3
Isabela — Tintoreras by kayak
Crossing to Puerto Villamil and out to Las Tintoreras with paddles rather than an engine. Penguins, reef sharks, marine iguanas.
- Change of base
- Boat
- Meals
- Breakfast
- You sleep at
- Puerto Villamil
- Day 4
Sierra Negra on foot
The full hike to and along the caldera rim. Long, exposed and worth every metre.
- Change of base
- None — you stay where you slept
- Meals
- Breakfast
- You sleep at
- Puerto Villamil
- Day 5
Los Túneles
Snorkelling the lava arches — turtles, seahorses, reef sharks — and the boobies overhead.
- Change of base
- None — you stay where you slept
- Meals
- Breakfast
- You sleep at
- Puerto Villamil
- Day 6
Baltra airport
Speedboat back to Santa Cruz and the transfer to the airport.
- Change of base
- Boat
- Meals
- Breakfast
- You sleep at
- — last day, you fly home
What is included
- All equipment: bikes, kayaks, snorkelling gear
- Five nights’ accommodation with breakfast
- A National Park–licensed naturalist guide on every excursion
- All island transfers and inter-island crossings
What is not included
- Flights to and from the islands
- Galápagos National Park entrance fee — US$200 per adult
- INGALA transit control card — US$20
- Meals not stated, travel insurance, tips
Per person in double occupancy. Final price depends on your dates, party size and hotel category — high season and single occupancy carry supplements. The Galápagos National Park entrance fee (US$200 per adult, US$100 per child under 12, cash on arrival) and the INGALA transit control card (US$20, bought online before your flight) are collected from you personally and cannot be included in any operator’s price. Budget US$230 per adult on top of the figure above. Full breakdown →
When to do this trip
Year-round; June–November is cooler and easier for the Sierra Negra hike.
Good to know before you book
- Group size
- Private; day-boat excursions shared, as the Park requires
- Starts
- Baltra airport, Santa Cruz
- Ends
- Baltra airport
- Pace
- Moderate
- Passport
- Valid at least six months beyond your arrival date. Entry requirements →
- Insurance
- Not included and not optional in our view. Medical evacuation from the islands or the rainforest is expensive.
- What moves the price
- Hotel category, private versus shared guiding, your dates, and party size — a solo traveller pays the room, not half of it. We break the whole thing down in the Galápagos price index.
- If we have to change something
- Weather, park regulations and flight schedules occasionally force a swap. We tell you before you travel, not on the day, and we replace like with like.
Who this trip is not for
We would rather lose the booking than sell you the wrong week. These are the reasons people come back from this itinerary disappointed, and all of them are predictable before you pay.
Anyone who has not been on a bike or in a kayak recently
It is not extreme, but it is consecutive days of activity in equatorial heat. People who train nothing and book this spend day four tired rather than happy.
Anyone hoping to dive Gordon Rocks with a basic certification
Gordon Rocks needs an Advanced certification and real current experience. Turning up without it means being refused at the boat, and that is the operator being right.
Anyone travelling with someone who wants to rest
It is a full itinerary. A partner who wanted beaches and a book will be waiting a lot.
If any of those describe you, tell us — there is almost always a version that fits, and it is usually not more expensive.
Questions about this itinerary
How long is the 6-Day Galápagos Multisport?
6 days and 5 nights, starting in Baltra airport, Santa Cruz and ending in Baltra airport.
How difficult is it?
Moderate. Group size: Private; day-boat excursions shared, as the Park requires.
When is the best time to do this trip?
Year-round; June–November is cooler and easier for the Sierra Negra hike.
What extra costs should I budget for?
Per person in double occupancy. Final price depends on your dates, party size and hotel category — high season and single occupancy carry supplements. The Galápagos National Park entrance fee (US$200 per adult, US$100 per child under 12, cash on arrival) and the INGALA transit control card (US$20, bought online before your flight) are collected from you personally and cannot be included in any operator’s price. Budget US$230 per adult on top of the figure above.
Photographs
These islands, photographed by us
Not a picture library. These are ours, taken on the islands this itinerary visits — each one says where and when.
-
The sign on the trail. The walk in is part of it On the path to Las Grietas, Santa Cruz, January 2019 — our own photograph -
Las Grietas from above, before going down to the water Santa Cruz, January 2019 — our own photograph -
The beach on the walk in, before the fissure Santa Cruz, January 2019 — our own photograph
What you meet on this one
Not a promise — these are wild animals. But these are the species this itinerary is actually built to reach, and each one has its own page with the exact sites.
The full Galápagos wildlife encyclopedia →Which month for which animal →
If this one is not quite it
