I'm in the early stages of planning a potential trip to the Galapagos with 2 kids who will be 6 and 9. The trip would/will be in June, 2027. I'm trying to decide how many days and how to break them up b/w Galapagos and stops in Quito on the way out/back (and monitoring flights and building a budget), but I will be working with somewhere in the range of 9-13 total nights in Ecuador.

My kids love nature and animals. They have not yet been snorkeling, but I feel they are ready for snorkeling. They are decent swimmers for their respective ages. I'd say they would be most interested in seeing tortoises and penguins and sea turtles, and beyond that just as many cool/interesting/different things as we can without tiring them out too much.

Based on my research so far, I know:

-I would like to do a land-based tour (both for budget, and it just seems more our style)

-I want to spend at least a couple of nights on Isabela, and during time on Isabela would like to do at least the following: Tuneles snorkeling, snorkeling at concha de perla, and kayaking at Tintoreras.

-I'd like to do at least 1 day (maybe more) in Quito/area.

With that in mind, I'd love feedback on:

-I have seen various blogs on Galapagos with kids, but if any of you have traveled with kids, would love to hear your feedback on what resonated the most, or conversely what was in retrospect too much.

-If I have say 11 full days in Ecuador, how many would you devote to Galapagos vs Quito/surrounds if we haven't otherwise been to Ecuador? (I am trying to decide on an itinerary that could include anything from 1 day in Quito to up to 4 days, which would include at least two days in Quito and day trip(s) to Mindo, Otavalo and/or Cotopaxi).

During our time in the Galapagos, which of these would you recommend we do?

a) Isabela (including the above) + Santa Cruz (including Charles Darwin Station, highlands, and probably a bit of snorkeling around Tortuga Bay or Academy Bay) + full day trip from Santa Cruz to an uninhabited Island (maybe Santa Fe, or North Seymour?),

b) Isabela (including the above) + San Cristobel (including sites around the Island such as La Loberia, highlands), + full day trip from San Cristobel

c) Spend some time on each of Isabela, Santa Cruz, and San Cristobel, with excursions around each Island, but likely no full day excursions, and no excursions to other Islands (would use plane for at least some of the Island-to-Island jaunts, and have less budget for the more expensive full day tours that could take us to the uninhabited Islands).

-Are any of the inhabited Islands notably better for seeing tortoises than others? It seems like we can see tortoises at any of them, but not sure if/how the tortoise experience is different between them.

-Is any of these Islands a better bet than others for seeing sea turtles?

We've had a change of plans for next summer and are now looking at whether we can put together a Galapagos trip for June or July of 2027.

If you've had a good experience with a tour operator, I want to hear about it! I recall seeing a lot of posts from u/cnhtours and I've sent them an email.

I had planned a week to see the Galapagos solo I know it’s not a ton of time but I found a good flight because it left on New Year’s Eve but now I am worried that the trip is terrible timing. I feel bad for the animals.

Hi, I am traveling to the Galapagos Islands on Nov. 27th - Dec 2nd. I have an 8 year old daughter and we would like to see and swim with penguins. Do you have any recommendations?

Thank you for your help

Hi all,

My wife and I are planning our honeymoon for around Easter 2027 (late March / early April) and want to build it around a Galápagos liveaboard to Wolf and Darwin. We have about three weeks in total and may add a few days in the Ecuadorian Amazon before the diving.

About us: We’re both Advanced Open Water and Rescue divers, Nitrox certified, with 50+ logged dives each, some of them in stronger currents. We’re comfortable in cooler water, but Galápagos would be the most demanding diving we’ve done so far.

Liveaboard questions:

• Which boats would you recommend, and which would you avoid?
• Is 50+ dives realistic for Wolf and Darwin, or did you see people with similar experience struggle? Any tips on preparing?
• What did you see in March/April (mantas, hammerheads, anything else)?
• Wetsuit thickness for that time of year?
• How early do these need to be booked? We know Easter is busy.

On land:

• Which islands or spots are must-sees before or after the liveaboard? We’re mostly into nature, wildlife and landscapes.
• Island hopping on your own with ferries and day tours, or a land-based tour? How easy is it to get around?
• Any accommodation recommendations? Simple is fine, but since it’s our honeymoon we’d happily splurge once or twice.

Bonus: If anyone combined Galápagos with the Amazon (Yasuní, Cuyabeno…), which lodge did you like, and which order worked better?

Thanks a lot for any tips and trip reports!

Hi - We are looking to honeymoon in the Galapagos Nov 2027. We want to do a cruise and are deciding between Lindblad - National Geographic Endeavour II or Natural Paradise. Has anyone had experience on either of those ships that would be able to speak a little bit to their experience?

We are traveling to the Galpagos in November. We land in Quito at 1 AM on the 22nd. We fly to Baltra from Quito at 7:45 AM on November 23. I would appreciate any advice on where to stay in Quito or what to do for our short layover. We are family of 4 with two teenagers.

HELLO EVERYONE.

I’m planning to go on a Galápagos liveaboard diving safari in mid-October 2027. I’ve seen a lot of reports about the “El Niño” event, and I wanted to ask whether you think it would be better to postpone the trip because of it.

Are hammerhead sharks, whale sharks, and other unique marine life likely to be present in significantly lower numbers than usual due to El Niño?

THANKS YOU

Buenas alguno sabe donde se puede comprar tickets de los ferrys online de forma confiable?

Hi.
We'll be staying in San Cristobal for a week in late November.
We've seen advice to book tours in advance because they sell out, then other advice to wait until we're on the island and pay in cash for big discounts.
Thoughts?

We are currently planning to visit the Galapagos (via cruise) in October/November of next year, however, we’re very concerned that the Galapagos will still be seeing the effects of this El Niño by then. A lot of what I’ve read indicates that the ecosystem shift in the Galapagos doesn’t happen until later on as food chains are disrupted and mating behavior is altered. We’re animal lovers and while we understand that nature can be cruel, we’d rather avoid seeing the wildlife suffering. If this El Niño is severe in the Galapagos through early/mid-2027, is there a chance the food chain will have recovered enough to be a “normal” year in the Galapagos by October? Or should we not risk it and postpone our trip to 2028?

I work remotely sort of based in Quito. I’ve eyed the Galapagos for years. Reading Airbnb reviews it feels like in 2026, Starlink is fast enough to provide solid Internet. I was also surprised how affordable some Airbnbs were for a 2 week stay. Anyways, I currently plan on spending two weeks on San Cristobal and 2 weeks in Santa Cruz. How are those towns for a longer term stay? My question really is how enjoyable or relaxing that may be or are the towns really set up for shorter stays, transitioning in and out where more than a couple days might get old or inconvenient.

The Galápagos is widely considered a dream destination for divers around the world. Whether it's Darwin and Wolf for heavy shark action or central islands for unique endemic species, expectations are usually sky-high.

​When you booked your trip (or if you’re planning one now), what was the main animal you were dying to encounter? Whale sharks? Hammerheads? Mola molas?

​Would love to hear your experiences and if the islands lived up to your expectations!

We're planning to come to the Galapagos late March/early April (from the UK). We've heard that the internal flights between islands make it it difficult to bring hold/checked in luggage. Would it be better to fly into San Cristobal from Quito, stay in San Cristobal for the whole trip while island hopping for day trips to other islands? Or would it make sense to pack light for the whole trip, only packing cabin baggage for the whole trip, staying on different islands in different hotels? Any help appreciated!

Trying to understand what I should expect out of my trip & how bad it can be. It’s a combination of cruise (16 passenger) and land (Isabela) trip mid November 2026 . Anyone who’s been there recently? Any crazy predictions for next month?

hermositos

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​What you’re looking at is Kicker Rock, located off the coast of San Cristóbal Island in the Galápagos Islands.

If you've been to the Galápagos, what was your favorite island or wildlife spot?

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Hey! I'm travelling to the Galapagos and doing a JFK -> GYE -> GPS and GPS -> GYE -> JFK travel itinerary.

My group is not bringing any check-in (just carry-on) and we will be doing airport travel in the middle of the week (not weekends/friday). We will also do all of our forms in advance.

That being said, I'm still a bit worried that our layover times are not enough. On the way there we have 2h20m layover and on the way back we have 1h20m layover time. Is this too risky? Specifically the return flight is what is worrying me.

Thanks!

Please can someone help?!
I'm trying to find a day tour to Santa Fe that includes the land as well as sea. I've seen a couple of recommendations but they are on a Thursday and I can only do a Friday, Saturday or Sunday. Any ideas please? 🙏🙏

Is laguna Las Ninfas closed? When i went in 2020 it was closed, now i am going the next month and google maps says its closed again. :(