In the islands that spawned the very theory of our evolution, life is as unique as ever in the Galapagos. And since Charles Darwin’s famous visit back in 1835, the land remains just as pristine. In the Galapagos, near perfect red and white sand beaches still dot the islands, coastlines remain dominated by giant mangroves, ocean waters continue to flourish with multicolored life forms, and animals continue to behave as though man were no enemy. It is this purity, this innocence, this very magnificence that truly makes the Galapagos the enchanted islands that they are today.

On this very unique and exciting adventure we combine an exciting 5d/4n land-based hotel stay and thrilling daily yacht explorations of the amazing Galapagos Islands, with a guided tour through the best of Quito (a UNESCO World Heritage City).

In the Galapagos, you’ll explore 4 different islands while staying at 3 unique and beautiful land-based lodges at night. During the day you'll take daily yacht excursions where you can snorkel the crystal clear waters and witness amazing diversity of animals on Baltra, Santa Cruz, Floreana, and Isabela Islands. At night you can relax in the comfort of the spacious lodges.

In Quito, you’ll tour through the best of this wonderful city, the surrounding countryside, and you’ll have a chance to experience the thrill of standing on the equator.

It’s a great land-based way to visit these amazing islands.

Additional days are possible in the Galapagos and Quito. Contact us for details.

We also offer ship-based cruises (see website for details) of varying lengths (4, 5 & 7 days) and price levels. We have access to a large inventory of cruise ships with a variety of departure dates. Please contact us at customerservice@headoutadventure.com or (888) Trip Find/(888) 874-7346 for details and pricing.

Brief Itinerary:

Day 1: Quito
Day 2: Tour of Quito (B)
Day 3: Fly Quito to Galapagos. Baltra & Santa Cruz Islands. (B, L, D)
Day 4: Santa Cruz & Floreana Islands. (B, L, D)
Day 5: Floreana & Isabela Islands. (B, L, D)
Day 6: Isabela Island & Santa Cruz Island. (B, L, D)
Day 7: Santa Cruz Island. Afternoon return to Quito. (B)
Day 8: Trip Ends. Transfer to the airport. (B)


Detailed Itinerary:

B: Breakfast | L: Lunch | D: Dinner

Day 1:
QUITO, ECUADOR

Arriving in Quito, you will be met at the airport and transferred to your hotel. The evening is yours to relax and enjoy the city. Overnight in Quito.


Day 2:
QUITO (B)

In the morning you will be met by your guide and we’ll head out on a five hour tour of the Ecuadorian capital city of Quito. Declared a World Heritage City by UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization), Quito is undoubtedly among the most attractive Latin American cities. Although it lays on the equator, the city is located high in the Andes, resulting in weather that is warm and comfortable during the day and cool at night. The morning tour will focus on the best of Quito and its rich cultural legacy, ornate facades, and dazzling gilded altars. You will visit Independence Square, the Archbishop’s palace, the Metropolitan Cathedral, and Panecillo Hill for a panoramic view of the city.

After lunch you will visit the famous Equatorial Monument where we’ll have the chance to see a quintessential colonial model village located at the Equatorial Line, marked by geographers as latitude 000’00”. Here you can stand in two hemispheres at the same time. Following a visit to the equator, we’ll go to a delightful local museum which focuses on Ecuador’s varied ethnic groups from the Galapagos to the Amazon. Overnight in Quito.


Day 3:
GALAPAGOS ISLANDS: Baltra & Santa Cruz Islands. (B, L, D)

Getting an early start, we’ll be transferred to the Quito airport for your flight to the Galapagos. Arriving in the Galapagos, we will be met at the airport and transferred a ferry which will take you to Puerto Ayora on the island of Santa Cruz. From here you will be transferred to the lodge.

In the afternoon, the shaded speedboat will comfortably whisk you to La Loberia Island, named after its large colony of sea lions. You will have the chance to snorkel with these frolicking creatures, a great opportunity for photos if you have underwater housing for your camera. Keep an eye out for sea turtles and try not to be so distracted by the playful sea lions that you forget about the great variety of colorful fish.

Next we will travel over to Tortuga Bay, one of the most beautiful beaches on Santa Cruz Island with powdery white sand and calm turquoise water. On the way through the bay, you may see sea turtles, Galapagos sharks, reef rays, pelicans, blue footed boobies and herons in the mangrove forest lining the bay’s side as well as other Galapagos marine birds. We will disembark for a quick walk to observe marine iguana colonies sunning and sneezing the salt from their recent outings at sea. The walk (10 minutes) back to Tortuga Bay is through a cactus forest above a carpet of crimson Sesuvium ground covering. It is a stunning array of colors against the beautiful blue skies, the black volcanic rock, the white sand and the emerald green or deep blue sea. Enjoy your box lunch in the sun, under the shade of a beach umbrella or under one of the trees that line the beach. No doubt you will have many Galapagos ground finches nearby hoping to pick up crumbs from your lunch.

After lunch, enjoy a swim in this peaceful bay or just relax awhile.

Next we will go to Punta Estrada where you will sail through the Canal de Amor (Tunnel of Love). Many endemic birds nest or rest in the cavernous walls providing wonderful up-close and personal photo opportunities with blue-footed boobies, pelicans, lava herons, frigates and more. You will disembark for a short, rocky walk where you will probably need to step around the sleeping sea lions to walk out on the dock above volcanic rocks dotted with bright orange/red Sally Lightfoot crabs before heading over to a viewing platform to observe resting white-tipped reef sharks in abundance. If you wish (and/or weather/visibility permits), we will bring the boat around to the Canal entrance where you can snorkel with the sharks. Eagle rays have also been known to visit this canal.
Evening: Briefing and dinner at the lodge on Santa Cruz Island.


Days 4:
GALAPAGOS ISLANDS: Santa Cruz & Floreana Islands. (B, L, D)

Wake-up call at 6:30 AM. Staff will call for your luggage at 7:00 AM for transport to dock. Breakfast. 8:00 AM departure.

Today's tour begins with a trip to "Los Gemelos" (The Twins), two enormous collapsed lava chambers - an awe-inspiring visual reminder of the power of nature. The short, easy hike to each of the twins is teeming with endemic flora and fauna, including the remaining Scalesia Forest draped in Liverwort, large and small tree finches, the adorable Vermillion flycatcher and more. It's a wonderful introduction to the majestic power of the forces of natures and the great biodiversity of the Santa Cruz Highlands.

Afterwards, we will visit a 600-acre private reserve where the giant Galapagos tortoises freely roam, graze and sleep. After visiting the tortoises, we'll take a 5-minute ride to the entrance of a 450 meter (1350 feet) illuminated lava tunnel. With a ceiling nearly 20 feet high in most places, this is an incredible opportunity to ramble through the remnants of one of the most powerful forces in nature... lava flows. Stalagmites, stalactites, sulfur and mineral colored walls and the rippled form of a floor of lava can all be experienced in this uniquely Galapagos stroll.

In the afternoon you'll return to the lodge for Lunch. At 2:00 PM you will departure for Floreana. Sailing time is 1.5 - 2 hours.

The boat will arrive into Floreana at approximately 4PM. First, you will cruise a cove called "Luz del Dia" (Light of Day). Here you will most likely see penguins and sea lions on the steep, rocky shore and rays and tropical fish beneath the clear waters. We will continue on to the main dock in Floreana. It’s not unusual to have to "shoo" sea lions sleeping on the steps we need to ascend. On the other side of the dock are black lava rocks typically full of the amazing rich red and turquoise colored Floreana marine iguanas. We will continue on to our lodge for check-in.
Evening: Briefing and a BBQ Dinner at the Lodge on Floreana Island at 7:30 PM.


Days 5:
GALAPAGOS ISLANDS: Floreana & Isabela Islands. (B, L, D)

Wake-up call at 6:30 AM. Staff will call for your luggage at 7:00 AM for transport to dock. Breakfast. 8:00 AM departure.

An open-air bus will transport you up to the highlands of Floreana while your Naturalist Guide begins filling you in on the history of the first settled island in the Galapagos. You will walk up to see the Asilo de la Paz (Peace Asylum) where the spring is located, an artisan spring that attracted pirates, whalers and later settlers to Floreana as it was one of the very few year round sources of fresh water in the Galapagos. The Cueva de los Piratas (Pirate’s Cave) is quite literally where pirates carved temporary shelter out of soft stone and is also where one of the original settlers, Margret Wittmer, gave birth to a son, Rolf, who is still living. Some have almost jokingly referred to it as the ‘Stonehenge’ of Floreana due to its interesting shapes. Cerro Pajas (Bird Hill) truly lives up to its name with a multitude of Floreana Finches. It also offers spectacular views of the island and the sea below. We will visit a tortoise reserve where you can watch many of the giant tortoises up close and personal. All the while, your Naturalist Guide will be pointing out the wildlife and filling you in on the colorful history of Floreana’s first inhabitants.

At 11:00 AM we depart for Isabela. Sailing time is 1.5 - 2 hours.

Mid Day: Weather and tides permitted, as we approach Isabela by sea, we will cruise by Isla Tortuga which is chocked full of frigates, blue-footed boobies and other birds that rely on the sea for their food. If you brought binoculars, this is a good time to pull them out. We will arrive into Isabela between 12:30 and 1:00 PM. Arriving in the port is a visual feast with stunning green and turquoise waters so clear, you can see sea turtles, sea lions and penguins as though looking through glass. We will check-in to the lodge and have a hot, wholesome lunch.

After lunch, we will board a smaller craft to head out across the port, slowing down to view blue footed boobies and Galapagos penguins sharing the same rocky, sunning space before turning a bend and docking. From there, we take an intriguing walk through a jagged ‘AA’ lava field, passing abundant colonies of marine iguanas, to see a small canal full of resting white-tipped reef sharks... if the tide is low, they are sometimes a mere 2 feet below the surface. The views from here are something you may carry with you for the rest of your life! The black, treacherous lava field, the emerald green sea, the forest green mangrove and the cloud capped volcanoes of Isla Isabela is the sort of afternoon backdrop you are not likely to ever forget.

Once you return to the dock, you can snorkel this warm, shallow bay with an opportunity to see white-tipped reef sharks, sea lions, and penguins. Don’t worry, white-tipped reef sharks are not aggressive, merely fascinating.
Evening: We’ll have a bit of time to relax and shower before briefing and dinner in the Lodge in Isabela at 7:00 PM


Day 6:
GALAPAGOS ISLANDS: Isabela Island & Santa Cruz Island. (B, L, D)

Wake-up call 6:30 AM. Staff will call for your luggage at 7:00 AM for transport to dock. Breakfast. 8:00 AM departure for tour.

We begin with a drive out of town along the most beautiful, white sand, palm lined beach in the whole of the Galapagos, Long Beach. This travel magazine cover stretches on for 3 kilometers before we hit the National Park and begin with a stop to walk up the stairs for astounding vistas from the top of Cerro Orchilla. As you drive down the road, you will very likely see the largest of the Galapagos marine iguanas sunning by the side of the road and don’t be surprised if you have to wait for a Galapagos tortoise to cross the road in front of you. You will visit the “Muro de Las Lagrimas” (Wall of Tears), backbreaking effort carrying jagged volcanic rock distances when constructed by prisoners of a penal colony built there. The path to the Wall of Tears is abundant with lava lizards, the males are larger and striped and the females red-throated. If you visit during breeding season, be careful not to step on or disturb the many nests along this trail. They appear as holes that a gopher might have dug, but in fact are nests. Birds are also incredibly abundant and your Naturalist Guide will assist you with identification.

Isabela has more tortoises in the wild than any other island with several sub-species as lava fields created a barrier that limited their mobility to freely roam. On your way back to town, you will visit the Interpretation Center, a breeding center for the giant Galapagos Tortoises and the only place to view the rare, remaining flat backed (so-called 'tabletop' shells) Galapagos tortoises, many of which still bear the scars of volcanic activity from Sierra Negra.

At roughly 11:00 AM, we will depart Isabela for Santa Cruz. Sailing time is 1.5 – 2 hours.

We arrive into Puerto Ayora around 12:30 / 1:00 PM. We will check into the lodge and have lunch. We depart at 3:00 PM for a guided tour of the fascinating Charles Darwin Research Station. After the Darwin Station, there will be some free time to shop for souvenirs or browse the shops along Charles Darwin Avenue.
Evening: Dinner is at 7:00 PM at the lodge on Santa Cruz.


Day 7:
GALAPAGOS ISLANDS: Santa Cruz Island - QUITO (B)

In the morning, after breakfast, you will be transferred to the airport for your flight back to Quito. Arriving in Quito, you will be met at the airport and transferred to your hotel in Quito. Your evening is free to explore.


Day 8:
QUITO (B)

Trip ends. Transfer to the airport for your international flight OR, even better, why not continue with one of our exciting extension adventures to the Amazon Rainforest, Northern Highlands and/or Mindo Natural Reserve.