How to visit the Galapagos on a budget.

The Galapagos Islands are usually bypassed by backpackers due to the expense of the islands and getting here. A trip to these magical islands usually don’t fit into their budget but it has been a dream of mine to scuba dive here since I got my diving licence six years ago so it was always on my South America bucket list.

These volcanic islands were first discovered by Charles Darwin in 1535 and later declared a national park in 1959. Visiting The Galapagos islands is like visiting an alternative universe, it’s an enhanced archipelago of islands formed by volcanic eruption and inhabited by only those who could survive the journey from mainland. It is one of the two places in the world where giant tortoises can be found. The islands are home to some of the worlds rarest and most extraordinary animals such as blue footed boobies, green turtles, marine iguanas, hammerhead sharks , sea lions (the golden retrievers of the Galapagos) and so many more.

What I found incredible was the fearlessness of the islands inhabitants. If you have a staring contest with the animals you will lose, and you will also lose a game of chicken with the sea lions who love to play with tourists who they see as nothing more than slightly irritating paparazzi.

Top tips for visiting the Galapagos:

• Fly into one airport and out of another i.e. into Baltra and out of San Cristobal or vice versa. This saves time and money. It means you don’t need to return to an island you’ve already visited. Saves the time and money of taking a ferry back to where you’ve already been.
• Book accommodation before on booking.com. The last minute deals on booking were cheaper for us than the prices listed in the hostels.
• Book all tours when you’re on the islands. You can get last minute discounts for dives,cruises, ferries and tours.
• Don’t pay over $25 for ferries between islands. They say they’re $30 but you can haggle the operators down to $25.
• Bring toiletries and sun cream with you from mainland. These items are all imported to Galapagos and are double the price here compared to mainland.
• Make a plan as to what days you’re going to do certain tours and book when you arrive to ensure you get the day you need and make allowances for taking ferries and the ferry times between islands. The ferries leave at 7 am and 2 pm.
• Wear sun cream and hats and reapply. I got burned in the rain on a hike to the volcano on Isabela. The sun is so strong here and like nowhere else I’ve been. 

As we did the Galapagos on a budget (well as much as is possible) we didn’t go for a cruise and island hopped ourselves but speaking to a guy I met on one of the tours he got a 10 day plan for $1650 which included a 5 day cruise and a 5 day island hopping plan including all his accommodation, boats and activities on the islands for the 5 days before the cruise which is an excellent deal.

Time is always an issue, I seem to wish I had more time everywhere. Its probably the most precious commodity and money can’t buy it. Nevertheless I had a week on the Galapagos and definitely made the most of it with a packed schedule. There are lots of free things to do on the Galapagos but also so many tours to do so we tried to mix it up with a day of free things and followed by day of activities.

We visited the three main islands in the week ; Santa Cruz, Isla Isabela and San Cristobal and split the time evenly between the three islands.
We flew from Guayaquil to Baltra Island. My mum asked me if you could get a boat to the Galapagos, you could but it would be like getting a boat from Ireland to the south of Spain. So no, you must fly unless you come on cargo! The flights are around €300 whatever way you look at them. They stay around that price whether you book in advance or not. There are two main airports on the Galapagos, Baltra Airport which is on Santa Cruz and San Cristobal Airport. The flight was two hours long and we felt like we were going on our holidays for a week. A holiday from a holiday! Before we left Guayaquil they check you’ve no single use plastic with you, food products and dirt on your shoes. The Galapagos are plastic free or as much as possible and really police what comes in and out of the islands so non native things aren’t introduced to their fragile ecosystem.

Before departing for The Galapagos we had to pay a $20 tax and on arrive there is a $100 national park entrance fee for foreigners. They introduced this to try reduce the amount of tourists coming to the islands.

Santa Cruz

This is the busiest and has the largest population of the three islands. It has a lovely town center and port and the best night life and options for bars and restaurants of all the islands.

Getting there

Santa Cruz has an airport located in Baltra which is a tiny island with only the airport on it connected to Santa Cruz by a water taxi. From the airport you have to get a bus ($5) to the water taxi ($1) which brings you to Santa Cruz and from there you take another bus for 40 minutes to Puerto Ayora which is the main town for another $5.
The minute we landed in the Galapagos we noticed a MASSIVE price difference. I went to see about buying a mini tub of pringles, $4. No gracias. Went for an ice pop for $2.50 instead. Still exorbitant but better than nearer a fiver. Right then I had a bit of change of attitude to YOLO and you’re in the Galapagos so deal with it.

Things to do

• Scuba Diving: Santa Cruz has some of the best diving on the Galapagos and is famous for Gordon’s Rock. Here you can see hammer heads, sharks, rays and turtles. It’s known as the washing machine as the current can be really strong here and usually the dive schools require you to have your advanced diving licence and at least 25 logged dives. If you don’t have your advanced or 25 logged dives there are plenty of other easiest dive sights from Santa Cruz. For a two tank dive at Gordon’s Rock which includes lunch, water, all equipment and towels you’re looking at about $170.
• Snorkeling at Tortuga Bay: you can rent snorkels from a lot of the shops for $3 a day which is so cheap. The main free snorkeling area on Santa Cruz is in Tortuga Bay. This gorgeous beach has sand like flour it’s that white and soft and is a great place to surf. It’s about an hour walk from the port. There is a path paved to the beach for 45 mins and its a nice easy walk in. We tried snorkeling but when we went it was too choppy so just got in and enjoyed swimming in the waves. Later I heard you need to walk to the very right of the beach and there is a lagoon there which isn’t as affected by the waves. Typical! There I was with my mask on diving into massive waves saying nope, I can’t see anything. Just sand.
• Visit the Charles Darwin Center: this is free to enter and a great place to visit to learn about the history of the Galapagos and the endangered giant tortoises they protect. Its about a ten minute walk from the town center. Some of the species are extinct and we learnt about lonesome George who died in 2012. He was the last living Pinta Island tortoise and there was a world wide search for a female Pinta for George to mate with but unfortunately none was found so that species died out. You can see adult and baby giant tortoises here. This the was first time I’d seen one and was just amazed by the sheer size of them. They are incredible creatures. They’re everywhere in the Galapagos so I got fairly used to seeing them cross the road and roam around.

• El Chato ranch and the lava tunnels: El Chato is an ecological reserve where you can walk around and see giant tortoises roaming around. We walked through the lava tunnels there too which are pretty cool.

• It’s $5 to enter and they do unlimited free tea and coffee. This was good cause a coffee costs about $3 here and I’ve only started drinking coffee as of two weeks ago. Its the start of an expensive daily habit. I loaded up on the coffee here and was like a Duracell bunny for the rest of the day. To get here you can get a taxi for 30 mins or take the bus going towards Santa Rosa and then from where the bus drops you out you have a 3 km walk. We got a taxi back and shared it with a lovely girl from the UK who was living in the Galapagos and teaching English here for a few months. Shaz invited us out for a few drinks that night so we met up later that night and met a few of her English mates also out here teaching English. The Galapagos is a pretty cool address to have for a few months!

When we were waiting for the bus back from El Chato a guy pulled over in what I think was a taxi and asked us if we wanted to go back to Puerto Ayora. We asked how much and he said one dollar. I’m fairly sure in the week here I haven’t paid a dollar for anything, never mind for a 30 min taxi but we weren’t asking any questions and hopped in delighted with our basically free lift back.

• Snorkel at Las Grietas: this is a really cool spot for snorkelling. It’s a mixture of fresh and salt water in a canyon. At the back of it after crawling/sliding over some slimmy rocks there is another lagoon which has way more fish. Some of them were pretty big. The water is so clear here and it’s so deep. You can see all the way to the bottom of the canyon. It’s free to go here, just need to pay a dollar for the water taxi which goes from the German beach, another nice beach on Santa Cruz.

Where to eat

• Los kiosks on Charles Binford Street. This is street that packs out with local cuisine. The restaurants start setting up at 7 pm. There are so many great places to chose from here. We had heard TJs was the best place to eat here and as a testament to that it was the only place we had to wait a few minutes for a table. The Galapagos is fairly pricey in general and definitely for eating out compared to mainland Ecuador but I got a tuna steak with pesto, chips, rice and salad for $6. Probably the best meal I’ve had in Ecuador so far. We headed for dinner here with Oliver, a guy I met on a tour in Isabela and shared a jug of delicious Sangria. Another thing I didn’t like before this trip, now I don’t know I went without coffee and sangria! 

• Villa Luna: this is one of those places that does a lunch menu of the day for $5. This is an excellent deal anywhere, never mind the Galapagos. We got a soup,a main and a juice for $5. These are fairly standard in south America.

• Panaderia: there’s plenty of these bakeries selling cinnamon rolls, bread, croissants etc for. 50c or less. Cheap and easy option for breakfast and snacks.

Where to stay

There aren’t really such things as hostels in the Galapagos but there are a good few budget hotels. We got lovely rooms for under $40 a night and all the rooms have had three beds or a double and a single so could sleep three or more. In one place we had 4 beds in the room. All the rooms had AC, a kitchen, free water refills and a private bathroom. None of them included breakfast. 

Hostal El Pinzon: this place is a bit further from the town center. Its about a 15 min walk from the port. Room was lovely and clean, had good AC and a big kitchen. Cost $30 per night.

Hostal Marisol: it had a tiny kitchen but still had a hob, fridge and microwave. Massive room with 4 beds and private bathroom. Big plus was it was a 1 min walk from the port and near all the restaurants and shops. Cost $30 a night.

Isla Isabela

This was the second island we went to. Its a two hour boat ride to the west from Santa Cruz. The ferry’s run at 7am and 2pm from Santa Cruz to both Isabela and San Cristobal. The shops try sell you boat tickets for $30 but ask around because we got them all for $25. We thought you could get a ferry direct between Isabela and San Cristobal but you have to go back to Santa Cruz so that’s something to take into consideration as it’s expensive to get to and takes a full day. 

Isabela is the largest island but much quieter than Santa Cruz and doesn’t really have a town center. Its the most remote of the three islands so food is more expensive and fresh vegetables and fruit are virtually non existent. Just a few tour operators and a few restaurants along a street parallel to the beach and a few mini marts off the strip. There’s much more of a local feel here. We arrived on a Sunday was it was a ghost town with no shops or restaurants open so it was a magnum for dinner and to bed early.

Things to do

• Los tuneles snorkeling tour. This was brilliant! It’s the most popular snorkeling tour from Isabela. It cost $100, if the operators try sell it for $110 tell them you were offered it for $100 elsewhere and they will come down. We went for the early tour leaving at 8 am and got back at 1 pm. It was a great day and I saw more marine life than I’ve ever seen on a snorkeling tour. On the way to the lava tunnels Susie and I are fairly sure we spotted a whale. Not that either of us have ever seen a whale but we maintain it was definitely a whale. On the tour we saw blue footed boobies, crabs, sea horses, massive green turtles (they were everywhere!), white and black tip sharks, yellow finned tuna and massive manta rays from the boat.

The tour brings you to an area that lava has formed tunnels and caves and we walked around this for about 30 minutes looking at crabs and white tipped sharks in the caves. After we got in to snorkel and got to swim with green turlets, sea horses, fish, spotted eagle rays white tipped sharks. The turtles were the biggest sea turtles I’ve ever seen. They were just munching away on algae not phased at all by us snorkeling around.

The sharks were resting in a cave and the guide pushed me down into the cave to see the sharks better. Later on snorkeling around I saw one just swimming by. In the cave there was about 7 sharks just resting on the floor.

We saw two sea horses asleep on the ocean floor, they are so tiny we did well spotting them. On the way back to the boat I saw a spotted eagle ray. They are so elegant and look like they’re flying through the water. As we were heading back to the island our guide saw a huge school of fish at the surface of the water. He said they come to the surface when the tuna are feeding in them from under. He threw in a line and caught a fairly bug yellow finned tuna which are quite rare and kept it for his dinner that night. After our snorkeling we had lunch on the boat which was included in the tour. 

• Rent a bike and cycle to the Muro de las Lagrimas (wall of tears). This is a 12 km cycle in total along a dirt road where giant tortoises roam in the wild. Pretty cool just seeing them along the side of the path munching away. The wall itself isn’t the most fascinating but the views are good from the top and I saw just how bare and remote the island is. They’re are beaches along the way to stop off in. We rented a bike for the afternoon after we arrived in from the ferry and then cooled off in the sea after for a swim.

• Hike an active volcano and see the world’s second largest caldera. Sierra Negra volcano is biggest volcano on Isabela. This is a pretty cheap tour by Galapagos standards at $30 for a half day trip. The hike itself isn’t difficult at all or in anyway steep. Its 16 km in total along a path and towards the end we walked along the lava and saw the craters and lava tunnels. The last eruption was in 2015 so you can see the difference between the older and newer lava. The newer lava is darker in colour and has no vegetation growing, whereas the lava from the 2008 eruption is reddish brown and has cacti growing on it. Its really weather dependent and it was rainy and misty the day I went up so it’s worth a visit if you have time and haven’t climbed volcanoes. A light lunch of a biscuit, juice, croissant and banana was included in the tour. 

• Visit the tortoise reserve and lagoon with the flamingos. You can see link flamingos in the lagoons here and a similar giant tortoise reserve here.

• Snorkel with at Concha de Perla. This is a lagoon good for snorkeling by the port with sea lions, penguins, colourful fish and sea turtles. I rented a snorkel for $3 and headed down one afternoon. Apparently its better and clearer in the morning. They’re are so many sea lions on the deck on the way down to the snorkeling area.

Where to stay

Hostal Gladismar: this is a lovely hotel a two minute walk from the town and a 10 min walk from the ferry. We booked through booking. com and paid $35 for a double room and the owner told us had we not booked through booking it would be $30. She offered us a nicer room with three beds, a private bathroom, a fridge and AC which is usually $60 a night but said we could take it for the same price. She cooks breakfast before tours for $5. We could use the kitchen too. 

Where to eat

Maestro de Casa– this place is on the main street opposite the tour operators and does a good lunch menu of the day for $6. Definitely one of the cheapest on the island and good food too. 

Another gem of a place I found was an empanada place near the Art Gallery Cafe. I got a huge empanada for $1 for dinner one night. 

After the Los Tuneles tour we caught the ferry in the afternoon back to Santa Cruz to spend the night before going to the last island on our Galapagos island hoping trip, San Cristobal. We spend the night and caught an early ferry so we didn’t waste a full day on ferries. From Santa Cruz we booked our tours for San Cristobal so we were sure the dives to Kicker Rock and the 360 tour wouldn’t be full. We had dinner and a jug of sangria on Los Kiosks with Oliver, a lovely guy I met on the volcano tour in Isabela and seemed to be doing the exact same thing as me for a few days. 

The next morning we got the 7 am ferry to San Cristobal, our final island of the Galapagos trip and in my opinion, the most beautiful and charming of the three islands. On the way the driver pointed out a school of dolphins jumping. This was incredible to see. I sat up with the driver of the ferry for this ride so I had the best seat in the house to see the dolphins.

Its smaller than Santa Cruz but has a lot more going on than Isabela. The port is in the center of town and there are lots of beaches and great places for snorkeling. 

Things to do

• Snorkeling! San Cristobal has by far the best free snorkeling in the Galapagos. The water is so clear and the visibility was crazy good at Los Tijeretas. There is no beach here but some rocks you can lie out on. There are so many turtles and sea lions here who like to torment the turtles and the tourists too. One of the baby sea lions enlisted me into a game of chicken and accidentally nicked my knee. I’d like to think it was friendly playing and he didn’t mean to bite me and have my knee bleeding. There’s also snorkeling at Playa Mann, Playa Punta Carola and La Lobería. I was told snorkeling is best at low tide here. Again you can rent snorkels from anywhere in town for $3

• Watch sunset on Playa Mann with the sea lions. These guys are real posers and make for a beautiful sunset view.

• Take the 360 tour around the island. This is a snorkeling tour that takes your around the island and stops at a few beaches and snorkeling locations, including kicker Rock, one of the few locations you can spot hammerhead sharks. This is a full day tour 7 am – 4.30 pm and lunch is provided. It costs anywhere between $120-160. Shop around and try get it for $120. The ecofishing company was a good one to go with as they ensure you get a full hour snorkeling at Kicker Rock.
• Dive or snorkel at Kicker Rock. I went on a diving to Kicker Rock with Scuba Eden who were great. We had two dives at Kicker Rock and an hour on a beach nearby to snorkel, digest our lunch and chill out after diving. The diving at Kicker Rock was the most difficult I’ve ever done as the currents were very strong. At one point we had to grab the rocks with our hands and grip on with our knees to so that the current wouldn’t pull us away into the abyss. The water is quite cold here too so a wet suit is a must. I’ve only ever dived in warm water conditions so the wet suit changed my buoyancy and the cold waters  combined with the strong currents made me consume air at a much quicker rate. Usually I can dive for well over an hour on a tank but here I was low on air after 45 minutes. This is the best diving I’ve done, we saw so many turtles, HAMMERHEAD sharks, Galapagos sharks and the biggest school of fish I’ve ever seen.If you’re a diver this is a must do dive and one of the best dives in the Galapagos. It was $120 for snorkels and $170 for divers and it included a great lunch and snacks.

• Visit the interpretation center. I thought this was better than the Charles Darwin Center from a history point of view and its free to visit. It provides a really great explanation of the history of the Galapagos islands and conservation efforts currently on going.
• Walk to Mirador Cerro Tijeretas. Past the interpretation center you can walk about 45 mins to a view point over the beach which is a nice easy hike to do.

• Take a highland tour. The Highlands are 730 m above sea level so are much cooler than the rest of the island. You can share a taxi for $60 and go with a group of people. Stop off along the way in El Junco lagoon, the tortoise sanctuary and go swimming with sea lions at some amazing beaches. El Junco is a crater lake 19 km from the port and holds a volume of around 9 million gallons of fresh water.

Where to stay

• Casa de Jeimy– this is a lovely hotel in the centre of town near everything. It had a good kitchen, private rooms with bathrooms and OK WiFi. WiFi in the Galapagos is shocking in general. Only thing was I did find a tiny mouse in the room on the last night and couldn’t sleep knowing that was in the room, with the potential to run over me during the night. Susie came back into the room with me moving the furniture away from the walls, removing all the bags from the floor and a shoe in hand ready to kill the mouse. We had no other option I felt if we wanted to sleep that night so I took it upon myself to be the one to corner the mouse and kill it with a shoe. Two bangs and the mouse was gone. RIP. I felt a little bit sorry for him, he was actually kind of cute, and for the cleaners who were met with a dead mouse and a spot of blood on the floor. Otherwise than that it was a nice hotel and one of the more budget places on the island at $30 a night per room. 

Where to eat

• El Mercado: fresh fruit and vegetables in abundance and cheap too which is hard to come by on the Galapagos.

• Picanteria Sarita: a guide we met brought us here for lunch. He promised a cheap and tasty lunch and he was spot on. This place actually looked closed but the shutters were just down to keep the sun out. We got a juice, a soup and a seafood curry for $6.

• Mocking bird: this restaurant is just opposite Sarita and is very similar. It does a menu of the day for $5.

Leaving the Galapagos

Before catching a lunch time flight from San Cristobal Airport I went for a walk along the board walk and to La Lobería to soak up the last of the sun and take in the beauty of these enchanted islands. The airport is less than a kilometer from the center or $2 in a taxi and the airport is teeny so an hour before flight departure is ample time. 

A week was too short on the Galapagos, it was what we had so we got a lot done but as with nearly everywhere- I wish I had more time! I think 10 days would have been ideal and 2 weeks would be even better. Nonetheless my week on the Galapagos was the best yet of my 5 months through Central and South America so far and I think it will be really hard to beat. I feel so lucky to have seen these rare and beautiful animals and experience the beauty of the Galapagos. Scuba diving in the Galapagos has been a dream of mine and on my bucket list ever since I got my diving licence 6 years ago. I feel so privileged to have swam with hammerhead sharks, sea lions, turtles, so much other marine life and see beautiful colourful coral while they’re still intact. It really made me appreciate our wonderful world and our oceans. I feel more responsible than ever to do what I can to take care of our precious oceans.