If you want to see as many islands as possible in a self-chosen amount of time, you can opt for one of our Galapagos cruises. If you prefer sleeping on firm ground, you can also choose one of our hotel-based tours on the Galapagos islands or the mainland. Are you fascinated by the marine life in the archipelago? Then go for our scuba diving Galapagos tours. For adding some more sports, you can opt for our Galapagos adventure tours.
Cruises are the most popular choice to tour the Galapagos Islands. Galapagos tour cruises range from luxury class to economy class boats.
EXPLORE CRUISES »Taking a land based tour in the Galapagos Islands provides the chance to explore the islands in their entirety through a number of tours and activities.
DISCOVER MORE »See whale sharks and large schools of hammerheads in a live-aboard or hotel-based diving tour. Take a land + dive combined nature tour for the full nature vacation experience.
DIVING TOURS »Adventure travel vacation packages include activities such as kayaking, mountain biking, horse riding and snorkeling. These adventure tours are perfect for active travelers.
ADVENTURE TOURS »Find the best Galapagos cruise promotions, real time availability and book direct your vacation with the Galapagos Travel Experts:
Discovering the Galapagos and enjoying the vacation of a lifetime, has never been easier than with the help of our Galapagos experts. Thanks to our years of expertise, we have combined the best land tours, and offer the best Galapagos cruises.
But wait… what is the difference between a land-based tour and a cruise?
There is not a lot of difference between a Galapagos land-based tour and a Galapagos cruise. Considering that the visitor sites will be almost the same as long as they can be reached within a couple hours from your hotel, wildlife will be the same and the experience will be the best of your life.
Nevertheless, and considering the questions that this may arise, we have prepared these FAQs about the difference between these kinds of tours.
All of the Galapagos cruises are all-inclusive, which means that inside the rate everything will be covered, from the meals, drinks (save for alcoholic beverages), to the guided-excursions, night accommodation, and inter-island transfers.
On the other hand, land-based tours not always have everything included in the rate, meaning that most dinners will have to be covered by you, apart from the per person expense of the daily tour and transfers, which does not necessarily means that hotel-based will be more expensive.
In the chart below, you will see referral prices of the average cost per day of Galapagos land-based tours vs. Galapagos cruises (in US Dollars):
Luxury | First-Class | Mid-Range | Budget | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Land-based | $515 | $430 | $375 | $340 |
Cruise | $745 | $639 | $498 | $390 |
Most of the visitor sites seen in both tours will be the same. However, due to cruising time, boats are able to reach some islands that cannot be seen on a land-based tour. This happens because most of the traveling while onboard a cruise occurs at night. Therefore, while you sleep the vessel can reach longer distances.
This is a tricky question. When choosing a good vessel, like the ones suggested by our Travel Experts, you will be comfortable while cruising, anyhow, sea roughness has to be always considered. On the other hand, and indisputably sleeping on land will always be stable and comfortable.
Where does the tricky part come? Transferring between islands occurs aboard speedboats, which can be a really bumpy ride, that can last from 2 to 3 hours.
Above all, these are the most important things to consider when booking a tour to the Galapagos Islands. In order to customize your Galapagos trip, so it can fit your budget and your time, it is highly recommended to receive free-online assistance from one of our Ecuador & Galapagos experts.
Based in the United Kingdom, the Galapagos Conservation Trust (GCT) is a non-profit organization dedicated to raising funds for the protection and conservation of the Galapagos Islands. Established in 1995, the GCT has supported a wide variety of conservation and awareness programs.
GalapagosIslands.com and Galapagos Travel Center have supported GTC in conservation efforts in the Galapagos Islands.
Is not only our expertise and knowledge of the travel market that stand-out for us, but also the outstanding services recognized by our former passengers in their comments and reviews, here and in our TripAdvisor profile.
Traveled to Islands Secrets Land Based Tour
Hi Daniela,
I'm back in Quito, and off on the birding trip tomorrow. I want to thank you personally for all the organisation and support.David Betram
June 2018
Traveled to Galapagos Dream Land Based Tour
Thank you so much for all the planning you did for us to make this an unforgettable vacation. We will definitely recommend to friends and family should they ever wish to visit Galapagos or Ecuador.
We also hope to return sometime in the future.
Terry Bucholtz
April 2019
Traveled on the Majestic + Land Ecuador + Amazon + Peru
Thank you, thank you, thank you. We had an amazing trip. You could not have planned this any better nor had the staff more attentive, guides were friendly and very knowledgeable and the hotels were very nice.
Carol & Craig Bennett
May 2018
Traveled to Land Based Galapagos + Ecuador Andes
Dear Daniela,
I will highly recommended your company and especially you to all the people who ask about our trip. I can’t say enough about how helpful you were.Thank you from all of us,
Devon Icaza
March 2018