I researched for hours and hours on end about the best way to lay out our land based Galapagos itinerary. I will admit that in some places, I sacrificed budget for time. With only 9 days to explore I wanted to maximize the time that we had. If you have more time, or a smaller budget there are alterations you could make to this itinerary and I will note them. Overall, I feel very pleased with this itinerary and find it very action packed and efficient. We were able to see and do so much on the islands.

If you’re interested in more of the practical information and things that you need to know before visiting the Galapagos Islands, check out my post here —–> Read this before visiting the Galapagos Islands

How to Get to the Galapagos Islands

To begin our Land based Galapagos trip we flew from Quito to Baltra Island. You can fly in from Guayaquil as well. When you land on Baltra it is important to know that you’re not yet on Santa Cruz Island. Upon landing the normal route is to land, take a short bus ride (10-15 mins), a short ferry ride(about 6-10 mins), and then a taxi or bus to Puerto Ayora (about 40-45 mins).

Personally, I didn’t want the hassle of navigating this upon landing, so I booked a tour and it was the best idea! I booked with Ecuador Trails and was so glad we did. They met us at the airport, escorted us through the bus and ferry process, and then drove us straight to the “El Chato Giant Tortoise Reserve”.

We got to have a little tour and learn about the turtles and we had lunch here while watching them roam around. Then our driver took us to walk through the lava tunnels that are also on the property. After that he drove us into town and dropped us right at our airbnb. It was such a nice welcome to the Galapagos and made things so stress free and easy.

3 Days on Santa Cruz Island: based in Puerto Ayora

We continued our land based Galapagos itienrary by spending 3 days based on Santa Cruz island in the main town of Puerto Ayora. We loved staying in this town, the port was beautiful and you could see so much wildlife from the town and dock. This town is very built up and caters well to tourists. It has everything you would need and also has a number of free and easily accessible activities.

I wrote a whole blog post about staying on this island. —-> you can find all the details here “3 Days on Santa Cruz”

Ferry to Isabela Island

When you do a land based Galapagos itinerary you do have options on how to get from place to place.

For this transfer we decided to take the ferry. You can book your ferry tickets in town a day or two before your departure. Try to get on the largest boat you can, the bigger the boat, the less seasick you are prone to be. The ferry runs at 7am and 3pm and takes about 2 hours. You have to show up to the ferry about an hour before departure to get the water taxi to your seat on the boat. The water taxi costs $1 per person and is not included in the cost of the ferry. I recommend arriving early so that you can get the seat you desire on the ferry.

The ferry companies recommend sitting in the back of the boat near the motor to avoid sea sickness. I can confirm that this was an effective way to do it. We also took seasickness pills an hour before departure just to be on the safe side. We read a lot of horror stories about the ferries and people feeling ill, but our experience was good and we felt fine. I also read that taking the 7am ferry gives you a better chance of having calm seas than the 3pm.

3 days on Isabel Island: based in Puerto Villamil

The second island of our land based Galapagos Itinerary. 3 days was a wonderful amount of time here. This was our favorite island and if we had more time, I would have loved to spend it here. We based right near the main town of Puerto Villamil and right along the beautiful beach. This town is a bit more “rustic” than the other two, but that was the best thing about it. We loved the laid back beach vibes and the relaxed pace of life here.

I wrote an entire post about staying on this island. You can find it here —–> “3 Days Land Based on Isabela”

Fly to San Cristobol

We chose to fly to San Cristobol in the interest of time. The flight was about 40 minutes and you only need to arrive to the airport about 40 minutes before the flight. The flight was more expensive (compared to the ferry) and cost us $350 USD for 2 people and luggage.

The other option for getting to San Cristobal is to take the 7am ferry to Santa Cruz and then the 3pm ferry to San Cristobal. This makes for a very long day and 2 more ferry rides. This wasn’t for us. This would cost you about $120 for two people, but would also cost you a whole day.

We flew with ESAV airlines and we were in a 4 seater plane. There are a few planes that fly each day and vary between about 4-10 seats. If you have a fear of flying or small planes this option may not be for you. We found it to be fun and kind of like an air tour as well as a transportation option. Everything went smoothly and we enjoyed the flight.

3 days on San Cristobal Island: based in Puerto Baquerizo Moreno

The final island of our land based Galapagos itinerary. Again, we based right in the main town of Puerto Baquerizo Moreno and found it very enjoyable. This town is literally overrun with seals and sea lions and you can watch them at all times, which is so enjoyable. The town has everything you would need as a tourist, you can get around easily, and there are a number of free and enjoyable activities.

I wrote a whole post about what to do here for 3 days. —–> You can find it here “3 days land based on San Cristobal”

Returning to the mainland

The great thing about doing the land based Galapagos itinerary this way is that you can fly back to the mainland directly from San Cristobal. We flew back to GYE from here and you can honestly walk to the airport from the town or take a 4 dollar taxi, this makes for a really easy return back to mainland Ecuador to travel further or head home.

Overall thoughts on our land based Galapagos Itinerary

This itinerary was built for efficiency and maximizing time on the islands. We lost only about 2 hours each time in transit, which gave us so much time on each of the 3 islands.

If we had extra days I likely would have spent them in Isabela or in Santa Cruz.

3 days on each island offers you enough time to enjoy the town, the free activities, and also to get out on some tours.

You could also easily do this itinerary in reverse.

If you only want to take ferries it could also make sense to do Santa Cruz, Isabela, Santa Cruz, San Cristobal. This way you can get the same amount of days in each place, but break up the ferry trips a bit.