Galápagos Islands | Expedition aboard M/C Tip Top II

Upon arrival in Guayaquil, after clearing customs and immigration, you will be met and escorted to your hotel. Check-in begins at 2:00 pm.

After breakfast, have a program orientation, then set out on a city tour of Guayaquil. Sites include Santa Ana Hill, the colorful heart of the old town, and the Malecón, the riverfront promenade revitalized with restaurants, art galleries, stores, and museums.

Fly from mainland Ecuador to Baltra. After boarding M/C Tip Top II, attend your first orientation and have a light snack. Disembark at Playa Las Bachas and visit a flamingo lagoon. Attend an evening orientation about the origin and evolution of the Galápagos Islands, and enjoy a welcome cocktail with the entire crew, followed by dinner. Each day there will be a briefing about the next day's activities, and time for optional swimming, snorkeling and/or kayaking.
*Cruise itineraries are subject to change without prior notice for various factors including, but not limited to: safety, weather, mechanical breakdown, unforeseen emergencies, and the discretion of the Captain, Guide, and the Galapagos National Park.

Today go for a panga boat ride and then land on Genovesa Island at Prince Philip's Steps (El Barranco), a steep, naturally formed path that leads up to a cliff face. Walk and observe the lives of the birds here, such as the Red-footed Booby, Galápagos Short-eared Owl, and storm petrels. Enjoy lunch aboard the boat. Later in the afternoon, visit Darwin Bay, home to frigatebirds, herons, boobies, turtles, marine iguanas, and more. After dinner, attend an evening orientation to learn about conservation efforts to protect the islands.

This morning go ashore at South Plaza Island, where a walk through a cactus forest allows you to observe land iguanas and many species of tropical birds. Return to the yacht for lunch and sail to Santa Fé Island to check out a different colony of land iguanas native to the island.

Disembark and take the bus to the highlands of Santa Cruz Island for a visit to the native forests in El Chato Reserve, then go to a farm to search for giant tortoises in the wild. After lunch on the farm, return to Puerto Ayora to visit the Fausto Llerena Breeding Center and Interpretation Center inside the Charles Darwin Research Station. Return to the yacht for dinner and nightly orientation.

Land on Floreana Island and walk to Baroness Viewpoint, named for the Baroness Eloise von Wagner Bosquet. Enjoy the beautiful landscape and see the ruins of her house, then continue to Post Office Bay. In the 18th century, whalers placed a wooden barrel at this site to use as an informal post office, and today, visitors continue the tradition by leaving their own postcards in the barrel. Before lunch, visit Wittmer Pension. Return to the yacht for lunch. In the afternoon, disembark at Cormorant Point and take a short walk to the Flamingo Lagoon. Continue the walk to La Picona beach for the chance to see marine turtles and their nesting grounds. Afterwards, visit Champion Islet for a snorkeling excursion.

After breakfast, visit Punta Suárez on Española Island to walk along lava beds and observe unique colonies of marine birds. From April to December, this is one of the best places in the world to see Waved Albatross and their nests. In the afternoon, visit Gardner Bay for a walk among sea lions on the beach. Then take a panga ride around Osborn Islet and the islets of Gardner.

Have breakfast onboard, then prepare for a wet landing at Cerro Brujo, the only site in the Galápagos where it is possible to witness all three booby species nesting together. Walk along the beautiful white-sand beach to observe sea lions, pelicans, gulls, finches, mockingbirds, and boobies. Afterwards, sail around iconic Kicker Rock (León Dormido) and its narrow channel in search of sea birds. The enormous rock formation is the remainder of a vertical tuff cone that has since become a favorite nesting place for Nazca and Blue-footed Boobies and frigatebirds. Marine life is plentiful in the waters surrounding the cliffs, so be on the lookout for sea lions, sharks, turtles, and rays. After lunch on board explore Isla Lobos, where we can enjoy blue footed boobies, frigates, sea birds, rays, and sea lions. Optional: time for those who would like to snorkel or panga ride. In the afternoon, disembark at Baquerizo Moreno Port on San Cristóbal Island and visit the Interpretation Center, which tells the story of the geological and human history of the islands and their conservation. Return to the yacht for dinner and a nightly orientation.

Take one last panga ride this morning around Black Turtle Cove, a series of coves and islets surrounded by mangroves, where you can observe white-tipped reef sharks, marine turtles, spotted eagle rays, and yellow cow-nosed rays. Return to the boat and disembark on the pier to take the bus directly to the airport in Baltra for the flight to Guayaquil. Upon arrival, after collecting luggage, you will be met and transferred to your hotel for an early farewell dinner. For those departing this evening, you will be taken to the Guayaquil International Airport for your flights home.

Today you will transfer to the airport for your flight home. Check-out should be before 12:00 pm.