Galapagos | The best length for a Galapagos Cruise

The best length for a Galapagos Cruise

Picture the situation: you’ve decided that this is the year that you’re finally going to make it to the Galapagos Islands. Your long-held dreams of visiting this incredible natural wonder are about to come true. But then, when you’re finally there, cruising the islands and coming face to face with turtles, sea iguanas and playful seals, you realize your length of stay wasn’t long enough.

Deciding how long to go on holiday is always difficult. If you’re talking about a standard beach break, then anything less than two weeks is too short. However, with the Galapagos Islands being so remote, sometimes the price can get in the way of an extended stay.

Very often visitors to the Galapagos opt to go on shorter, four or five-day cruises. Put off by the distances to travel and expense of some Galapagos luxury travel they think a shorter holiday is the best way forward.

However, if you speak to visitors to the Galapagos, they often recommend that an eight-day cruise is the minimum time period to go for. This, it seems, is for a number of reasons outlined below.

Experience in the Galapagos Cruise

While four days of Galapagos luxury travel puts most other mini breaks to shame, this is a part of the world that deserves your full attention. On shorter breaks, you will, of course, get to experience the majesty of these islands, but you’ll only really be able to tick off the islands in close proximity to each other. You might miss out on the less crowded gems like FernandinaGenovesa, and Española.

If you do, you won’t get the chance to see wildlife like the waved albatross, Galapagos fur seal and red-footed boobies that only live on the more distant islands.

On a longer length of stay, six or more day cruises take in these sites as part of their itinerary, when smaller cruises simply won’t have the time. On longer cruises, you get a fuller experience, with sites like breeding colonies of frigatebirds on North Seymour, just off Baltra.

Opportunity

Let’s face it, how many times are you going to get to enjoy this experience? Longer cruises might cost more but if you have gone to the expense of paying for Galapagos luxury travel and taken the time to get there, you may as well maximize your stay. It’s just good sense.

Cost

Lastly, Galapagos luxury travel might not be as expensive as you think. There are some great packages and deals available, even on the Galapagos luxury yachts. So why not check it out and see what length of stay you can afford? After all, if it’s a holiday of a lifetime, then you might as well make it one to remember forever.

We offer 4, 5, 6, 8 and up to 15-days’ cruises in the Enchanted Galapagos, Contact Us now for personalized assistance!

Andre Robles
Andre Robles
Andre Robles is an expert in everything South America, his passion for the region and exploring off the beaten path makes his travel writing both useful and interesting. He has written for several mainstream publications and you can read his guides on Ecuador, Peru, the Galapagos Islands and the Amazon. Andre is also an accomplished photographer and has been recognized as one of the best wildlife photographers in the region, his photos have been featured in National Geographic and other journals. As a travel agent Andre specializes in curating unique experiences, crafting tailor made itineraries and helping visitors make the best of their vacation, always putting the experience first