The magnificent eco-tourism hotspot of the the Galapagos Islands is pretty high on most people’s bucket lists even if they aren’t usually birders. There is something magical about seeing the birds and animals close up and unafraid. But unless you know how to work the mileage programs, this wonderful destination may get crossed off the list if you think you can’t afford it. It’s not easy but you CAN have a fulfilling Galapagos experience even on a shoe-string budget. In this post I will show you my thought process in finding the best solution for us and things you need to consider.
CRUISE OR LAND BASED?
The first decision to make is if you want to take a cruise around several islands or have a land-based experience on one or more islands. This is going to come down to how much you can afford and if you like sea travel in a small boat.
Since we didn’t take a cruise, I can’t recommend one ship over another. I did Google “Galapagos cruises” and quickly realized that there was no way we could afford a cruise. The cruises which last 4-8 days are in the $300-700 per night range. Some examples can be found on this link. We already were spending up on the Napo Wildlife Center package so had to economize everywhere else.
The other thing I would have taken into consideration was the size of the boat. I am prone to sea-sickness and small boats do get tossed around on the open sea more than I would be comfortable with. The boats take 16-20 passengers (whom you may like or not like) so you do have the feeling of being on a group tour but in a confined space so this wasn’t appealing to me either.
The benefits of being on a cruise is that you get to see most of the islands and the widest variety of wildlife. The ships have their own naturalist guides to explain everything to you and once you are on the ship you can unpack and relax for a few days.
The decision to stay land based was an easy one for me as I wouldn’t have been comfortable on a small boat for several days and I couldn’t afford it.
WHICH ISLAND(S)?
Next decision was choosing an island or islands. The issues faced by budget travelers is saving money on the flights. There are 3 airlines which fly from Quito & Guayaquil to the two main islands – Santa Cruz served by Baltra Airport (GPS) and San Cristobal served by San Cristobal Airport (SCY).
LATAM is a OneWorld partner and theoretically you should be able to redeem AAdvantage miles or British Airways Avios for the flights but it’s not that simple. I’ve gone into more detail about why this happens. The only way I was able to solve the problem was getting a LanPass Visa from US Bank and topping up with some SPG Starpoints.
Avianca/Aerogal is a Star Alliance partner and with luck you can get award flights using United miles at 10,000 each way per person. Since I had a better use for my United miles elsewhere, I didn’t go this route. You can also try Avianca’s Lifemiles which may have better availability. Availability can be hit or miss. Right now, it’s pretty good. Last year when I looked it was pretty bad so YMMV!
TAME is another option but you’ll have to pay cash as they don’t have any partnerships or alliances.
The taxes are low, around $20 each when you buy the tickets (pay credit card) and you have to pay another $20 (cash only) for an INGALA Tourist Control Card when you check in at the airport. When you arrive at the airport in the Galapagos, there is a $100 entry fee per person, this is also cash only. If you forget to bring it, they will send you to the ATM and you can’t leave the airport until it is paid. So be prepared with the cash!
Choosing between San Cristobal and Santa Cruz depends on what kind of wildlife you want to see, how long you are staying and your budget. In my case, I am a birder and I don’t really like snorkeling, especially in the open sea (as opposed to a tranquil lagoon). I did research on eBird and “Where to Find Birds in Ecuador” and decided that a land based visit to San Cristobal would give us the greatest number of potential bird species (including all 3 Boobies & Frigatebirds) with the lowest possible cost. You can get cheap hotels on both islands but with San Cristobal, you can get to the birding hotspots in one full day boat trip whereas with Santa Cruz you have to take longer ferry rides to other islands to get more bird species. I figured I could suck it up, eat & drink minimally to survive the full day boat trip. This will be covered in detail in another post.
So now that I have explained how I tailored our Galapagos trip based on our budget and wildlife viewing priorities, you can use similar techniques to plan your own Galapagos adventure!