The Galápagos Islands are truly “a world unto themselves,” as Darwin wrote. Aboard your own private yacht with a naturalist guide, set off into Darwin’s world for an active journey full of nature hikes, snorkeling, and wonder. Abundant marine life makes for fantastic snorkeling, and swimming with playful sea lions is an experience you’ll never forget! In the evenings, enjoy a delicious dinner as you discuss the experiences of the day with your naturalist and enjoy the beauty of the star-filled equatorial night. Wilderness Travel Private Journeys are designed for people who want to travel with their own small private group, but who still want to experience the same superb itinerary design, great accommodations, and signature quality of Wilderness Travel’s escorted group trips. A Private Journey allows you to choose your own dates and your traveling companions—yet still enjoy a guided adventure.

Itinerary at a Glance

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Day 1, Saturday
Baltra Island / Santa Cruz Island: Santa Cruz Highlands / Darwin Station / Puerto Ayora

On arrival at Baltra Island, you are met by your naturalist guide for a drive into the lush Santa Cruz highlands, where you can look for Galápagos tortoises. In the small town of Puerto Ayora, visit the Charles Darwin Research Station’s tortoise-breeding facility. After your visit, embark aboard the Reina Silvia for dinner.

Day 2, Sunday
Floreana Island: Punta Cormorant / Champion / Post Office Bay / Black Beach

Cruise to Floreana for a walk to a salt-water lagoon where elegant pink flamingos wade in the shallows. At Champion Rock, enjoy snorkeling with Galapagos penguins, sea turtles, and colorful reef fish. In the afternoon, visit Floreana’s Post Office Bay, with its historic Post Office Barrel. In the 18th century, sailors left letters here to be posted by passing ships. Also visit Black Beach, with its lava sand and sea lion colony.

Day 3, Monday
Isabela Island: Elizabeth Bay / Punta Moreno

Five volcanoes contribute to Isabela’s dramatic scenery and spectacular coastline of basaltic bluffs. Take a Zodiac ride through a salt-water mangrove lagoon to see green sea turtles and Galápagos penguins. In the afternoon, Reina Silvia lands on a superb pahoehoe lava flow. There are flamingos, gallinules, and ducks in ponds and lagoons here. Enjoy great snorkeling at Punta Moreno.

Day 4, Tuesday
Isabela Island: Urbina Bay / Fernandina Island: Punta Espinosa

On Isabela, land on a beach often used by green sea turtles as a nesting site. As you hike over varied terrain, observe large land iguanas, a variety of endemic plants, and sometimes giant tortoises. In the afternoon, hike to Punta Espinosa, which extends out from the base of the Fernandina Volcano, to see the largest marine iguanas in the Galápagos. We should also find flightless cormorants nesting in the rocks and land iguanas.

Day 5, Wednesday
Isabela Island: Tagus Cove / Punta Vicente Roca

Hike at Tagus Cove, once an anchorage for pirate boats, and view the volcanic landscapes of Darwin Volcano and Darwin Lake. Back at the shore, you may see brown noddies, noddy terns, and flightless cormorants. At Punta Vicente Roca, take a panga ride along the cliffs and explore a sunken cave at the water’s edge. Blue-footed and masked boobies perch along the rocky cliffs and flightless cormorants inhabit the shoreline here.

Day 6, Thursday
Santiago Island: Espumilla Beach / Buccaneers Cove / Puerto Egas / Mina de Sal

At Santiago, visit idyllic Espumilla Beach, a great place for swimming and snorkeling and an important site for nesting marine turtles. North of Espumilla, visit Buccaneers Cove, once a haven for pirates and whalers, and Puerto Egas, a magnificent stretch of coastline that host a great variety of wildlife. Birders may be able see one of Darwin’s finches as well as the endemic Galapagos hawk. Beyond the tidepools, visit the fur seal grotto.

Day 7, Friday
Santa Cruz Island: Las Bachas / North Seymour Island

Cruise to Santa Cruz Island’s Las Bachas, a major nesting site for green sea turtles, and visit a saline lagoon where flamingos wade. The beach is ideal for swimming and snorkeling. At North Seymour Island, hike among prehistoric-looking marine iguanas as well as a large colony of magnificent frigatebirds

Day 8, Saturday
Baltra Island / Disembark

Arrive in Baltra, bid farewell to your naturalist guide and yacht crew, and disembark.

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What the Trip is Like

The trip is rated Level 1+, Easiest. It is appropriate for anyone in good health who is physically active and enjoys moderate walks. There are daily shore excursions featuring walks on well-marked trails through wildlife colonies, rocky lava fields, and along beaches. Our shore landings are either “dry” (where there are rocks or wooden piers to step onto when you disembark from the Zodiac) or “wet” (which involves stepping out into a foot or so of surf and wading to shore). Getting out of the panga for a dry landing is occasionally tricky, especially on days when the seas may be active because the Zodiac moves up and down with the waves and the rocks you step onto may be slippery. The yacht staff will assist in these landings.

Explanation of Trip Levels