Pack a ton of adventure into one action-packed week aboard the 48-guest National Geographic Islander. With multiple adventures each day on land and undersea—including options for walks and hikes, kayaking, paddleboarding, and snorkeling—you’ll be assured of the full Galápagos experience, but in less time. Get close to the iconic wildlife that has no instinct to flee human presence, making for magical encounters. Snorkel with sea lions, hike the highlands among giant tortoises, and see blue-footed boobies and other seabirds up close. As with the classic, 10-day expeditions, honed over the last 50 years, each voyage is crafted to offer you a diverse experience of the archipelago.
Experience all Galápagos offers in just one week, with departures on Saturday and Thursday
Add a two-night post-expedition extension in Quito, Ecuador
Snorkel and kayak in rich waters among shimmering fish, sea turtles, penguins, and playful sea lions
Walk among colonies of wildlife and seabirds unfazed by your presence
Maximize your time in the islands with options for exploration every day including hiking, kayaking, snorkeling, and more
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Duration
7 Days
Price
From $5,900 per person
(does not include flight)
Dates
Year Round
Special offers
FREE AIRFARE ON SELECT DATES
GET THE GROUP ON BOARD! SAVE 10%
SOLO PREMIUM WAIVED ON SELECT 2021 DATES
4TH GUEST TRAVELS FREE
EARLY BOOKING SAVINGS
COMBINING OFFERS
BRINGING THE KIDS
BACK-TO-BACK SAVINGS
TRAVELING AS A GROUP
Galápagos, Wild Escapes
Embark
Galapagos Islands, Ecuador
Disembark
Galapagos Islands, Ecuador
Special Offers
8/10/2021
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National Geographic Islander
Today we visited the island of San Cristobal. We started our day with a hike at Punta Pitt, where we walked uphill along a beautiful tuff landscape. Here we could observe the last of the three species of boobies found in the Galapagos, the red-footed booby. We also found nesting blue-footed boobies. We ended this hike with a refreshing swim at the beach, while our National Geographic Global Explorers went for Zodiac driving lessons around the bay. In the afternoon, while some went for kayaking along the shore of Cerro Brujo, others went to visit a beautiful white sand beach. Here we had the opportunity to relax and practice our photography skills as the light of the afternoon started to get better with the sunset. We ended our day navigating around Kicker Rock, a tuff cone in the middle of the ocean, while our bartenders onboard National Geographic Islander offered different kinds of wine on the sky deck.
8/9/2021
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National Geographic Islander
The beautiful crystal clear water of Gardner Bay at Española is the first thing we see in the morning. Pre-breakfast kayaking is our first activity of the day. The geology and wildlife we spotted were very impressive. After breakfast we got ready for snorkeling, and so did the sea lions! They welcomed us as if they were in an amusement park. Acrobats in the water, these creatures play stunts, swim circles around us, and never want to stop. A turtle eats algae, fish swim around their home rocks, but the sea lions put on the endless show for us to enjoy. Strolling along the beach is a wonderful way to admire its beauty: incredibly white sand with some sea lions lounging, mockingbirds flying around as if wanting some attention. Wonderful morning at a wonderful place. The afternoon at Punta Suarez is another story, one with abundant wildlife! Right as we landed, we encountered territorial male sea lions barking out loud like they own the place! Marine iguanas gathered for warmth in large groups as mother sea lions nursed their pups. Blue footed boobies were nesting and raising their chicks. Nazca boobies hung out before and after their feeding trips. Swallow tailed gulls waited for the night to go fishing…this and much more was here to been seen. The only and most important nesting site for the majestic waved albatross is here. In fact, they are here now, incubating the egg or raising their young. Some of them were even celebrating the reunion with a special love ritual. This and more can only be found here at Espanola, the oldest island with the most endemic wildlife. The island of fantasy. The best.
8/8/2021
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National Geographic Islander
Our day began just offshore at Floreana Island, with a relaxing morning of kayaking at “el mirador de la Baronesa” in the company of plenty of sea turtles and sea lions. In another pre-breakfast activity we visited Post Office Bay, where we delivered our postcards to the post office to send to friends and family back home, but also took a few left behind by other travelers, to hand-deliver ourselves. Later this morning we had the opportunity to ride a dinghy around Champion Islet in front of Floreana, and to snorkel around it afterwards. These are beautiful clear waters overflowing with sea lions and plenty of colorful species of reef fish. After a tasty Ecuadorian lunch we had the chance to hike around Cormorant Point and check out the brackish lagoon located behind the beach. Plenty of shorebirds inhabit this área, which also features wonderful geological and geographical features.
8/7/2021
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National Geographic Islander
Today was our first landing on one of the most interesting little islands of the archipelago. We had a pre-breakfast wakeup call and started our excursion for the hike to Bartolome, nearly four hundred steps uphill, with the goal to get to one of the most famous landscapes of the Galapagos, while learning about geology and pioneer plants on a volcanic island. After breakfast we went to the beach in order to prepare for the deep-water snorkel, and some Galapagos penguins were swimming around all of us! This encouraged us to go to visit another spot where we ended up swimming with different species of fish, two huge marble rays, lots of starfish…so many that it seemed like we were stargazing underwater. It was also amazing to have the opportunity to experience two Galapagos penguins fishing and swimming very fast for about thirty minutes, right in front of our eyes. Snorkeling was definitely the highlight of the day! We had a delicious local lunch with produce harvested from farms on Santa Cruz Island. The afternoon followed with another snorkel outing around one of the islets of Guy Fawkes, and a couple of Zodiac rides in the same area surrounded with local wildlife. Late in the afternoon, we went for a hike to Cerro Dragon, which is an area in the dry zone where we walked through endemic and native vegetation characteristic in this ecosystem, such as incense trees (or palo santo), Darwin cotton, spiny bush, and more. We had to look for the one and only Galapagos land iguana, and we spotted several individuals of this endemic species very close to their burrows, which serve as nesting sites and resting places. They were difficult to see, because they camouflage very well with the landscape. There was an amazing sunset on the way back to the ship.
8/5/2021
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National Geographic Islander
We had an early start at Espumilla Beach and as soon as we got there, surprises were waiting for us. Three gorgeous brown pelican juveniles in their nest (which was already too small for their size), were the attraction of the morning, and they looked surprised with the visitors surrounding them. Some of us did a hike along the inside of the bay while others had a stretching session on the beach with Diana, our wellness specialist. The day followed with many activities around Buccaneers Bay. Some groups went kayaking, others took Zodiac rides and kids had the opportunity to learn how to drive the large Zodiac. Immediately after, we went on the last snorkeling of the trip, which was amazing because of the variety and amount of fish, plus the water visibility we had. The best part of this outing was a couple of giant manta rays swimming around us several times! At lunchtime, we had delicious Ecuadorian food that gave us enough energy to keep going for the rest of this long and interesting day. When in Puerto Egas, at the beginning of the afternoon hike, we saw a Galapagos hawk feeding from an adult blue-footed booby on the sand. This was very impressive and exciting for all, because the prey was almost the size of the predator and the hawk was tearing it apart in front of our eyes. The hike was beautiful, we encountered Galapagos fur seals, pelicans and boobies. The tide was very low and around the tide pools, we found lots of Sally lightfoot crabs, marine iguanas, Galapagos sea lions, fish and more. Back onboard, we had a wine tasting organized on the sky deck, and we gathered there and toasted to an incredible day. Later on in the lounge, we saw a video of the collection of the best pictures that were shared by our guests. A great way to end this spectacular day!
