Galapagos Islands

Questions I hear time and time again, are how did you manage to travel to the Galapagos Islands on a backpackers budget? Didn't it cost a fortune? It's possible to see things without a cruise? The answers to these questions, are that it doesnt have to be that expensive, and yes you can see SOO much without taking an expensive cruise. Keep reading to find out how you can travel there on a budget too!

First, lets start with budget. Yes it is more expensive than mainland South America, but it is possible to spend only $50 (USD) a day, per person, once averaged out. To me, this is still cheap compared to what most people believe, and it is cheap compared to how much you can spend per day, because yes it can get super expensive! This $50 includes your accommodation ($12-$25), food ($4-$7/meal), snorkeling for the day ($4-$100), and occasional boat rides between the islands ($30 per direction). However, the flight to the islands, and the mandatory $100 USD fee when you land, are not included in these costs, and are something you need to consider! Flights from mainland Ecuador typically cost $450 USD to $500, but are always changing. You should look on Latam's site to find prices for your specific dates. It is typically cheaper to fly from Guayaquil than Quito, but both are options as starting points. I would also recommend flying into Baltra (Santa Cruz Island), and out of San Cristobal Island, as it will save you the $30 ferry ride back, and give you more time to enjoy your stay. You may have noticed above, that the cost for snorkeling can range from $4/day to $100/day. This is because although I highly recommend snorkeling on your own in most places, I also recommend doing one to two snorkeling trips, as I will go through in more detail later.

Now, lets talk about what Islands you are allowed to visit, as lots are off limits to people, in order to protect the wildlife. Without a cruise or tour, you can visit Santa Cruz, Isabella, San Cristobal, and Floreana.

Santa Cruz is a very touristic island. I personally didn't enjoy this island very much, but there are a few highlight spots to check out.

Tortuga Bay is a beautiful beach! It is white sand, palm trees, marine iguanas and kayaking galore. However, it is missing the turtles as the name implies. Although it is a 45 min walk to get here, I would say its well worth it for a day of relaxation.

Image 1: Tortuga Bay

Los Kioskos, Street Food: Around 5 or 6 pm, every night, the street Charles Binford, closes to motor traffic and becomes a lively street filled with tables and chairs, and all these small pop up shops serving their catch of the day. The food is fresh and relatively cheap for a big portion ($7-$15), and the atmosphere is bustling and alive! As you can see below, my dinner was still alive, and freshly caught that day

Image 2: Me showcasing my still alive dinner for the night

Scuba dive: It is very expensive but on every scuba divers bucket list: To scuba dive in the Galapagos. However, I did not find it that amazing for how expensive it was. I later found out that the best diving is only accessed by live-aboard boats. However, I was lucky enough to see tons of white-tip reef sharks (image 3) and even a hammerhead (image 4), so it wasn't a total bust. However, I would recommend snorkeling over scuba diving here as its much cheaper and I found it gave you more interactions with the wildlife.

Image 3: White tip reef shark

Image 4: Hammerhead shark

Once you've explored Santa Cruz for 1-2 days (I personally don't recommend any more, but some people choose to stay here the whole time), I would head over to Isabella Island! This was by far my favourite island, as it is more rustic feeling and not nearly as touristy. A typical meal here only costs $7 and our favourite hostel was also here, called Hostel Tore Real. The owner is magnificent, and was so patient in communicating with us in our broken Spanish. He helped us find an amazing tour company to go to los tunneles (see section below), and informed us of all there was to do on the island. He also rents snorkel equipment for only $4 a day, and for an extra $5 a person, makes the most amazing breakfast which you eat in the beautiful terrace. The rooms were $40 for the two of us (ie. $20 each), and had a private bathroom and air conditioning which is a savior after being in the blazing heat all day. Below is a picture of where we ate breakfast each morning in the hostel.

Image 5: Hostel Tore Real

While on Isabella Island, make sure you check out the following places:

Concha de Perla: The BEST place for free snorkeling. It is super easy to walk here as this island is quite small in comparison to the others, and you can see SO much underwater wildlife! I highly recommend snorkeling here before 8 am, as that's when the sea-lions seemed to be the most active. We went here every morning we were on Isabella and swam with oodles of sea-lions. They are accustomed to humans, so the younger, playful sea-lions will come very close and swim circles around you, in an effort to play with you. As well, you'll see tons of sea-lions just relaxing on the docks but please don't get too close to these ones. I feel like since sea-lions are very slow on land, they get very aggressive if humans go near them on land, which is the complete opposite to in the water! In addition to all the sea-lions, you can also see giant manta rays, sea-horses, sea-turtles, swimming marine iguanas and lots of colourful fish. Below are some images I took while here.

Image 6: A playful sea-lion

Image 7: A swimming marine iguana

Los Tunneles: Although we were on a budget and trying to avoid spending a fortune on tours, we were luckily convinced to do this snorkeling tour. It cost $90 but that included all our equipment, the boat ride to the various spots, and pictures. On this tour we saw blue-footed boobies, surreal scenery, reef sharks, a penguin and SO MANY sea turtles! We lucked out and their was only one other couple with us, and we saw a lot. I loved this tour but I am aware that it is dependent on the day for what wildlife you get to see. Below are some of the animals we were fortunate enough to see. 

Image 8: Penguin

Image 9: Me swimming with a seaturtle

Image 10: Blue footed boobie

Walk the nature trail: On this trail, you can see many flamingos and marine iguanas as well as beautiful scenery, and you'll end up at the giant tortoise breeding center. Below is a flamingo we saw just relaxing in its natural habitat. While walking the island, you may also bump into some giant tortoises just making their way along the dirt paths, as seen below as well.

Image 11: Flamingo

Image 12: Me and a giant tortoise

Enjoy a sunset at Caleta Iguana: This place is a hostel, but we opted to skip staying here due to the outrageous prices. However, we came here every night to watch the beautiful sunset, have some beers, and enjoy some beach volleyball with good company. It is the perfect place to relax and hangout with a beautiful sunset as your background, as you can see below.

Image 13: Sunset at Caleta Iguana

Once you've had your fill of fun on Isabella Island, if you can bear to leave, take the ferry to San Cristobal Island. Here, you can stay and eat for even cheaper. Hostels are about $12 a night/person, and food can be found for around $4 a meal. We didn't have much time here as we couldn't get ourselves to leave Isabella, but some highlights included:

La loberia: This beach is filled with sea-lions both in and out of the water! There is whole families of sea-lions and its amazing. If you haven't yet gotten your fill, then its a must to come here. Snorkeling with them here did not work as well however, as the water is very shallow. Below are some images of la loberia.

Image 14: baby sea-lion

Image 15: Families of Sea-lions

Explore the town: All over town, the sea-lions have taken over. They sleep on the benches as seen below, enter stores, take over boats and docks, and are everywhere. Just taking it in is an adventure on its own.

Image 16: A Sea-lion sleeping on a bench

All in all, the Galapagos Islands are well worth the money, even on a backpackers budget. By being smart and doing things on your own it is easy to stay within a budget as well. We spent a total of 12 days here, and $1700/person. This included our flight and entrance fee, my ridiculous amount of money spent on scuba diving, and all the excursions we did. However, without flights and entrance fee, we only spent $90 each a day, and we did splurge more than needed. If we did it again, I think we could easily keep it to $50 each a day, not including our flight and fee, meaning we would only have spent $1200 each for the total 12 days, including flights and the fee, a very reasonable amount of money for the Galapagos. 

Have you traveled here on a budget before? Any other must see places in your opinion? Let me know your thoughts on traveling the Galapagos on a budget in the comments below!

That's all for now, 

Miss Sydor