ECLIPSE CRUISE ONLY - 8 Days

Itinerary

The flight from Quito (via Guayaquil) to the Galapagos Islands takes approximately 2½ hours.  Upon arrival at Baltra Airport, your guides, who will escort you on a short bus ride to the harbor, will meet you.  Motorized dinghies, known locally as “pangas” will transport you to the Eclipse, where the captain and crew will welcome you aboard.  After departure there will be a briefing, lunch and a safety drill.

Saturday Afternoon:  Las Bachas Beach – Santa Cruz Island

Las Bachas Beach is located in the north of Santa Cruz.  Its soft, white sand is derived from decomposed coral, making it a favorite nesting site for sea turtles.  Behind the beach there is a small brackish water lagoon, where it is possible to observe flamingos and other coastal birds, such as black-necked stilts and whimbrels.

Eclipse Stateroom – (B, L)

Puerto Egas (James Bay) is located on the northwest side of Santiago.  The landing is on a black beach with eroded rock formations in the background.  The trail crosses the dry interior, where the remains of a salt mining enterprise can still be seen, and then continues along the coast.  Tidal pools are home to a variety of invertebrate organisms, including sea urchins, octopus and starfish.  The trail leads to the Fur Seals Grottos, one of the only places in the islands where they can be seen.  After the walk, you will have time to swim or snorkel off the beach, where you will see sea lions, fish and maybe some turtles and reef sharks.

Sunday Afternoon: Bartolomé Island

Bartolomé is a small island that has two visitor sites. At the first site, you can swim and snorkel around Pinnacle Rock, where penguins are usually seen.  Back on board for a quick change of clothes and then it is a short dinghy ride to a dry landing for a climb to the highest point on the island.  On the way up, you will encounter different volcanic formations, including spatter and tuff cones, lava flow and lava tubes.  From the summit you will have a wonderful view of Sullivan Bay.

Eclipse Stateroom (B, L, D)

The name Cerro Dragon (Dragon Hill) stems from the fact that it was one of the few sites on Santa Cruz Island where a healthy population of land iguanas were found in 1975.  After landing at a pier, a hike takes to you to a salt-water lagoon behind the beach, frequented by common stilts, pintail ducks and occasionally flamingos.  A short walk up the hill leads you to a land iguana-nesting site, with breathtaking views of the bay.

Monday Afternoon:    Rábida Island

Rábida is a small island with red volcanic rocks surrounding a beautiful red sand beach, where there is a colony of sea lions and a pelican-nesting site.  The trail leads to a salt water lagoon where shore birds can be seen.  Rábida is considered to be one of the best snorkeling sites in the Galapagos Islands.

Eclipse Stateroom (B, L, D)

Fernandina last erupted in 1995.  La Cumbre Volcano dominates the landscape, with lava fields stretching towards the ocean from its base.  Punta Espinoza is a narrow piece of land where some of the most unique Galapagos species can be seen, including the flightless cormorant, Galapagos snakes, marine iguanas, penguins and the Galapagos hawk. 

Tuesday Afternoon:    Tagus Cove – Isabela Island

Tagus Cove was historically used as an anchoring place for pirates, buccaneers and whalers.  Here you will see the names of hundreds of ships painted on the high ridges (a practice now forbidden).  Depending on the season, you will either go hiking or snorkeling.  On the hike, the trail goes through an area of vegetation and the volcanic landscape of Darwin volcano.  At the top of the trail, you will enjoy an incredible view of the whole cove and Darwin Lake.

After the hiking or snorkeling, there will be a panga ride, where you will have the opportunity to see a large number of blue-footed boobies perched on the ledges of the cliffs, as well as marine iguanas, penguins, brown pelicans, brown noddy terns and swallow-tailed gulls.  While exploring the channel between Fernandina and Isabela Islands, we sometimes encounter dolphins and whales.

Eclipse Stateroom (B, L, D)

Elizabeth Bay is one of the furthest points of the Galapagos that we will visit on our cruise.  A panga ride around two islets called the Marielas offers a wide variety of bird life, such as flightless cormorants, herons, and blue-footed boobies.  Then we will enter a sheltered cove – a wonderful mangrove ecosystem that is a refuge for sea turtles and rays.  After the panga ride you will have the chance to deep-water snorkel.

Wednesday Afternoon:  Punta Moreno – Isabela Island

Located on the southwestern side of Isabela, Punta Moreno offers spectacular views of Alcedo, Sierra Negra and Cerro Azul volcanoes.  A trail over the lava leads to two brackish lagoons where flamingos, white-cheeked pintail ducks, common stilts and moorhens can be seen.  The landscape consists of impressive black lava flows with a unique system of tidal pools where it is possible to see white-tipped reef sharks, eagle rays, turtles, pelicans, flightless cormorants and penguins.  If you choose to go on the panga ride, you will see flightless cormorants, marine iguanas and penguins, among other wildlife.

Eclipse Stateroom (B, L, D)

On your visit to the Charles Darwin Research Station you will gain insight into the huge efforts being made by scientists, guides, rangers and park managers to preserve this UNESCO World Heritage Site.  You will see the famous Galapagos tortoises that are the islands’ namesake.  After the visit you will have some free time to explore the town of Puerto Ayora.

Thursday Afternoon:  Santa Cruz Highlands – Santa Cruz Island

From Puerto Ayora you will travel by bus to the lush, green highlands of Santa Cruz, where you will visit a tortoise reserve to search for giant tortoises in their natural surroundings.  You will also see the twin craters, a pair of giant sink holes left in the ground, which attract Darwin finches and other land birds. 

Eclipse Stateroom (B, L, D)

Gardner Bay offers the chance to enjoy a wonderful white sandy beach.  It is home to one of the most important colonies of sea lions, and it is also a nesting site for sea turtles.  After the beach time you will have a chance to deep-water snorkel from the panga at Turtle Rock.

Friday Afternoon:  Punta Suarez – Española Island

Punta Suarez is one of the most popular and attractive sites in the Galapagos.  Due to its isolation from other islands, it has a high proportion of endemic fauna.  A few steps inland from the landing site, groups of Española marine iguanas bask in the sun.  Further inland, Nazca and blue-footed boobies nest almost on the trail, Galapagos doves peck around unaware of visitors and finches go about their business.  The trail continues towards a blowhole, which is a fissure in the lava where water spurts high into the air like a geyser.  The cracks in the cliffs are home to swallow-tailed gulls and red-billed tropicbirds. Further up the cliff in an area of low-lying trees you will find waved albatrosses nesting.  The 10,000 to 12,000 pairs of albatrosses on Española represent the entire population of this species on the planet.  They perform one of the most spectacular courtship rituals of the animal world.

Eclipse Stateroom (B, L, D)

Black Turtle Cove is one of the most beautiful marine sites in Galapagos.  It is a complex maze of tranquil salt-water inlets, surrounded by three different species of mangrove.  Its waters are a resting site for sea turtles, rays and sharks.  This site is only accessible by panga.  Your services end today before the transfer to Baltra airport for your flight to Quito. 

Eclipse Stateroom (B)

RATES:

Low Season: May 12 – 26; Sept 29 – Oct 27 & Dec 01 - 08

Personal expenses such as laundry, room service, communication charges and optional activities (which are subject to availability)

We require a deposit of $1,000.00 per person to confirm space.  Final payment is due 100 days prior to departure.  If the reservation is made within 100 days of departure, the entire cost of the trip must be paid at the time of confirmation.