Is It Worth Visiting The Galapagos Islands?

published by Bren

Last updated: January 13, 2024

Before my salsa stint in Quito, I was lucky enough to join my family on a seven day cruise of Ecuador’s famous Galapagos Islands. I’d heard countless tales of this place, especially back in 2011 during my first trip to South America, and was eager to see if they lived up to the hype.

A Galapagos Islands itinerary is pretty straightforward.

You fly to Quito (or Guayaquil), jump on a plane to the islands, and then head out to the ship and island hop for a few days.

Every day you wake up early, eat breakfast, and spend most of the day exploring one of the islands. After that it’s back to the boat and to bed for another early wake-up the following day.

As for the islands themselves, they’re definitely special (a well known UNESCO heritage site), but it’s hard not to notice they’ve been tainted slightly by the immense growth in tourism over the years.

Today, as soon as you touch down at the airport you get slapped with a $100 “tourist tax” before you can even exit the building. Merited or not, it smells of opportunism (at 150,000 visitors per year, that’s some nice pocket change).

The larger islands have been heavily “touristified”, lined with internet cafes, tourism offices and cheeseburger restaurants. Ships are limited to 100 passengers each, but you still may find that among the amazing wildlife, you’ll need to try hard to frame your photos so they aren’t full of shorts and sandals.

Galapagos Islands

Of course, this is all to be expected, and I understand every popular tourist destination will eventually end up this way. But that doesn’t change the fact that your journey through these “pure and untouched islands” probably won’t be as pure and untouched as you had hoped.

But that’s enough of the downer stuff. Galapagos still remains one-of-a-kind, a place unlike any other on earth. It is one of the most protected places in existence, and you will see things here that you cannot see anywhere else in the world. If you’re a wildlife lover, you’ll need to come here at least once, and of course, it’s only going to become more and more commercialised (and expensive) as the years go on. If you’re thinking of going, now would be the time.

So, what can kind of animals can you expect to see during your Galapagos trip? Let’s take a look.

Galapagos Penguin

Galapagos penguin

This guy is a little hard to find, and you probably won’t see him all that often. If you do catch him standing around on a rock, snap a photo asap! It took me a good few minutes out in rocky water to try and get the one above, but it was worth it.

Marine Iguana

Marine Iguana Galapagos Islands

You’ll see this guy a lot. They’re on almost every island and like to hang around on the rocks (and in the water). Can get quite big too.

Galapagos Sea Lion

Galapagos sea lions
These guys are very easy to find and quite playful. The only problem is they smell like shit and will also bite if you get too close. You’ll find them everywhere, and not just out in the wilderness – they sit around on the docks, on empty boats, and just in random spots around town. If you’ve been on safari, they’re kind of like the equivalent of a zebra – everywhere.

Galapagos Fur Seal

Galapagos seal

One of the few mammals endemic to the islands. They are harder to find than the sea lions, as they tend to take shade in the rockier pools and out of the tourist eye. I still find it hard to tell the difference between the two.

Galapagos Hawk

Galapagos Hawk

The Galapagos Hawk is quite rare and we were lucky to see it and get some good photo opportunities with it. Or guide mentioned it’s not uncommon to go entire weeks without seeing them, especially while we were there (September). Apparently it was common for them to attack livestock which led to them being hunted relentlessly by farmers in the past, and they’re now heavily endangered.

Blue Footed Booby

Blue footed booby

The booby is a funny, goofy looking bird that tends to make a lot of noise. It’s easily recognisable by its bright blue feet, which it uses to tap-dance in slow motion in order to attract a mate. You will probably catch at least a few of them on most islands, and see the little mating ritual too if you’re lucky. There’s also a red-footed one, but i didn’t manage to get a decent photo of it.

Magnificent Frigatebird

Magnificent Frigatebird

One of the more impressive birds you’ll see around here, the frigatebird is huge and the male has quite a neat party trick. Just like the booby does the moonwalk with his bright blue feet to attract a mate, the frigatebird does the same with his bright red neck. When the pretty girl frigatebird is in sight, he puffs it up, inflating it to a ridiculous size. What do you ladies think? Team Frigatebird or Team Booby?

Galapagos Mockingbird

Galapagos Mockingbird

A tiny little bird endemic to the islands, you’ll probably see it quite often jumping around on the beach or in the trees. Moves quick so can be hard to snap photos of.

Giant Tortoise

galapagos tortoise

Probably the most famous thing on the islands, which might explain why the islands are named what they are (galapago means tortoise in Spanish). About the size of an 8 year old child, these guys can live over 150 years, and are one of the most impressive things you’re going to see while you’re out here. As they are slow and meaty, they were almost hunted to extinction by humans, and are now very heavily protected in breeding grounds and conservatories. And just so you know, don’t show up like I did expecting to see Lonesome George. He died in 2012.

Greater Flamingo

Greater Flamingo Galapagos

Flamingos can be found in various countries, but the Greater Flamingo is resident to Galapagos. Easily distinguished by its bright pink feathers and stick figure legs, you’ll find these mulling around and feeding in shallow pools on several of the islands.

Waved Albatross

Galapagos Albatross

This is the largest of the Galapagos birds (the one in the photo is a baby). It is a unique species of albatross, and breeds exclusively in the Galapagos. You’ll find them on several of the islands.

Land Iguana

Land iguana

I guess you can think of them as the estranged cousins of the marine iguanas. They’re a different colour, bigger, and prefer to live in a drier habitat, but they seem to be built the same and as far as wildlife watching goes, they pretty much do exactly the same thing – sit there motionless and stare at you.

Some other really cool things we saw were schools of dolphins (I’m talking like 30 or 40 at least) swimming behind the cruise ship doing flips and dives, an enormous sea turtle about an arm’s length from my face while snorkelling, and a whale which we chased for about a half hour but didn’t get all that close to. All in all, there was a lot of cool stuff to see.

So, what’s the verdict?

As a budget traveller, my thoughts on Galapagos are mixed. I feel like it’s probably one of those places you need to go at least once, but there are also so many other amazing places on the continent that are better value for money.

Of course Galapagos has its share of great, unique wildlife, but in all honesty, unless you’re an avid wildlife or photography enthusiast I’m not sure it’s the best place to spend your cash.

I was on a package holiday with my family, and the cruise I was on runs around $4,000 for 7 nights. It was a nice big ship (100 passengers), the rooms were nice and the food was great (buffet breakfast and lunch, 3 course dinner) so if you have that kind of cash to burn, go for it.

However, from a value for money perspective I would 100% not recommend it. In South America, that amount of money will easily last you 3 to 4 months elsewhere, at least.

So how do I visit Galapagos on the cheap?

Out of curiosity, I quizzed many people on their Galapagos tours during the odd month i spent in my hostel in Quito. I met many people there who had taken advantage of last minute cruise prices on smaller ships. Most managed to do a 7 day cruise for around $1,000-$1,500 a person, and you can book these from Quito. These were either single specials, or 2-for-1 specials which many travelling couples took advantage of. Cruises leave every day, and many have vacant rooms, so if you simply ask at the right time and have some negotiating skills you should be able to land a nice deal. Here’s a few pointers:

  • There are many companies, and by far the best way to choose one is from word of mouth recommendations. Ask other travellers who they went with, what they paid, and what it was like. This’ll give you an idea, as well as some ballpark figures to negotiate with. Your hostel is also a good source of information for this.
  • Try booking direct with the boats rather than through tour agencies. It’ll be cheaper.
  • If you don’t mind paying a little extra, you can use one of the international tour companies. It will be more expensive, but will require far less legwork. A good option would be something like G Adventures.
  • One group of travellers I met spent 3 days on the island of Santa Cruz and simply did day tours each day. Apparently, this is popular. From what I remember they cost anywhere between $80-$150 per person, including lunch and a guide. This option is great because it’s extremely cheap, and you only see the islands you want to see.

And lastly, know that you do not need to see every island. Some are more interesting than others, and some don’t have much to offer at all. The ones that stood out for me were:

Santa Cruz

Galapagos Tortoise

The tortoise centres are here, so it’s one you can’t miss. It’s also the main inhabited island, so it’s nice to see how people here live.

Espanola Island

Espanola Island Galapagos

Is a little out of the way, but is a great place to see the albatrosses and easily has the most stunning white sand beach of the lot (my photo above doesn’t do it justice at all).

Santiago Island

Santiago Island Galapagos

The island has some beautiful lagoons, bright blue water, and is also a good place to spot fur seals and the Galapagos Penguin.

For something more comprehensive, Globotreks has a great guide about visiting the Galapagos on the cheap.

Final thoughts

I’m definitely glad I visited, but there are many, many places around the world I would visit a second time, and Galapagos isn’t one of them. It’s just too remote, touristy, and expensive, and in my opinion it’s just not on the same level as something like The Gorilla Trek, which I would do again in a heartbeat.

Now knowing what I know, I think I would’ve been completely satisfied if I’d just visited the tortoise reserve on Santa Cruz, plus maybe one day trip out to an island and nothing more (which wouldn’t cost much at all).

If you’re a wildlife enthusiast then that’s a different story, but if you’re simply doing it to tick it off the list, your money might be better spent elsewhere. In the end, the only way to find out is to go and see it for yourself.

Safe travels!

Heading to the Galapagos Islands

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  1. I loved the Galapagos so much, but I would really suggest to people that they don’t sign up for any tour before arriving. I thought I had to but turns out you can just backpack around there and sign up for day tours! Helps avoid repetition. I saw tortoises every day and it got old! Also hate the tourist tax. I lived in Ecuador for a year and they still made me pay the tourist tax rather than the resident one. Very frustrating given I had a visa!

  2. Great tips – I would never be able to afford that for a 7 day cruise (though I’m always holding out for that big lottery win…) but it’s good to know that a day trip is just as worth doing. And so much cheaper! Will definitely bear that in mind – would love to go to the Galapagos Islands. Mainly to see the giant tortoises, so at least that narrows down what I’d want to do while I was there. 🙂

    1. The tortoises are definitely the highlight. And don’t worry about the cruise! It’s just a boat, after all. I would actually prefer doing day trips, not only for the price, but because you get to sleep on dry land each night in a room that isn’t the size of a shoebox. Not to mention the difficulty of trying to sleep while rocking in the ocean. Go take your time and have fun, you’ll have a great time.

  3. Isla de la Plata. I just Googled it and The Guardian already has an article on it as “the other Galapagos” so hope the authorities haven’t already jacked the prices up. The thing, is the Galapagos have the brand name so people want to say they have been there, done that. I remember when the Galapagos were only available for select, limited educational cruises but now have become another tourist destination with scary prices. Agree, a long way to go to see giant tortoises and giant lizards … earth is a big, beautiful place and maybe this kind of trip should be left for later, if at all, given what else there is to see.

  4. You are not serious , right? you go to the Galapagos ,you eat, drink, wash your dirty body, poo so how do you think it is all maintained in a nature reserve? They have to keep prices high otherwise the amount of tourists would triple. What really annoys me is that westerners pay for the most stupid tourist attractions like Harry Potter museum( £39 for a tour) or Madam Tussauds ( £35 to enter) without complaining but if it is a UNESCO heritage site on a remote island wilderness they they complain about $100 for an entrance fee for an environmental wonder. If you want to answer whether The Galapagos is worth visiting or not, you need to change your mentality.

  5. You can’t be serious?? Perhaps you need to do a little research before making such silly comments re the entrance fee which goes towards conserving the park.

    Also, many of the species in the Galapagos are endemic to this region and have adapted/evolved to survive and thrive here. Look at the marine iguana for instance. A massive iguana that dives underwater to eat? How can you say this is not “value for money”?…

    You also mentioned the Waved Albatross (and incorrectly stated that it can be found on many islands)- this may be a bold statement but I believe that observing their mating ritual was just as amazing as my gorilla trek and was easily worth the price of my cruise by itself!

    But hey, this is just my opinion and everyone is entitled to their own 🙂

  6. We went to Galapagos recently and had a great time. We kind of did it on a budget. In as much as we booked flights to get to the islands. Ignored all travel agents advice and did not book a cruise until we arrived on the islands. We booked a 7 day cruise. We had 11 or 12 days total on the islands, so gave ourselves some wiggle room to get on the right cruise. We found on the islands it was not a case of shopping around for the best price for a certain cruise, but that different tour operator offices offered different cruises / cruise ships. We choose what was right for us and didn’t regret it. We happened to luck out and get the tour guide who has shown the islands to the likes of Microsoft Executives and Brad Pitt. Whether you get as lucky as we did or not absolutely recommend going on a cruise. There are so many places you can only get to with a tour guide. I would say the smaller the boat the more personal the experience you will have, we found this best, but depends on how you like to travel.

    Greatest memories: Following a white tipped reef shark to its lair, only to find another and seeing them swimming in a circle. Swam backwards to give them space. Caught the whole thing on my action camera!!!
    Following a turtle swimming in the water. Didn’t realize how far out from my group I swam videoing the experience. :-}

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