"Not only was my every need taken care of, I had the unusual luxury of not having to worry about a thing, except when and what I wanted to do next.”

Coming to the Galapagos is in and of itself a lifetime experience, but to be able to come here and enjoy one of your life's passions, favorite pass times or share the experience with loved ones....priceless.

Below you will find information for:
Naturalists/Birders, Divers/Snorkelers/Learning to Scuba, Fisherman/Fish & Eat with Locals, Surfers and Art with Locals.

These are only examples. We’ve taken soccer kids to see practices of the Ecuadorean soccer team before leaving for the world cup, handled handicap access issues both in and out of the water (required some adaption of habitations and boats), designed a tour for a visiting scientist studying the electromagnetic fields near the equator (he actually needed to get an over view before submitting his research request to the National Park which we also helped him with). We set up a camping out post for a birding couple in the wilds of privately held land so they could get a shot of the rare Galapagos dove. What ever it may be, if it can be done in the Galapagos we can surpass your expectations.

Naturalists/Birders
Galapagos is a naturalists dream, for obvious reasons. Birders in particular seem to get a special kick out of it all when they’ve “bagged” that rare Galapagos (pick your bird or animal) shot. A land based tour allows people the time to stomp around in the bush or beach a little and allows the opportunity to return there at whatever hour. Also, we know where the animals/birds are and when. While the great majority of the island is national park, with severely restricted access, (visitors are only allowed to enter certain parts and many of those only if they are accompanied by a National Park guide, which you’ll happen to have) however our 40 acre farm is not, nor are the farms of our friends and family. The nesting grounds of the blue footed boobie and lava and swallowtail gull can be walked to from town. From a one day boat excursion you’ll be able to see, the petrels, albatross, the nesting grounds of frigate birds (unique to San Cristobal) and pelicans, the nesting grounds of red footed boobies and tropical birds, sea turtles and sea iguanas.

There are a number of birds you will not be able to find here on San Cristobal, which may be important to you. Probably the most important of which are Penguins, flamingos and flightless cormorants. For these you have to go to the island of Isabella which is a forty minute shuttle plane flight away or a three hour sometimes arduous boat trip. On Isabella you will have the best accommodations available in the charming small pueblo of Puerto Vallamil where the flamingos and penguins are swimming/living within a short walking distance of the pueblo. The flightless cormorants can be accessed with a two hour boat trip from Puerto Viliamil to another part of the island or the near by island, Fernandina, also famous for it’s erupting volcanoes. This chartered all day boat costs $400. The round trip flight to and From Isabella costs $200 per person plus the flight of the guide.
 

Divers
PADI Certified Divers
The visibility in the water and the shear abundance of wild life make this one of THE destinations for divers. All the equipment is here, the PADI certified dive masters and instructors. Dives close to the port with all equipment cost approx. $100 each. Dives further out or at near by islands cost the same plus the cost of the boat charter, approx. $500 a day. Hard core divers will be better served with a “diving cruise ship vacation package” (available through other tour operators), but for a family or group of part divers, part whatever else, everyone can be made very happy here.

Learn To Scuba
Non PADI Certified Divers - It is unbelievable the things you can see and experience with a snorkel alone, but should you wish to learn to dive here, you can do that and still enjoy practically all of the other activities, thanks to the presence and flexibility of your guide. There are two programs available, one six day “PADI Certified Open Water Course" $400 and a “PADI Certified Discover Scuba Course” one day course $150.
 

Fisherman
On any day there are fish to be had, what type and kind changes, but generally, small tuna, wahoo, palometa and bacalao are available at a particular time and place each day, changing day to day. The smallest of these feeds a family of four.

There are two ways to fish here: one is to charter an all day fishing/diving and or surfing (combinations make a nice compliment) boat, $500 and the other is to...

Fish and Dine with Locals
The fishermen of San Cristobal have seen their world change radically in the past fifteen years. There was a period where they were all making a fair amount of money selling sea cucumbers to the Japanese, until they fished them close to extinction. They had similar success/failure with lobsters. Now with strong laws, the fish harvest is closely managed. They are in the process of moving away from reliance on the non renewable industry of fishing toward reliance on tourism. It is a particularly endearing experience to spend a half day fishing with them with their time honored techniques and continue to their home to dine on the days catch. They’ve been working with gringo tourists now for a number of years, refining their abilities to manage gringo tastes and gastronomical weaknesses. If you want to touch the reality of the Galapagos, to do something to help the future of the islanders and the islands themselves, this is another way. When you return home, you’ll spend as much time talking about this experience as you will about any of the many animal stories you will have. This experience is included in the basic tour, but should you wish to do it a second or third time, it is $75 per person. See Come To Galapagos Family for more info on some of these guys.
 

Surfers

This is a great place for an ocean family to visit, but it is definitely not a wave mecca, nor is it a good place for beginner surfers (too many rocks). There are some waves here, some days quite good. The water is clear, clean and warm low 68 high 78. You are always surfing in the presence of friendly locals, sea lions and sea turtles. Usually when a good swell is coming, packs of surfers from mainland Ecuador, Peru and Brazil arrive the day before (one of the consequences of computer info and occasionally they aren’t so friendly). Many surfers travel here and most leave disappointed with the waves, but impressed with the location. There are no beach breaks as such so we are always surfing over uneven lava rocks and small swells don’t have the benefit of a sand bottom to stand up on, add to that the propensity for the strong deep ocean currents to decimate swells… and too often we’ll go weeks in prime surf seasons with NO waves which makes the fantastic snorkeling even better. All that being said I generally surf at least a few days a week year round.

The point here is, if you’re a surfer, bring your board, but don’t expect epic waves or be surprised to find crowds. If you’re with us, you’ll likely be surfing with me and though our focus is more rounded to a complete experience of these islands, we’ll hook you into the best surf available while you’re here AND accent your sessions with something a little richer than a surf mag and a smoothie. Best months to get the good surf, Dec.-Feb and May-June.

Art with Locals
If you like drawing or painting or if you’d like your kids to be able to draw or paint while the experience of the Galapagos is fresh in their minds there is an art studio available to help however they can, from loaning easels and paints to hands on instruction. The studio is located in the original “Casa Blanca” where you may very well be staying.

Instruction is quite reasonable and they have a five hour package spread over several days. Instruction costs $20 per hour, materials included. Materials available at cost. Artists can do their fellow artists a huge favor bringing materials. A small island six hundred miles off the coast of South America is not the easiest place to find artist’s supplies. Be sure to give us a heads up if this is something you think you might want to do.