Arriving in the islands used to mean a queue and a clipboard. Almost all of that has gone digital in the last couple of years, which is an improvement, except that the change has been partial in a way that catches people out. Three separate pieces of admin are now filed and paid on the internet before anyone boards a domestic flight. The single largest charge of the trip is still handed over in banknotes at the airport door, in a terminal with no cash machine in it. Getting that sequence right is the difference between walking through and standing at a desk explaining yourself.
Take them in order. The transit control card is registered and paid online before the domestic flight, using passport details and return date, and it is checked at the counter in Quito or Guayaquil before boarding and again on the way out, because it is what enforces the rule limiting tourists to sixty days in the province in any twelve month period. The biosecurity declaration used to be the paper slip handed round on the plane; that form no longer exists and it is now filed online in advance, free of charge, by every adult traveller, producing a code for the inspectors on arrival. Ecuador wants its own customs declaration on mainland entry, separately again. And then the national park fee, which doubled for foreign adults a couple of years ago after decades unchanged, with under twelves at half, is collected in United States dollars in cash before immigration. Bring clean, undamaged notes. Sort all of that, then compare flights and hotels for the islands.
With the admin settled, the real choice is a berth or a bed. A Galapagos cruise wakes you somewhere new each morning and reaches the places day boats cannot, Genovesa, Fernandina and the far side of Isabela, where the animals have never learned to be wary. It also fixes your route, your companions and your total cost the moment you board. Staying in town and buying day trips one at a time gives up that reach, since day boats work within a limited radius, and gives back the ability to change your mind on a Wednesday. Price a week of day trips against a berth before assuming either is the sensible option; they are different holidays rather than different budgets.
Where you sleep decides which day boats you can realistically take. Puerto Ayora on Santa Cruz has the widest range of hotels and hostels, clustered near the Charles Darwin Station, and the most departures of anywhere. Puerto Baquerizo Moreno on San Cristobal keeps smaller waterfront hotels along the malecon where the sea lions take the benches, quieter and with the island's airport close by. Puerto Villamil on Isabela has beach guesthouses along the sand street behind the Concha de Perla boardwalk, the most relaxed base of the three. And Floreana has a handful of family run rooms at Puerto Velasco Ibarra for anyone who wants the emptiest island of the inhabited four.
This is a boats and transfers trip rather than a driving one: the towns are walkable, the islands are small and the day boats are the transport. Two things are worth knowing before booking any of them. Several of the finest snorkeling spots sit outside the protected visitor sites, need no guide and cost nothing, among them the lagoon at the end of the Concha de Perla boardwalk, the long walk out to Tortuga Bay and the sea lion beach at La Loberia, while everything inside the park proper requires a licensed naturalist. And the inter island speedboats cross two hours of genuinely open water, so the tablets are taken before boarding rather than after. An eSIM is worth arranging for the mainland and the towns, though there is no reception at sea, and travel cover deserves a careful read because serious treatment means a flight back to the continent, with diving usually sitting under its own clause. Compare eSIM plans and travel cover for Ecuador before you fly.
Season here is two ocean states rather than four seasons. The warm wet half of the year brings calmer crossings, warmer water and the easiest snorkeling, along with short heavy downpours. The cool dry half brings rougher seas, water cold enough for a wetsuit and the richest marine life, which is why divers prefer it. Neither is a bad time and the wildlife calendar runs all year. Personally, I would book the flights and the first two nights, pay the park fee in cash I had counted out at home, and leave the rest of the week to be bought locally, because the one thing a berth cannot give you is the freedom to change your mind.
Q: Is the transit card still bought at the airport?
A: No. It is registered and paid for online before the domestic flight, using passport details and the return date, and it is checked both on the way in and on the way out.
Q: How is the national park fee paid?
A: In cash, in United States dollars, on arrival and before immigration. It doubled for foreign adults a couple of years ago, with under twelves at half, and there is no cash machine in the terminal, so bring clean undamaged notes.
Q: How long can you stay in the islands?
A: Sixty days in any twelve month period, across however many visits. The transit control card is what tracks it, which is why it is scanned on departure as well as arrival.
Q: Can you snorkel without a tour?
A: Yes. Several of the best sites are reachable on foot from town and cost nothing, because they sit outside the protected visitor sites. Everything inside the park proper needs a licensed naturalist guide.
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