Traveling to the Galapagos with Kids

Thinking about a visit to the Galapagos Islands?  It’s a decision many families have put in the “someday” category.  However, after experiencing it for ourselves, our family can officially say it’s an unbeatable adventure!  Booking a family departure cruise with Ecoventura was one of the best travel decisions our family has ever made.  Our kids have been to 30 countries and agree hands-down that the Galapagos Islands are their #1 favorite destination. 

If you are just starting the planning process, options and details can feel overwhelming.  Here’s information about the logistics surrounding the trip to help you plan and make this “someday dream” a reality.

Island Stay or Cruise?

Likely the first big decision your family will need to make is how you want to tour the islands.  Some people choose to stay in the main towns of San Cristobal or Santa Cruz and take day trips out.  However, a multi-night cruise was the easy option for our family.  Seeing the long queues and large groups lined up at the pier for these day trips quickly confirmed that we had made the right choice!

You may be tempted to choose a land stay in hopes of lowering your cost.  When we travel to a destination, we often learn and share how you can cut corners, trim costs, and still have the best experiences.  This works with some places, but the Galapagos is NOT one of these destinations!  It’s an investment of time and money just to get onto the islands, so this is a trip you just need to do right!  Don’t skimp or cut corners because your experience will reflect that.

Choosing a Cruise Company and Itinerary

Once our family had decided on a cruise, we needed to pick a company and itinerary.  This was a quick and easy choice, as Ecoventura is hands-down the best for families. 

For starters, they offer the most complete 7-night itineraries out there.  There were so many experiences that we would have missed if we had done a shorter cruise.  Even other companies that offered 7-night trips skip Genovesa Island, where we swam with hammerhead sharks!  You can’t go to the Galapagos and miss out on this!

All three of the Ecoventura yachts carry a maximum of 20 passengers and have 2 naturalist guides for the entirety of the cruise.  We usually broke up into two groups while hiking and exploring so the 10:1 ratio is among the best in the Galapagos.  Our kids got to ask all their questions and loved learning in such a small group.  

Family Departures on Ecoventura

Possibly our favorite thing about choosing to cruise with Ecoventura was that they offer sailings specifically designed for families!  These specific cruises offer all the unique, amazing experiences that any other cruise with Ecoventura does while adding on tons of “just for kids in mind” moments.  Our kids loved the make-your-own pizza contest, kids-only hike, and access to the bridge to drive the boat and learn from the captain.  This was the most educational AND fun week of our family’s entire year-long trip around the world.  When you make a booking inquiry, ask what dates and yachts are “family departures”.  We also have more details on family departures here.  

Flights

Arriving in Mainland Ecuador

Once we booked our cruise, 99% of the planning process was taken care of by Ecoventura!  However, we still needed to book international flights.  Before reaching the Galapagos, you will need to first fly to the mainland of Ecuador.  There are international airports in Quito and Guayaquil.  We arrived 2 days early to make sure we left room for any snafus with our flights, but you’ll need a minimum of one night at a hotel or Airbnb in one of the cities.  The flight from mainland Ecuador to San Cristobal (Galapagos airport) departs from Guayaquil, so consider that when looking at flights.  We found cheaper flights into Guayaquil than Quito anyways, so it was a win-win for us.  Other families on our cruise flew from Quito to Guayaquil earlier on Sunday morning, and we joined the same plane to fly together to the Galapagos. 

We decided to stay in Guayaquil at the Holiday Inn which was extremely nice and was directly next to the airport (the closest in the city).  Ecoventura also has trusted hotel partners that they can help you with.  Either way, a representative from Ecoventura called us at the hotel on Saturday night to confirm the arrangements for meeting at the airport on Sunday morning.

Flights: Arriving in the Galapagos

Starting the morning of the cruise departure, Ecoventura took care of all the logistics.  We simply rode the hotel shuttle to the airport and met their rep at the domestic flight desk.  He had our boarding passes for both the plane and the boat and our entry/exit paperwork for the Galapagos.  After a year of international travel with kids and thinking daily about transportation, accommodations, and logistics, it was so wonderful to have everything taken care of!

** An interesting note for domestic flights in South America: there does not seem to be any restrictions on fluids or food.  We were able to bring bottles of water and full-size sunscreen in our backpacks onto the plane.  However, international flights do still have similar rules to TSA in the United States concerning liquids.

We arrived in San Cristobal around noon via the direct flight from Guayaquil and had to pass through Galapagos customs.  They are extremely protective of the ecological system of the Galapagos, so perform stringent entry and exit checks to ensure nothing is brought in or out that is against the rules.  Ecoventura had already provided us with the necessary paperwork, so it was an easy process.  We exited the airport and met the rest of our group for the week on the boat, jumped on a bus, then headed for the dock.

Cruise Experience and Logistics

Ecoventura’s yachts stay out in the harbor, so our family rode out to it using pangas.  Panga is the local term for the dinghy that we rode daily throughout the week for mangrove tours, whale watching, and transportation to snorkel spots, beaches, and hiking drop-offs.  After a quick orientation of the ship and unpacking in our cabin, we enjoyed a late lunch (the first of many excellent meals) in the dining area.

Once you board the ship, everything is taken care of for the next 7 days!!!  The cruise includes an incredible assortment of snacks, drinks, and full meals.  On our cruise, breakfast and lunch were high-quality buffet-style meals, and dinner was 4 courses served at the table.  Wine, beer, and assorted cocktails are all included with the option to purchase top-shelf liquor or wine.

Daily Activities

Each day you will go with a guide on a land hike.  You ride the pangas from the cruise ship to the various islands.  Most landings do not have a dock, so be prepared to get your feet wet and practice your balance before the trip!  It would be great to have a pair of flip-flops, hiking shoes, and strap-on hiking sandals for the variations of terrain.  The guides will let you know each day what to wear.  Listen if they tell you not to wear yellow or orange, Jon had the remnants of a wasp sting for 10 days after walking around with our orange dry bag on one of the remote islands.  Maybe skip the orange color, but a dry bag should be on your “must-pack” list, along with a hat, sunscreen, and bug spray/cream.

The daily itinerary does allow time for rest, but all the included excursions and adventures keep the day very full!  Plan to be up by 7 a.m. each morning and be active throughout the day.  We go more into the various activities here.

Ecoventura provided us each with a wetsuit, flippers, mask, and snorkel.  Definitely plan to wear the wetsuit, even if it doesn’t seem too cold.  Jon, Brandon, and Abigail all got stung by a man-o-war jellyfish the first day (very rare, but best to be prepared), and the wetsuit helped it from being much worse!  The good news is that the captain had cream for the stings, and the pain dissipated very quickly.  Don’t let the water temperature or any animals in the water stop you from getting at every chance, the water activities were the highlight of the week for our family!  We also took advantage of both opportunities to go out with the kayak and paddleboard and also jumped off the top deck of the yacht! 

If you would like to see examples of the daily activities head over to our Instagram page.  We have compiled brief descriptions, pictures, and short videos from each day of our northern itinerary.

Cabins and Seasickness

Each cabin has its own bathroom and shower, and the beds were very comfortable as well!  The crew came in multiple times a day to clean and tidy up.  We were pleasantly surprised by both the water pressure and the hot water in our cabins on the lower deck.  The boat navigates to the next destination at night which does make it pretty choppy at times.  We were able to sleep through most of it, which was preferable to feeling queasy during the day. 

If you tend to get motion or seasick, plan accordingly with medication.  Talk with your doctor about any medication plans, and you may consider trying the medication before leaving for the trip to make sure it doesn’t make you so drowsy you can’t enjoy your time on the boat.  Jon is always a fan of Preggie Pop Drops. 😂  The guides did a great job of preparing you and even have medicine they suggest on hand (similar to Dramamine with less sleepy side effects.)  Their advice to take a pill with dinner (around 7:30 or 8 pm) and go directly to sleep after usually did the trick! 

** A note on cell service: You can expect to have cell phone service until the boat begins to pull out an hour before sunset, and then enjoy not having service for the week!  On our northern route cruise, we did get a small amount of service on Tuesday morning, but mostly enjoyed being disconnected!  Make plans to be out of communication so that it is restful and not stressful to be disconnected.

Money

Ecuador uses the US dollar and many places accept credit card payments.  However, you will always want to have cash on hand for smaller purchases or if a credit card machine is down.

When booking with Ecoventura make sure to plan for gratuities for the crew.  The naturalist guides, bartender, captain, panga drivers, chefs, cabin stewards, and engineers make it all happen and pull everything off seamlessly!  A good starting point is to plan for $300 a person per week.  If you can plan ahead to bring cash, the crew appreciates that.  Otherwise, you can use a card at the end of the trip or do a combination of both.

Disembarkation

On the morning of disembarkation, we ate a full breakfast and then rode the pangas back to San Cristobal.  After a short time to walk around the area, a bus took us back to the airport for the flights back to Guayaquil.  Although we did go to the airline counter to “check in”, Ecoventura once again had everything already completed.  We simply showed our passports and they handed us the boarding passes.  We arrived back in Guayaquil around 2 p.m. and stayed at the airport for our onward flights later that evening.

Our family had such an epic adventure in the Galapagos.  We hope that’s a helpful summary regarding the logistics of getting to Ecuador, what to expect, helpful packing tips, and that it encourages you to make your dreams of a Galapagos family trip a reality.

**This post contains affiliate links.  We are grateful for the opportunity to be hosted by Ecoventura. All opinions are our own.

To see all our travel adventures during a year-long trip around the world, head over to our Instagram page.

If you have questions or tips for a trip to the Galapagos with kids, let us know!  Happy Travels!