For many of us the Galapagos Islands have always been a destination beyond our reach, a place that would only exist in the glossy pages of our parent’s National Geographics collecting dust on the bookshelf. This perception stayed strong for me until my mid 20s when I met an Ecuadorian girl while diving on the Great Barrier Reef, who suggested that down the road we should meet up to dive the Galapagos Islands. Despite my love of scuba diving, my weak stomach meant the idea of living on a boat for a week to explore the archipelago held little appeal. I had barely left the cabin of our live-a-board anchored on the calm waters of the reef and couldn’t take the thought of paying thousands of dollars to feel miserable for the sake of spotting a blue footed boobie.

However, the seed was planted and as the years went by I could not shake my undeniable desire to go somewhere seeming so unique I had long thought I couldn’t. As I explored more of the world I began to realize that few places were really off limits and there was never just one way or one cost of seeing a place. I finally decided to just go for it and, in the end, a nine day trip including round trip airfare from Quito, accommodations on the islands, food and activities (diving, snorkelling, museums…) cost roughly $1000 US.

Stephanie and I hope to post more about our adventures in the Galapagos, which is after all the place where we became friends in 2014, but for the time being here are three facts about getting to and around the Galapagos to wet your appetite and help you to realize that you can see it for yourself without going into financial ruin.

Galapagos isn’t a place you can only see from a cruise ship

The idea that one can only explore the Galapagos by getting on an extremely expensive cruise ship is often the biggest misconception I come across when the topic of the archipelago comes up.

While there are many islands in the Galapagos that people are not permitted to stay on and can only be visited by boat, there are also various islands that are inhabited no differently than the places where you and I live.

Regular people with regular jobs live on the Galapagos, they just need to do their jobs while tripping over the occasional seal

For example, the town of Puerto Ayora, located on the island of Santa Cruz and the entry point for many to the Galapagos, offers a variety of hotels, restaurants, gift shops and tour shops selling daily and multi day dive and snorkelling trips.

Hostels with dorm rooms aren’t really a thing on the islands, but you can get some reasonably priced guest rooms. All accommodations where we stayed throughout various islands had wi-fi at minimum in common areas, if not accessible in the rooms themselves.

Typical Budget Room

Hotel prices range, but we were able to find something suitable for $10-$20 a night per person. If you are travelling alone I would suggest signing up for a dive or snorkel trip as soon as possible to make friends on the island who may wish to share a room with you.  You may also consider making friends in Quito or Guiyaquil at a local hostel and see if you can all go to Galapagos together, which is what I did.

Meals cost $3 around lunch and between $5 and $10 in the evenings if you are willing to eat on the street, but other high end restaurants are available to sample too if you feel like springing for something nice.

Experience the sea food of Galapagos

Many of the best activities around the islands are actually free, like visiting the Darwin Centre, hiking and walking or hanging out of some of the most beautiful beaches you have ever seen with hardly anyone else on them.

Still want to do a cruise? Book it when you get there

A cruise around the Galapagos can cost thousands of dollars, but there are unlimited last minute deals to be had. If you are worried about showing up and having nothing booked, try to snag your deal while you are still in Quito or Guiyaquil. The Secret Garden Hostel in Quito does an excellent job of setting visitors up with tours around Quito, the Amazon and yes, even Galapagos.

Drop in to see what cruise deals they are offering that week and they will help you book the cruise and your airfare. For those of you willing to take a chance, there were dozens of tourist information shops selling next day departures for multi day cruises in Puerto Ayora. Savings can get pretty amazing if they really want to fill empty rooms. To provide an indication of cost, a fellow traveller took a 5 day cruise on a good vessel for $690, but said he could have gotten it for $550 if he had cared to negotiate harder.

Cut down island hopping time by booking in and out of different airports

When looking at a map of the world, the Galapagos islands are quite close together, but on a day when the sun is burning hot and the seas are rough, the 3 hour boat ride between them can seem like an eternity. If your transport isn’t taken care of by a big cruise company the water taxi service is how you will get from island to island. Keep in mind that by the time you get to another island it is often too late to sign up for a daily snorkelling or dive activity or to catch a flight off the island, so you will have to wait until the next day to get any organized activities done. To optimize your vacation time, consider cutting  down on at least one of the taxi trips by scheduling your arrival flight on one island and your departure flight on another.

Santa Cruz located in the middle of the archipelago and San Cristobal located to the East both have airports flying to and from mainland Ecuador.

The islands of Santa Cruz and San Cristobal both have airports. I recommend flying into Santa Cruz (GPS) because it is the most populated of the islands and where you will likely score a better deal on last minute cruises if that is what you are looking for. On San Cristobal Island, the airport (SCY) is so close to the town you can easily strap on your backpack and walk there in 10 minutes when you are ready to fly, cutting out the stress of arranging for transport to the airport like you would have to in Santa Cruz where the airport is located on the opposite end of the island from Puerto Ayora. Don’t worry if you have already booked your tickets or if you are really not sure about which islands you want to visit. I was originally booked to depart from Santa Cruz, but was able to walk to the airport on San Cristobal and request to have my departure island changed for a fee of $10, which I was never actually charged for. If you plan to call in your changes to the airlines, keep in mind that you usually can’t do this outside of the regular 9-5 office hours or on weekends.

Keep an eye out for future posts on things to do and see in the Galapagos!