The Aida Maria is a great value for money motor yacht accommodating a maximum of 16 people in 8 comfortable cabins with private bathrooms and air conditioning. Your experienced naturalist guide will help ensure you make the most of your Galapagos experience on this fantastic 6 day cruise.
For more information on the M/Y Aida Maria please view the ship page.
View M/Y Aida MariaUpon arrival in Baltra, you will be met by a representative and transferred to the boat. Aside from the Station headquarters, Santa Cruz Island is home to the largest town and economic center of the Galapagos, Puerto Ayora.
After lunch on the boat (guests may dine in town if they desire), you’ll explore the Santa Cruz Highlands, a moisture-rich area with fertile volcanic soils. You’ll learn about the vegetation and animal life of this zone, often strikingly different than that found at lower elevations.
Lunch and Dinner included.
Your first stop is Punta Cormorant, where you’ll follow a footpath to a lagoon inhabited by flaming-pink flamingos. You will also pass by Carolina Beach, a sea turtle nesting area and a superb spot for watching sea birds and sea rays.
Back on the yacht, you’ll skirt the island’s coast until you arrive at La Corona del Diablo (the Devil’s Crown), a sub-marine crater that offers some of the most spectacular snorkeling in the Galapagos. This is a great spot for seeing the wide array of tropical fish, many endemic to the islands, including purple sea stars and spiky sea urchins. The crater’s most thrilling undersea creatures, however, are the white-tipped sharks.
After returning to the boat for lunch you’ll sail on to Post Office Bay, where the islands’ original post office (really only a wooden barrel) was established in 1793. The current system still functions as it did three centuries ago: visitors drop off unstamped letters and postcards and pick-up whatever mail they can hand deliver themselves when they return home!
Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner included.
Espanola is one of the most magical of all the islands. It is a place where the animals reign supreme and we humans are merely guests. As your dingy brings you to shore you’ll see sea lion pups sunbathing with marine iguanas and Blue-footed Boobies nesting in between, and nearby may be a Galapagos Hawk, Frigate Bird or a Waved Albatross.
As you make your way around the island, you will pass by El Soplador, a giant blowhole that explodes to heights reaching 25 feet. In the nearby tide pools you can often find lounging sea lions enjoying the blowhole’s misty spray.
In the late afternoon, you will visit Gardner Bay, a great place for sunbathing, swimming and snorkelling. Lionfish, Flycatchers, and Galapagos Hawks will keep you company as you relax under the rays of the evening sun.
Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner included.
You’ll arrive early in the morning to San Cristobal, the capital of the Galapagos. The first site will be Lobos Island, a very small islet made of volcanic rocks that gets its name from the colony of sea lions that live there. Here you can observe the behavior and interaction of sea lions living in a small community.
In the afternoon, you will pay a visit to the Interpretation Center in Puerto Baquerizo, the local branch of the Galapagos National Park Service. Here your guide will explain the formation of the islands, how the flora and fauna arrived and were established in Galapagos, and visit the corrals where there are several species of giant tortoises under the care of the National Park Service.
Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner included.
After breakfast on the yacht, you’ll continue to Santa Fe Island. Upon arrival to the island, you’ll be treated to a noisy welcome from the local Sea Lion colony. Following your naturalist guide on the island paths you’ll reach Santa Fe's main attraction, a towering forest of giant cacti. Scattered around the cacti trees you’ll see a number of the island's indigenous sun-seekers: marine and land iguanas, the rainbow-streaked lava lizards and, if you’re lucky, land tortoises - the namesakes of the islands. After the walk you’ll dive into the salty sea and snorkel in the company of sea lions, Lion Fish and sea turtles.
After lunch, we’ll navigate to Plazas Island, where a large colony of sea lions lounge daily in the equatorial sun. Plaza also boasts excellent examples of typical Galapagos native flora such as the towering cacti "trees" that form the principal diet for both the land iguanas and the Cactus Finch. Other birds that may flutter by include Lava Gulls, Yellow Warblers and Red-Billed Tropic birds.
Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner included.
Your morning visit will be to Charles Darwin Station, a non-profit institution that dedicates itself to studying and protecting the flora and fauna of the Galapagos. This is one of the best places to see land tortoises, including Lonesome George, the last survivor of his subspecies. Then you’ll visit the station’s Tortoise Rearing Center. Here you can find baby, hand-sized tortoises between the ages of one and five, and marvel at how they achieve such large sizes as adults (500 lbs. or more!).
After lunch, you will be transferred to Baltra Airport for your outbound flight.
Breakfast and Lunch included.
Located on the main deck, upper or sun deck, double cabin with upper and lower bed, private bathroom with hot shower.
At Eclipse Travel, our expert destination knowledge and decades of travel planning experience come at no extra cost to you. While many think booking through a tour operator is more expensive than planning a trip independently, that’s not the case. We’re paid by our travel partners—such as hotels, activity operators, and cruise providers—via commissions, not by our clients.
Our team negotiates the best rates for you and ensures you receive unbiased advice, with no preference for any particular supplier. In fact, where we secure higher commissions, we often pass the savings on to you, giving us a competitive price edge.
Additionally, we lock in exchange rates at the time of your deposit, ensuring no surprise costs when it’s time for final payment. You can rest easy knowing we’ll handle the details with our suppliers. The only exceptions are national park fee increases or fuel surcharges imposed after your booking, though these are rare.
Take advantage of our team’s expertise and let us help you plan the perfect holiday—hassle-free!
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