Aqua Mare – 8 Day East Itinerary

Once you arrive at Baltra airport, you will be met by the team and escorted on a short cross island transfer to the jetty. Receive a warm welcome aboard Aqua Mare, the Galapagos Islands’ first 50m luxury superyacht where you will be treated with the utmost attention courtesy of the 1:1 crew to guest ratio.

Head out for your first excursion to the beautiful white beach of Bahia Borrero on the northern part of Santa Cruz. You might be able to spot Darwin’s finches, Cactus finches, and Small Ground finches nestled in the coastal vegetation. For those who prefer to snorkel, you will encounter sea turtles at the beach — one of their primary nesting sites.

Explore Genovesa Island with a tender ride along the volcanic rocks of El Barranco. You’ll be able to view fur seals resting inside rock crevices. A 1.5 km hike inland will then take you to the lava fields to view red-footed boobies as well as great frigatebirds and Galapagos storm petrels.

Yur first excursion of the day will take us to Santiago Island with a dry landing at Bahía Sullivan to discover recent Pahoehoe lava flows.

Named after the small crater that forms the islet. In the surrounding crystal-clear waters, you might have the opportunity to observe sea lions and penguins from above. There will be time for snorkelling, stand-up paddle boarding, and kayaking.

With an early morning anchor at Bartolomé Island, you will embark upon a mild climb up to the summit of a spatter cone for a spectacular view of the island’s iconic Pinnacle Rock. Cool down afterwards with a snorkel where you may encounter sea turtles and Galapagos penguins.

Your afternoon excursion takes you to Cerro Dragón or Dragon Hill, so named because in 1975 it was one of the only places in the Santa Cruz Island where scientists could still find a healthy population of land iguanas.

This morning you will explore the Manzanillo Giant Tortoise Reserve to see these wild Galapagos Islands creatures up close in their natural habitat. The area is also a great place to observe Darwin’s finches, yellow warblers, flycatchers, cattle egrets, and if lucky Galapagos Rails.

Observe tortoises in captivity at the Fausto Llerena Breeding Center, as well as the different age hatchlings categorized by islands. There will be free time to enjoy the town of Puerto Ayora before returning to the ship.

Disembark in Punta Suárez for this morning’s excursion. This visitor site is one of the most interesting landing sites in Galapagos Islands, due to the high percentage of unique endemism in its fauna such as Española mockingbirds, lava lizards, marine iguanas, and the unique waved albatross.

In the afternoon, you will take a tender ride to the beautiful array of islets where you will be able to snorkel alongside playful sea lions and many different species of reef fishes. The last visit of the day will be Bahía Gardner, an outstanding coralline sand beach that boasts one of the biggest colonies of sea lions in the Galapagos Islands.

Santa Fe Island is one of the oldest in the Galapagos Islands (around 3.6 million years old), with the island being characterised to some degree by its vegetation of palo santo trees, a pear cactus that is called Opuntia echios barringtonensis, and many other native bushes. Here you will spot land iguanas, lava lizards, mockingbirds, and Darwin’s finches. After the visit, you will be able to take advantage of the last full day in the Galapagos Islands by snorkelling, kayaking, or stand- up paddle boarding.

The boat will then sail to Plaza Sur Island, located off the eastern shore of Santa Cruz. In the afternoon you disembark at this small, but diverse little islet to head out on a two-hour hiking excursion led by your guide to discover its unique landforms.

Your last visit before leaving paradise is a final short excursion to drive up the highlands of Santa Cruz Island to the twin craters of Los Gemelos enroute to the airport. It is a remarkable location surrounded by lush vegetation.