Immerse yourself in a world of natural beauty in the Galapagos, where camping under the stars is just the beginning.
Make camp in the unspoiled wilderness of a secluded, private beach – your cozy home away from home.
As the inky night sky, punctuated with bright stars, blankets the island, fall asleep to the rhythmic crashing of waves and the melodic chirping of birds settling in.
Awaken to the sight of sea lions just outside your tent.
After two incredible days of camping, embark on an awe-inspiring island-hopping journey.
Each day brings new and exhilarating adventures, guided by passionate experts who bring the magic of the archipelago to life.
From up-close encounters with iconic wildlife to a hike through a petrified lava field, the spirit of adventure and the joy of discovery creates memories that will forever be etched in your heart.
You are living a dream come true.
Included
Trip Notes
Your tour with Llama Expeditions starts when you meet our team at the airport in Quito and ends when we drop you off at the airport in the Galapagos for the first leg of your trip home.
Each participant is required to have travel insurance to cover hospitalization, evacuation, flight delays, & cancellations as well as to pay the National Park Fee of $100 per person. Please plan for and consider personal spending money for extra snacks, drinks, or treasures you find along the way. All meals on the first day and some meals on the last day are on your own.
Welcome to Quito!
Our friendly team will be there to greet you at the airport, ensuring a smooth check-in process at your hotel.
Once you’re settled in, the choice is yours: unwind and recharge at the hotel or venture out and explore the property.
Hotel: Casa Ilayaku (or similar)
Take a short flight to the Galapagos followed by a boat ride to a secluded beach camp.
Only one group is allowed on the beach where you’ll be camping. So, you have it all to yourself.
After settling in, check out the various species who you’ll be sharing camp with including sea lions, sea turtles, and several varieties of birds.
Then, roll up your sleeves and learn how to make ceviche, a classic dish from the Galapagos that highlights the flavors of fresh regional fish.
Camping
Meals: Breakfast at your hotel, lunch, and dinner
This morning, explore nearby mangroves, keeping an eye out for different birds, such as the Galapagos duck.
Then, kick back at the beach until lunchtime.
After lunch, get ready for the ultimate snorkeling adventure at Kicker Rock.
Swim in a channel between two rocks as big as skyscrapers — a virtual freeway for white-tipped reef sharks, sea lions, eagle rays, sea turtles, sea stars, and hundreds of colorful fish.
Once you get back to camp, collect samples of sand for the tour leader and naturalist guide to send to the University of San Francisco in Quito. These samples allow scientists at the university to understand and plan a course of action to address micro-plastic pollution in the Galapagos.
Camping
Meals: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner
It’s time to leave the unspoiled beach that has been your cozy campsite for the past two days. Although there’s no time to grab breakfast, don’t worry! Coffee and cookies are waiting for you on the boat. So, hop aboard and let the adventure begin. Once you get to town, enjoy a hearty breakfast before your flight to Isabela Island.
After arriving in Isabela, a panga transports you to the small island of Tintoreras. This unique volcanic formation makes a perfect hiking and snorkeling destination for the day.
Tintoreras is inhabited by young marine iguanas (the only sea-going lizard in the world), small colonies of sea lions and white-tipped reef sharks, which can occasionally be spotted taking a nap among the nooks and crannies of the volcanic formation.
Blue-footed boobies put on quite a show in the quiet lagoon. If luck is on your side, you might even catch a glimpse of the Galapagos penguin waddling adorably in the distance.
You can also see a primitive species of lichen that flourishes in the moisture carried by the prevailing winds.
Hotel: Casa de Marita (or similar)
Meals: Breakfast at your hotel, lunch, and dinner
Grab your lunch and head to the highlands of Isabela to reach Sierra Negra. This active volcano last erupted on October 22, 2005, leaving behind a dramatic layer of lava. The caldera is the second largest in the world, with a diameter of approximately six and a half miles.
From the rim of the caldera, hike through the petrified lava towards Chico Volcano. Fumaroles and unusual lava formations provide a striking visual record of the geological history of these islands. Keep an eye out for finches, flycatchers, and if you’re lucky, the majestic Galapagos hawk.
Head over to Finca Flor del Recuerdo for lunch. After lunch, enjoy the rich flavor of freshly harvested local coffee and learn about the workings of this plantation that also grows bananas, sugar cane, and other tropical fruit.
Return to the hotel where you can take a refreshing dip in the ocean to wash off the dust from the hike.
Hotel: Casa de Marita (or similar)
Meals: Breakfast at your hotel, lunch, and dinner
It’s anchors away as you board a boat for an hour-long ride to Los Tuneles. It’s a curious place where lava platforms collapsed into the water creating a maze of arches, bridges, and caves. The shallow, calm, crystal clear water makes it perfect for snorkeling, though.
After lunch aboard the boat, hike to El Finado, just 10 minutes away. This protected inlet served as a sanctuary for weary fishermen to rest after an arduous time at sea.
Snorkel among submerged caves and small reefs here. Look for white-tipped reef sharks, colorful tropical fish, and stingrays. Near the mangroves, shallower water makes it possible to discover a hidden world where parrotfish, hogfish, and wrasses thrive.
If the weather permits, enjoy a BBQ on the beach as you watch the sun set on another remarkable day.
Hotel: Casa de Marita (or similar)
Meals: Breakfast at your hotel, lunch, and dinner
Hop on a flight to Santa Cruz Island.
Then, travel to the lush, green highlands — home of the Galapagos Tortoise. Look for these free roaming, almost too-big-to-believe tortoises hiding in the tall grass or partially submerged in a mud pond.
Explore the volcanic origins that shaped the Galapagos as you hike through a 400-meter ancient lava tunnel. Your guide explains how this empty space in the middle of a once-active lava flow was formed. Let your imagination transport you back in time, where you can envision the extraordinary forces that shaped this unique archipelago.
Hotel: Angermeyer Waterfront (or similar)
Meals: Breakfast at your hotel, lunch, and dinner
Meet with a local fisherman turned conservationist.
Travel in his speedboat to the sandy beaches of Bahia Ballena, an ocean inlet where Galapagos sea lions and marine iguanas lazily soak up the sun resting on a bed of carpetweed.
Snorkel through an underwater world of lava rocks and small reefs swarming with tropical marine life. Reaching depths of up to thirty feet, the sandy ocean floor is home to pacific green sea turtles and long tailed stingrays.
If conditions permit, the crew can practice catch-and-release fishing to show you the stunning fish that inhabit these waters.
At the day’s end, not only will you have observed the unique marine wildlife of the Galapagos and enjoyed the splendor of a pristine beach, but also gained insight into the local community’s way of life. Your participation in this experience directly contributes to wildlife preservation and supports a local family’s livelihood.
Hotel: Angermeyer Waterfront (or similar)
Meals: Breakfast at your hotel, lunch, and dinner
Bid the Galapagos Islands farewell. Then, head to the airport for your flight back to the mainland and onward to home.
Meals: Breakfast at your hotel
All of the guides were incredible. Augusto, Ruben, and Patricia are the best guides I have ever worked with from any country. On a scale of 1-to-10, it was a 15! It was a life changing trip for me.
We loved the whole thing; so difficult to choose what was the best!
Wow. This trip has been truly life changing for me. Thank you so much for crafting such an excellent taste of the Galapagos. This experience and you have been so inspirational to me. I am so grateful to have shared this experience with you.
Surprisingly, tourism is what helps sustain the Galapagos Islands’ fragile ecosystem. For example, tourism is why the waters are not over fished. It gives local people another career path to pursue instead of fishing.
Also, the National Park has strict rules that govern what people can and can’t do in the park to protect wildlife and plants. Your guide will fill you in once you arrive.
Given its popularity, you would think so. The good news is that it is highly regulated to limit the number of visitors and to make sure everyone is not at the same snorkel spot or tortoise breeding center at the same time. So, you won’t feel like you are shoulder-to-shoulder with a lot of tourists, as sometimes happens in other parts of the world.
At one time, cruises were the only way to see the Galapagos Islands.
But our land-based adventures have a number of advantages over a cruise.
While you don’t have to be super fit, you do need to be physically active.
You will be hiking, snorkeling, walking, swimming, and generally moving around all day. The longest hike is 6 to 10 miles, depending on the preferences of the group.
Of course, you can also opt to relax on the boat instead of snorkeling and swimming. So, there is some flexibility.
But the more you do, the more you will get out of the trip.
You need to know how to swim, but you don’t necessarily need to be a strong swimmer.
You will be wearing a life jacket and mostly be snorkeling in calm, sheltered water rather than the open ocean.
Your guide will also be in the water with you.
However, if the swimming conditions look too challenging, you are welcome to relax in the boat.
Llama Expeditions specializes in designing adventures for adult family members and friends traveling together. Our adventures are not suitable for young children and teenagers.
Not at all.
In fact, camping on the secluded beach is one of the most special and unique experiences that you can enjoy on the Galapagos Islands.
We are the only group on the beach. So you truly have it all to yourself, not including wildlife.
The tents are for 2 people and we provide mats, sleeping bags, and pillows.
We also have a bathroom tent. So no need to worry about squatting behind a tree.
The food is incredible. It may even be the best food you’ll have during your stay. We’ll let you decide.
That said, the Galapagos National Park Services does not allow showers. So, that is the one thing you would have to do without for a couple of nights. But it is well worth the minor inconvenience.
There is no cell service at the campsite as it is quite remote.
You definitely do NOT want to bring it to the campsite. Between the sun, the sand and the dampness, your laptop will be in big trouble.
We can store it in our office while you are camping. You can pick it up before you board your flight for Isabela.
However, there are a couple of caveats.
First, while our office is secure, it is not secure like a bank vault. So, while we have every reason to believe it is safe, we cannot accept responsibility if something were to happen to your laptop or its contents.
Second, you should make sure that your laptop is in a laptop case to help avoid the possibility of any damage.
Yes, there is. But, it can be unpredictable and it definitely is not high speed. Because the Galapagos Islands are in the middle of the ocean, WiFi speeds vary.
WiFi is not available at all during camping.
August 24th through September 1st, 2024.
We have capped this trip at 8 guests. So, if you know you want to go, we recommend that sign you sign up as soon as possible while space is still available.
Just send us an email at hello@llamaexpeditions.com or submit the inquiry form on the right side of the page.
We’ll be in touch to discuss the details and dates, and to send you a link to pay your $500/person deposit to reserve your place.
As long as you cancel 90 days before the start of the trip (120 days before December 15th through January 10th), no problem.
However, if you need to cancel at the last minute, we won’t be able to issue a refund because we have to pay for your trip in advance.
However, we’ll provide you with all the paperwork you need from us to help you with your travel insurance claim.
Depending on the coverage you purchased, you may be able to get a full or partial refund.
We strongly recommend that you buy travel insurance that allows you to cancel for any reason.
Absolutely!
But you must request a change 90 days before your departure date (120 days before December 15th through January 10th) for us to be able to accommodate you.
This is why we strongly recommend that you buy travel insurance that allows you to cancel for any reason as soon as you book your trip.
