How much is the Galapagos entrance fee?
$220 per foreign adult, paid in two separate steps. The Galapagos National Park entrance fee is $200 for a foreign adult and $100 for a child under 12, and on top of it every visitor needs the Transit Control Card (TCT) at $20. Neither payment is optional, and neither is normally included in the price of a tour — you budget for them on top of whatever you booked (figures verified August 2026 on the official sources, galapagos.gob.ec and the Galapagos Governing Council).
The two payments happen in two different places. The $20 TCT is issued before you board, at the mainland airport in Quito or Guayaquil. The $200 park fee is collected when you land in the islands, in cash. So the money leaves your pocket at both ends of the flight — a detail that surprises people at 5 a.m. at the airport counter far more than it should.
At a glance:
- Foreign adult — $200 park fee + $20 TCT = $220
- Child under 12 — $100 park fee + $20 TCT = $120
What exactly are the two payments?
They fund and control two different things, which is why nobody has merged them.
- The National Park entrance fee ($200 adult / $100 under 12) is the entry charge for the protected area itself. You pay it on arrival, and the receipt is your proof of entry for the whole stay.
- The Transit Control Card ($20) is a migration-control document of the Galapagos Governing Council (Consejo de Gobierno de Régimen Especial de Galápagos). It registers who enters the province, for how long, and on which return flight. It is mandatory for every tourist and transit passenger; residents of the islands are exempt.
Note the word cash for the park fee. Ecuador uses the US dollar, and the park fee counter at the arrival airports takes banknotes. Carry the exact amount per person in your hand luggage — not in the checked bag that is still on the trolley.
Where and how do you pay, step by step
Step 1 — mainland airport, before departure. At Quito (UIO) or Guayaquil (GYE) you go to the Governing Council counter to get the TCT before check-in. The official guidance is to arrive 3 hours before your flight; agencies and tour operators can pre-register travellers up to 48 hours in advance, and there is an online pre-registration portal run by the Governing Council. You will need a valid passport or ID card and a return ticket showing a stay within the permitted window.
Step 2 — Galapagos airport, on arrival. You land at Baltra (GPS, the gateway for Santa Cruz and Puerto Ayora) or San Cristóbal (SCY), queue at the National Park counter, and pay the entrance fee in cash — $200 per adult, $100 per child under 12. Keep the receipt with your passport.
There are no international flights directly into the islands: everyone arrives on a domestic flight from Quito or Guayaquil, roughly two hours in the air. If you are still planning that leg, our getting there guide walks through the airports, the routes and what happens at each control point.
Why did the fee double?
Because the Galapagos Governing Council decided it, formally through Ordinance 001-CGREG-30-06-2025, with the doubled rate — from $100 to the current $200 — in force since 1 August 2024, as published on the official channel galapagos.gob.ec.
The backdrop is a destination managing its own success. The National Park recorded 329,475 visitors in 2023 and 279,277 in 2024, for an archipelago whose whole point is strict visitor control. Industry reporting also describes land-based, island-hopping travel growing relative to cruises, which shifts more arrivals through exactly the airports where these fees are collected.
Whether $200 is fair value is your call to make. What it is not, is negotiable: there is no discount channel, no skip-the-fee tour, and any offer claiming otherwise is a red flag.
The 60-day rule
Tourists may spend a maximum of 60 days per calendar year in the Galapagos — and the limit is cumulative across entries, not per trip. Two three-week trips in the same year count together. Your return ticket has to show a stay inside that window, and it is checked when the TCT is issued.
Each entry is registered and each entry pays: fly back to the mainland mid-trip and return, and you go through the TCT process — and its $20 — again. For a normal one-trip holiday none of this bites; it matters if you are planning a long stay or a split itinerary with a mainland leg in the middle.
Are the fees ever included in a tour price?
Assume no. In our census of multi-day Galapagos land tours (verified August 2026 from the operators' own product data), the park fee and the TCT sit outside the advertised price — and so do the flights from the mainland. That is not the operators being sneaky; the fees are personal, collected by the authorities directly from each traveller, so a tour simply cannot pay them for you in advance.
The honest way to budget a Galapagos land trip is therefore three lines: the tour itself, the flights from Quito or Guayaquil, and $220 per adult in fees. Our land tour pages follow that logic — every price shown is the tour alone, with the fees declared separately, so you are never comparing a "cheap" package that quietly ignores $220 against an honest one that mentions it.
Browse Galapagos land tours, island by island
Frequently asked questions
How much is the Galapagos entrance fee in 2026?
$200 per foreign adult for the National Park, plus the $20 Transit Control Card — $220 in total. Children under 12 pay $100 plus the $20 TCT (verified August 2026 on the official sources).
Where do I pay the $200 park fee?
At the airport in the Galapagos when you land — Baltra or San Cristóbal — in cash, in US dollars. Keep the receipt for the rest of your stay.
What is the Transit Control Card and where do I get it?
A $20 migration-control card issued by the Galapagos Governing Council at the Quito or Guayaquil airport before you board, with online pre-registration available. Arrive 3 hours early; you need a valid passport or ID and a return ticket.
Are the fees included in tour or cruise prices?
Practically never. The fees are collected by the authorities from each traveller in person, so tours quote them separately — as do the flights from the mainland. Budget $220 per adult on top of any package.
How long can I stay in the Galapagos as a tourist?
Up to 60 days per calendar year, cumulative across all your entries. The limit is enforced through the Transit Control Card and your return ticket.
Do children pay the entrance fee?
Yes: children under 12 pay a reduced National Park fee of $100, plus the $20 Transit Control Card.
Sources
Figures verified in August 2026 and re-checked against the official sources when this page is updated.
- Galapagos National Park — galapagos.gob.ec — entrance fee rates and Ordinance 001-CGREG-30-06-2025
- Galapagos Governing Council — gobiernogalapagos.gob.ec — Transit Control Card FAQ: cost, documents, 60-day rule