3-Day All-Inclusive Galápagos Tour
The shortest programme on this site is also its densest — three working days, a private group and a yacht — with one line in the fine print that changes the budget: the hotel is not in the price.
Three days, private group
Bartolomé by yacht, a discovery dive at North Seymour
Accommodation is optional, not included
From $1,370 — verified August 2026
About this tour
Start with the line most buyers will miss, because it decides whether this price is comparable to anything else on this site: accommodation is optional. The operator says it in his own exclusion list — the three nights are not part of the package, and he will arrange them only if you ask. What the price does buy is dense: a private group with an English- and Spanish-speaking concierge from the moment you land, a first day already full of Santa Cruz — the Los Gemelos twin craters, the highlands tortoise reserve, the lava tunnels, a town tour — a yacht day to Bartolomé, and a discovery dive to finish. Add a room, and then compare.
The days themselves are fuller than the calendar suggests. Day one works from the airport pick-up onwards. Day two is the Bartolomé yacht day, with breakfast and lunch on board and the climb of 374 wooden steps — the operator’s own count — to one of the most photographed viewpoints in the archipelago. Day three goes underwater: a discovery dive at North Seymour with an instructor and all equipment, no diving licence needed by the operator’s account, then guided snorkelling at Mosquera islet, with his photographers filming the lot. Three dinners are included along the way, lobster in the operator’s telling. It is a short trip, but it is not a thin one.
“All-inclusive” still stops where an operator’s power to sell stops. Every foreign adult hands over a $200 entry tribute to the National Park plus $20 for the Transit Control Card — $220 in cash, collected at Baltra (GPS) before you leave the terminal; children under 12 pay $100 instead of $200. This operator also declares a small separate airport pick-up fee, $6.81 in cash. Flights from the mainland — Quito (UIO) or Guayaquil (GYE) — are your own booking, and so, again, is the bed. The list that binds is the one in the booking box below, option by option.
The rest is not negotiable with the operator either. The Galápagos National Park issues the permissions for each visitor site and each group, and the sea has the last word on the Bartolomé crossing and the dive day alike; on a three-day programme a cancelled morning tears a hole in the time you have, and there is no spare day to patch it with. Access here is genuinely managed: the Park counted 279,277 visitors in 2024, against 329,475 in 2023. What you meet — the blue-footed boobies of North Seymour included — depends on the sites you are allocated, the season and luck, never on a reservation. From $1,370, verified August 2026; the booking box can revise it.
Itinerary
Typical itinerary for this tour — the National Park assigns the visitor sites and the sea decides whether a crossing sails, so stops can change: check the booking box for the day-by-day details.
Day 1 — Arrival, the Santa Cruz highlands and the town
Your concierge waits at Baltra (GPS) with a name sign — after you have paid the landing costs, $200 park entry tribute in cash per foreign adult plus the $20 Transit Control Card, and the small taxable airport pick-up fee of $6.81 in cash that the operator declares separately. Then the first day is already a working day: the Los Gemelos twin craters, the highlands tortoise reserve, the lava tunnels and a Santa Cruz town tour, closed by the first of the three dinners the operator includes. Note what is not in this list: the hotel. Accommodation is optional on this product — you sleep in a room you or the operator have arranged separately.
Day 2 — Bartolomé by yacht
An early transfer to the dock and the operator’s yacht day to Bartolomé, with breakfast and lunch on board. The centrepiece is the hike up the wooden staircase — 374 steps, by the operator’s count — to the viewpoint over the island’s volcanic landscape, followed by beach time or snorkelling before the return. It is the day most exposed to the sea: the crossing happens only if conditions allow, and on a three-day programme a lost crossing is a big loss. Dinner is included again in the evening.
Day 3 — Discovery dive at North Seymour, snorkelling at Mosquera
The last day goes underwater. The operator runs a discovery dive at North Seymour with a professional instructor — no diving licence needed, in his own words, with all equipment provided — followed by a guided snorkelling session at Mosquera islet and lunch on board. Blue-footed boobies are the advertised finale; like every animal here, they have not signed the brochure. Back at the port mid-afternoon. The flight to the mainland is your own booking, on this day or later depending on how you have planned the trip.
Essential information
Included
- A private English- and Spanish-speaking concierge, from airport pick-up onwards
- The Santa Cruz day: Los Gemelos twin craters, the highlands tortoise reserve, the lava tunnels and a town tour — with ferry, bus and boat tickets covered
- The yacht day to Bartolomé with breakfast and lunch on board, the guided hike to the viewpoint and snorkelling time
- The discovery dive at North Seymour with instructor and all diving equipment, plus guided snorkelling at Mosquera — and the operator’s underwater photos and videos
- All meals of the itinerary, including three included dinner experiences
Not included
- Accommodation — on this product the three nights are optional, arranged separately or added through the operator
- Park entry tribute ($200 per foreign adult, $100 per child under 12) and the $20 Transit Control Card — $220 in cash on landing
- The airport pick-up fee the operator declares separately: $6.81, payable in cash
- Flights from the mainland (Quito UIO / Guayaquil GYE)
- Extra alcoholic drinks at the dinners, tips for driver and concierge, travel insurance
What to bring
- $220 in cash per foreign adult for the landing: the $200 park tribute is paid in cash to the rangers, the $20 Transit Control Card is collected at the airport (it can be pre-registered online)
- Your passport and the non-transferable return ticket the Transit Control Card requires
- Swimwear, a towel and a dry change of clothes — land-based days still end up in the water
- Serious sun protection: high-factor cream, a hat and sunglasses, on the equator and on open water
- Motion-sickness remedies if boats and you disagree — moving between islands happens by sea
Inclusions are summarised from the operator listing — always verify the full list in the live booking box.
Important information
Wildlife sightings are never guaranteed: the National Park assigns the visitor sites and the sea decides whether a crossing sails
Itineraries and specific islands can change — permits and weather come before the programme
Landing costs, included in no tour price: $200 park entry tribute per foreign adult ($100 for children under 12) plus a $20 Transit Control Card — $220 in cash at Baltra (GPS) or San Cristóbal (SCY), galapagos.gob.ec
The tribute doubled from $100 to $200 on 1 August 2024 (Ordinance 001-CGREG-30-06-2025)
Flights from the mainland — Quito (UIO) and Guayaquil (GYE) — are not included unless the operator states otherwise
Tourists may stay a maximum of 60 days a year in the archipelago, and the Transit Control Card requires a valid document plus a non-transferable return ticket
The islands sit outside every advised-against area of the UK FCDO advisory (read 2 August 2026), which does advise against non-essential travel to several mainland coastal provinces including Guayas — airside transit at Guayaquil airport is explicitly exempt. Check your own country’s advice before you fly
The live booking box is the contract: inclusions, meeting points, prices and cancellation terms shown there override anything on this page
Check dates & prices
Live availability & pricesFrequently asked questions
Is the hotel included in this all-inclusive tour?
No — and it is the single most important line on this page. The operator’s own exclusion list states that accommodation is optional: the price buys three days of touring, meals and transport, not the three nights. You either book a room yourself or ask the operator to add one. Budget for it before comparing this price with programmes that do include their nights, or the comparison will flatter this one unfairly.
Do I need a diving licence for day 3?
Not according to the operator: day 3 is a “discovery dive” at North Seymour, run with a professional instructor and with all equipment provided, and the product page says no PADI licence is needed. That is his claim and his responsibility, not our certification. The listing does exclude children under 3 and guests over 95, and any dive ultimately answers to the conditions on the day. If you would rather stay at the surface, the same day includes guided snorkelling at Mosquera.
Is the Bartolomé yacht day guaranteed?
No boat day in the Galápagos is. Bartolomé is the programme’s centrepiece — the climb of 374 wooden steps to the viewpoint is the operator’s own description — but the crossing happens only if the sea allows it, and the National Park allocates the visitor sites. On a three-day tour a cancelled crossing has nowhere soft to land, which is the honest risk of buying the short format. The operator, in business since 1998 by his own account, reorganises rather than refunds the day away; what applies to your booking is in the booking box.
How much do I pay on landing, and why did it go up?
$220 per foreign adult, in cash, at the island airport — plus, on this tour, the $6.81 airport pick-up fee the operator lists separately, also in cash. The $220 is a $200 entry tribute to the National Park plus a $20 Transit Control Card, which requires a valid travel document and a non-transferable return ticket and can be pre-registered online. Foreign children under 12 pay $100 rather than $200. The tribute doubled from $100 on 1 August 2024 (Ordinance 001-CGREG-30-06-2025, galapagos.gob.ec). None of it is in the tour price.
Why does the shortest tour cost more than a four-day one?
Because you are paying for density, not length. From $1,370, verified August 2026, this three-day programme sits above the four-day Santa Cruz and Bahía tour with full board, from $639 — but the money buys a private group, a concierge, a yacht day to Bartolomé and a discovery dive with equipment, none of which the cheaper programme claims to offer. It is a legitimate trade if those are the things you want. If what you want is more islands and more days, it is the wrong page.
Can I cancel, and what is binding?
At the census of 2 August 2026 the product page declared free cancellation up to 24 hours before the start for a full refund, plus the option to reserve now and pay later; the tour is run in English and Spanish for private groups. None of that is a guarantee for your dates — windows, languages and inclusions vary by option and change over time. The booking box on this page shows the live version, and that is the text you are actually agreeing to.
