Originally Posted by
marinkitty
Hi. We went at winter break a few years ago. We did the Western Galapagos on La Pinta through Metropolitan Tours. I highly recommend them. We booked directly with them (Katarina in Quito is who I dealt with) and spent a night on either side in Guayaquil (we decided not try add Quito to the trip - saving interior SA/colonial capitals for other trips). The boat held 48 passengers, the naturalists were really terrific, it was very intimate and personalized, there was a great mix of nationalities on board - it wasn't American centric at all and we made friends from several countries we now keep in touch with, the food and accommodations were very good (we did a double cabin for the adults and a triple for the three kids), the activities were varied enough (kayaking, snorkeling, SUP, panga rides, hikes) and we felt like we did the right mix of islands. We saw all the main animals - penguins, orca, whales, iguanas (land and marine), blue footed boobies, tons of sea birds, giant tortoise, sharks, lots of fish and just learned so much about the islands and their flora/fauna. Definitely make sure you are prepared for all weather and if your trip doesn't supply wet suits, bring them. The water is chilly after a long drift snorkel. We had mostly warm weather and very little rain, but we did get a bit of everything. I also looked at the safari camp as a land based option, but in the end I'm really glad we went with a water based trip.