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Adventure Dive & Travel will embark upon this journey on
When you step off the plane in Galapagos, you are entering a magical world. The wonders of Galapagos will unfold before your eyes as the onboard naturalist guides share their in-depth knowledge of these volcanic islands. We’ll begin the adventure with a fun inshore dive checking out the sea lions before heading out to Darwin and Wolf islands. Each exciting day is brings a new adventure…diving with hundreds of hammerheads…swimming with 40 foot whale sharks...encountering huge schools of rays, and a chance to see the giant tortoises of Santa Cruz.
- Ecuador Flight: Quito to San Cristobal
- Ecuador Flight: San Cristobal to Quito
- 2 nighs accommodations in Quito
- 7 nights accommodations aboard The Humboldt Explorer Luxurious Liveaboard, Private Staterooms with Bathrooms
- 7 days of diving the fabulous Galapagos Islands...17 dives planned
- Optional Visit to the Giant Tortoises at Darwin Research Station on Santa Cruz Isle
- ALL meals on boat (except last night)
- ALL local liquor on board
- ALL airport transfers
- Pre-Trip Party
- Fully Escorted by an AD&T Master Instructor...This is our FOURTH TRIP!!
- Local Marine Park Taxes $100
- Tourist Card $10
- Departure Tax $41
- Fuel Surcharge (if applicable)
- Gratuities or Travel Insurance
Government airfare taxes and local taxes subject to increase without notice prior to issue of tickets
 Days aboard the M/V Humboldt Explorer generally involve a 6:30 a.m. dive followed by breakfast, a dive at 9:30, lunch at 12:00, and afternoon dives at dive at 1:30 and 4:00 p.m. Dinner is served at approximately 7:00 p.m. Under current National Parks guidelines, no night dives are allowed by any vessels within the Galapagos National Park.
Please note that this itinerary can change depending on local regulation, weather and logistics at the Captain’s discretion. Currently, each week the itinerary includes the same islands. The order of the island visits, however, is dictated by the Galapagos National Park and may vary weekly.
Sunday: St. Louis - Guayaquil
We’ll board our early morning flight in St. Louis for an enroute city (probably Miami) then arrive in Guayaquil, Ecuador in the evening. We’ll be met at the airport and transferred to our hotel. Just enough time for a refreshment or two before heading off to bed. The next morning after breakfast we’ll have a transfer back to the airport for our flight to San Cristobal.
Monday: San Cristobal
We’ll arrive in the late morning, met at the airport and taken to the vessel. Boarding the vessel after 11:00am, we will depart for a short crossing to the canal for a check out dive and safety briefing. Lunch will be served before the dive and dinner will be served after the check out dive. The vessel will make a late day departure to the next destination.
Tuesday: Bartolome
6:30, 9:30, dives. The big adventure begins! Sightings include rays and sea lions.
Afternoon/overnight transit to Wolf Island.
Wednesday: Wolf Island - Landslide, Shark Bay, Pinaculo
6:30, 10:30, and 2:00 dives. Now we’re REALLY getting into the thick of the big stuff! Your adrenaline-filled dive day will often include sightings of hammerheads, eagle rays, and silky sharks. And of course we'll see plenty of what Wolf is famous for...lots of very large and intimidating Galapagos Sharks! These magnificent sharks abound here, so you'll have plenty of chances for up-close encounters with these awesome creatures! Tonight there’ll be plenty of great photos to show off, and lots of stories to share along with some beverages! With all the diving, though, it’s probably an early bedtime…Night at anchor.
Thursday: Wolf Island
6:30, 10:30, and 2:00 dives. Even more hammerheads, eagle rays, Galapagos Sharks, silky sharks, and red-lipped batfish! Evening crossing to Darwin Island.
Friday: Darwin Island
6:30, 10:30, and 2:00 dives. Now that you're just getting used to diving with big stuff...the bar gets raised and we have another day in the ocean with LOTS of animals WAY bigger than us! All of the stuff from Wolf Island is also present here, but we'll also have a great chance to dive with HUGE whale sharks! We'll often see dolphins and sea turtles here, too. And the schools of curious silky sharks are legendary.
Saturday: Darwin Island
6:30, 10:30, and 2:00 dives. Maybe today you can take a break from looking up and look down at all of the incredible animals NOT swimming above you. Lots of free swimming morays, huge scorpionfish, black-striped salema, and a whole host of endemic species, not found anywhere else on earth! Overnight transit Cousins Rock.
Sunday: Cousin’s Rock
6:30, and possible 8:30 dives. This is great wall and macro diving with excellent chance of seeing sea
horses, sea lions, eagle rays. I personally have seen a school of hundreds of eagle rays and mobula rays on this dive…incredible! Lunch will be served while transiting back to Santa Cruz (3 hrs).
Land trip to see the giant tortoises in the highlands of Santa Cruz, traditional
Ecuadorian BBQ meal at a farm in the highlands (cost is $15 per person), and
transit to Puerto Ayora for shopping and possible visit to Darwin Center on your
own. 7 p.m. return to the boat, dinner and crossing to San Cristobal.
Monday: Baltra/San Cristobal
Breakfast; depart the vessel by 9:00 am. You're free to visit the beach in town to see marine iguanas and sea lions in their natural habitat or take a short walk to the interpretive center. Transfer
back to the airport for 1 pm flight back to Quito. At the airport in Quito we’ll be met and transferred to our hotel in the “fun” downtown section of Quito, with lots of shops, restaurants and bars! Evening free for dinner at a great local spot.
Don’t head back to the states just yet… Take 4 fun filled days to explore the uniqueness of Quito and surrounding villages. Wandering through downtown Quito, sampling local cuisine and shopping for the perfect Alpaca sweater. Taking in the gorgeous views of the Andes Mountains and wandering through the Otavala Indian Market is an experience you’ll never forget. Then cap off the trip with awesome white water rafting!
- 4 nights accommodations
- Quito City Tour
- Otavala Indian Market w/lunch at hacienda
- Jungle White Water River Rafting
- All Transfers
Tuesday: Home or Quito City Tour
If you’re not doing the extension you’ll be transferred this morning to the airport for your flight back to St. Louis, arriving this evening. The rest of us will have breakfast and then spend a half-day with our local guide exploring the environs of Quito by bus and on foot. Quito is a fascinating city, former capital of the Spanish Empire in the New World. There are fascinating neighborhoods, incredible cathedrals and monuments, and tons of interesting sites that our guide will show us. This evening we can once again explore Quito by night to find some fun hot spots!
Wednesday: Otovalo Market and Andean Highlands Tour
Today our private bus and guide will take us on a fascinating tour of several of the small towns in the nearby mountains. Each town is reknown for some different type of craft…one for leather working, jackets, coats, etc. One for woodcarving, even one for making Christmas ornaments our of bread dough! We’ll cross the Equator and spend the morning wandering the famous Otovalo Indian Market. Hundreds of villagers from the surrounding mountains converge on Otovalo each week, bringing their wares to display and sell in the streets. You’ll find everything from chickens, grains, spices, alpaca sweaters, belts, pigs, blankets, wood carvings, and much more. A lively, fun atmosphere that is unlike anything you’ve probably seen! We’ll have a meal at a gorgeous hacienda on the way back to Quito.
Thursday: Whitewater Rafting
Early this morning we’ll get picked up at the hotel for our ride to the river. Our mountain/jungle road winds along sheer cliffs and breathtaking passes, itself a hair-raising ride! When we arrive at our departure point, we’ll be fitted with helmets, life jackets and paddles…then off we go! The day will be filled with periods of lazy drifting through rainforest scenery…punctuated with adrenaline-charged runs down wild whitewater-filled canyons! Lunch on the river and back to Quito for our final night of fun.
Friday: Depart for Home
This morning we say goodbye to Ecuador and transfer to the airport for our homeward bound flights.
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