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south america: galapagos

Beluga - Fernandina Galapagos Cruise 8 day/7 night

The Beluga's Fernandina itinerary consists of an 8-day/7-night cruise touring the Central and Western Galapagos Islands. Cruise among the Galapagos Islands of Santa Cruz, Floreana, Isabela, Fernandina and Santiago. The Beluga Fernandina cruise will bring you to the hotspots of the Galapagos for up close encounters with the unique flora and fauna.

Visit the Charles Darwin Research Station in Puerto Ayora on Santa Cruz Island. On Floreana Island explore flamingos living in mangrove lagoons and snorkel among colorful corals and fishes. Isabela Island offers beautiful beaches, abundant birds, a volcano hike, sea lions, marine iguanas, land iguanas, Galapagos penguins, sea turtles and more. Fernandina Island is home to amazing birds such as masked and blue footed boobies, flightless cormorants, Galapagos hawks and penguins. Visit Pinnacle Rock, Post Office Bay and other unique sites on this extensive exploration of the Galapagos Islands. The Beluga Fernandina cruise begins and ends in Baltra.

The Beluga Fernandina cruise itinerary can be combined with the Tower itinerary to make an all encompassing 15-day/14-night cruise. The Beluga Fernandina cruise itinerary details are listed below, or click the following links to view the other Beluga Galapagos cruise options.

Galapagos Hood 5 days/4 nights
Galapagos James 4 days/3 nights
Galapagos Tower 8 days/7 nights
Beluga Galapagos Cruise Main Page

Day 1 - FRI - Baltra, Santa Cruz Island

Upon arrival at the Baltra airport, meet your expedition staff and transfer to the Beluga. After briefing and lunch, begin your first island visit with a tour the Santa Cruz Highlands where you will be delighted by the island's variety of life and geology.

Next take a ten minute walk from Puerto Ayora's town center, to the Charles Darwin Research Station. Here, learn about natural history of the Galapagos, issues concerning the islands, and see the tortoise breeding and rearing project at work.

Accommodations: Beluga
Included Meals: lunch and dinner

Day 2 - SAT - Punta Cormorant & Post Office Bay, Floreana

This morning spend time at Punta Cormorant which offers two highly contrasting beaches, one of a greenish hue and one with brilliant white sand. Between these two beaches is a salt lagoon frequented by flamingos, pintails, stilts and other wading birds. Next head 250 meters north from the point to Devil's Crown - home to a myriad of marine species including a variety of corals, pencil sea urchin, wrasses, angelfish, amberjacks and many other creatures, making for some of the best snorkeling in the Galapagos.

This afternoon will be spent at Post Office Bay. This is one of the few visitor sites, that is known for its human history. At the post barrel the guide will pull a hand full of letters for the group. Continuing the tradition, the letters are brought home with the traveler and then mailed to the addressee. Visitors also have the opportunity to send letters of their own.

Accommodations: Beluga
Included Meals: breakfast, lunch and dinner

Day 3 - SUN - Puerto Villamil, Los Humedales & Sierra Negra, Isabela

Begin today at Puerto Villamil, a small peaceful town with a laid back atmosphere known as the main settlement areas on Isabela. The beaches and lagoons near Villamil are home to the best migratory bird viewing in the Galapagos. Villamil is also home to the Darwin center's tortoise breeding center on Isabela Island. Here you can see several species of Isabela tortoises next to each other and observe the way each evolved differently depending on their environment.

Next head to Los Humedales, a complex with various trails where you can find the four species of mangroves existing in Galapagos. You will also visit the Turtle breeding center where the National park is breeding turtles in danger of extinction. At the end of the road you will visit a historic site of Isabela, El Muro de las Lagrimas (Wall of tears), this wall was built from huge blocks of lava by exile inmates during 1945 to 1959 as a punishment while Isabela was a penal colony.

End the day with a journey up Sierra Negra's caldera. This volcano is the largest in the Galapagos and the second largest in the world. Whether on foot or by horse the trip takes between 3 - 5 hours. The landscape along the way is quite lovely. Once on top there are a series of fumaroles inside small craters. On a clear day the view can be spectacular.

Accommodations: Beluga
Included Meals: breakfast, lunch and dinner

Day 4 - MON - Punta Moreno & Elizabeth Bay, Isabela

Punta Moreno is a place where the forces of the Galapagos have joined to create a work of art. In the places where the roof of a large swirling black-lava flow gave way to form craters, crystal tidal pools have formed, some surrounded by mangroves. These are a magnet for wildlife, including flamingo, great blue herons and pintails. One can walk to the edge of the lava to look straight down at the Inhabitants of the pools, including the occasional green sea turtle, white-tipped sharks and puffer fish.

A panga ride brings us to protected mangrove lagoon (Elizabeth Bay) where sea lions sleep in trees (tree lions). Sea turtles and manta rays surface in the quiet waters while Galapagos hawks circle overhead. Outside the lagoon sit three islets known as Las Marielas, home to the largest concentration of Galapagos penguins on the islands.

Accommodations: Beluga
Included Meals: breakfast, lunch and dinner

Day 5 - TUE - Urbina Bay & Tagus Cove, Isabela

Make an easy, wet landing onto the gently sloping beach of Urbina Bay. Walk amongst the dried coral heads, mollusks and other organisms that formed the ocean floor. Giant tortoises Inhabit this coastal plain during the wet season, before migrating to the highlands when it turns dry. Our landing beach also provides opportunities to snorkel amongst marine creatures, or just relax on shore.

On the way to Tagus Cove, the Beluga will cruise through the Bolivar Channel. These are the coldest, most productive waters in the Galapagos, the upwelling of the Cronwell Current, where dolphins and whales are frequently seen. Tagus cove's quiet waters make for an ideal panga ride beneath its sheltered cliffs, where sea birds make their nests. Follow a wooden stairway to the trail entrance for a view of Darwin Lake, barely separated from the ocean but above sea level! The trail continues around the lake through a dry vegetation zone, and then climbs inland to a promontory formed by spatter cones.

Accommodations: Beluga
Included Meals: breakfast, lunch and dinner

Day 6 - WED - Punta Espinoza & Punta Vicente Roca, Fernandina

Spend the morning at Punta Espinosa where a number of unique Galapagos species can be seen in close proximity. The landing is a dry one, set in a quiet mangrove forest. A short walk through the vegetation leads to a large colony of marine iguanas, one of the few places you can glimpse iguana’s grazing on seaweed underwater. Back toward the landing and farther inland, the island's black lava flows become more evident, forming a quiet, inner lagoon. Galapagos hawks survey the entire scene from overhead.

After lunch head to the ‘mouth’ of the head of the sea horse, which forms the northern part of the Galapagos islands - Punta Vicente Roca. Here the remnants of an ancient volcano form two turquoise coves with a bay well protected from the ocean swells, perfect for panga rides. The upwelling of coldwater currents in this part of the Galapagos, give rise to an abundance of marine life which, in combination with the protection of the coves, make Punta Vicente Roca one of the archipelago’s sough after dive spots.

Accommodations: Beluga
Included Meals: breakfast, lunch and dinner

Day 7 - THR - Puerto Egas & Bartolome, Santiago

Our morning visit to Puerto Egas begins with a wet landing on the dark sand beaches of James Bay. Start with a walk along the rocky coast giving the opportunity to view some of the Galapagos Island's best tide pools and a variety of shore birds. The steep trail is easy, but can often seem one of the hottest hikes in the islands. Feral goats prune the arid vegetation, which lines the trail. Finally reaching the crater rim presents an incredible vista. Looking into the crater you are able to see this extinct volcano whose floor has sunken below sea level.

Bartolome is famous for Pinnacle Rock, a towering spearheaded obelisk that rises from the ocean's edge and is" the best known landmark in the Galapagos. Just below the surface, shoals of tropical fish dodge in and out of the rocks past urchins, sea stars and anemones. A perfectly crescent, pink-and-white sandy beach lies just to the east of the pinnacle. Sea turtles use the beach as a nesting site and can sometimes be found wading in the shallow water near the shore. Make a dry landing at the entrance to a 2000-foot pathway complete with stairs and boardwalks leading to Bartolome's summit. The route is not difficult and presents a museum of vulcanology; where cones stand in various stages of erosion and lava tubes form bobsled-like runs from the summit. At the top you will be rewarded with spectacular views of Santiago Island and James Bay to the west, and far below, Pinnacle Rock and our beach, where the crystal blue waters of the bay cradle your yacht.

Accommodations: Beluga
Included Meals: breakfast, lunch and dinner

Day 8 - FRI - North Seymour & Return to Baltra

Before returning to the airport, make one last island visit at North Seymour Island. This island is teaming with life! Enjoy a hike along the rocky shore which displays white sand and large flocks of pelicans mass for a dive-bomb feeding frenzy. The trail turns inland to reveal the largest nesting site in the Galapagos of the "magnificent frigate bird." After this expedition, you will be met and taken to the airport for flights returning to the Mainland. This concludes your Galapagos cruise aboard the Beluga.

Accommodations: n/a
Included Meals: breakfast

GALAPAGOS CRUISE INCLUSIVE PACKAGE: For your convenience we offer an Inclusive Package with three nights hotel accommodations in Quito, all airport/hotel transfers, Galapagos flights, Galapagos National Park entrance fees and taxes, Galapagos migration card and your Galapagos cruise. View details of our Galapagos Cruise Inclusive Package.

Travelers not interested in our inclusive package must purchase Galapagos flights in conjunction with their Galapagos cruise.

GALAPAGOS CRUISE CUSTOM PACKAGE: If you are booking a cruise-only program our experts can assist with hotels, transfers, flights and tours. Call AdventureSmith Explorations about customizing your tour or the possibilities of combining this trip with our Mainland Ecuador and Peru: Machu Picchu extensions. We are Galapagos cruise and Ecuador travel experts and our staff can help you customize the perfect Galapagos cruise or Ecuador tour package.

Itinerary Notes: Use the itinerary as a guide only. Itineraries may be altered due to weather, wildlife, National Park regulation or at the captain's discretion. The ability to be flexible makes this type of small ship cruising unique.

Included: Double accommodation in cabins, all meals, excursions and guides.

Exclusions: International airfare; Airfare from mainland Ecuador; Galapagos National Park Entrance Fee (US $100 per adult, $50 for children under 12 years old. This can be paid directly by passengers [cash only] or it is included in our INCLUSIVE PACKAGE TOURS); Galapagos National Institute Migration Control Card (US $10 per person); departure tax ($40.80); gratuities for guides, crew, drivers or local staff; bottled beverages on board; other personal expenses, medical services or insurance of any kind. Snorkel gear and wetsuits are available for rent. For 2013 Christmas and New Years weeks, a $130 holiday surcharge applies per person.

Room Configurations: There is a 50% surcharge for single occupancy. If you are traveling alone and wish to share accommodations, a Roommate Share Program will guarantee double occupancy rates for boat cabins even if we are unable to match you with a roommate.

Families & Children: Children under 12 years old receive a 40% discount when traveling with 1 adult. One child per adult at discounted rate. Not applicable over Christmas and New Years departures. There is no minimum age for children.

Arrival & Departure: Most flights to the Galapagos will depart Quito or Guayaquil between 7:00am-9:00am on day 1 and return between 2:00pm-5:00pm on the final day. We highly recommend travelers arrive Ecuador 2 days prior to their Galapagos cruise.

Payment & Cancellation: A cruise deposit of $700 per person is required at the time of booking. For land packages a deposit of $300 per person is required at the time of booking. A Reservation Form, which includes a release of liability, must be completed and signed by all travelers. The balance of the trip price is due 90 days before the departure date. Guests who must cancel their trip for any reason must do so in writing. Cancellations are subject to the following fees, based on number of days prior to departure:
Up to 61 days - 10% of total trip cost
60 to 0 days - 100% of total trip cost

Terms & Conditions: This trip is subject to AdventureSmith Explorations Terms and Conditions. Please read this information carefully and call us if you have any questions. A packing list and extensive pre-departure and travel insurance information is sent upon confirmation.

Travel Insurance: We highly recommend our travelers protect their investment with travel insurance. Please note that you must purchase your travel insurance policy within 14 days of booking your trip for it to cover pre-existing medical conditions. Click the link below for a selection of policies from our partners at Travelex.



Activities: There are numerous opportunities to swim and snorkel. The underwater experience is an integral part of any Galapagos cruise. We encourage all travelers to try snorkeling. Snorkeling gear (mask, snorkel, fins, floating vest and net bag) and wet suits are available to rent for a fee. Wet suits are recommended from June to December.

Daily excursions from the boat to the islands will be made in pangas (dinghies). Trip members will hike from the landing point to specific areas for wildlife observation. Hiking time for most landings will be a couple of hours round-trip with lots of time to stop to study, photograph and enjoy the flora and fauna. Some landings are dry but many are "wet," requiring cautious footing on slippery rocks. The boat staff will be on hand to assist.

Qualifications: This trip will be enjoyed by anyone who is in good health and leads an active life.

For additional information and reservations, please contact us:

800-728-2875 | 530-583-1775 | fax 530-583-1711 | travel@AdventureSmithExplorations.com