Friday, Day 1 Flight from mainland Ecuador (Quito or Guayaquil) to Baltra, with AVIANCA Airlines; arriving at 09:20 a.m. approximately. Your guide will meet you at the arrivals gate, our crew will take care of your luggage. Your guide will conduct you to a bus and after a short 5-kilometer ride to the pier; you board the Yacht immediately. As the crew weighs anchor, we greet you with our first orientation and we offer a light snack. After navigating, we disembark on Playa Las Bachas, a place where you can appreciate a Flamingos lagoon. During all walks, your guide will be explaining details about the lives of the birds and animals. Optional: time for those who would like to swim and/or snorkel, in the evening you have an orientation about the Galapagos Islands in general: their origin and evolution. Welcome cocktail with the entire crew, and dinner.
The Tip Top II Catamaran offers guests fantastic 3, 4, 7 or 14 night itineraries exploring the Galapagos Islands. All trips start from Baltra Island, and return domestic flights from either Quito or Guayaquil are included in the trip cost. The trips themselves offer guests everything they could hope to expect from a Galapagos cruise. Hike to the summit of Bartolome Island, snorkel amongst penguins and turtles, visit colonies of sea lions, enjoy panga rides around the rugged coast and visit the Charles Darwin Research Centre to learn all about this diverse area.
Saturday, Day 2 After breakfast, you make a wet landing on Darwin Bay to walk and observe frigate birds, herons, mockingbirds, boobies, shorebirds, turtles, marine iguanas, etc. Optional: time for those who would like to swim, snorkel or kayak. You come on board for a delicious lunch. Later in the afternoon, you take a panga ride and you make a dry landing on Prince Phillips’s Steps (Barranco), you walk and observe the interesting lives of the birds here. Dinner on the Yacht, and then your orientation about conservation efforts made to protect the Islands.
Sunday, Day 3 After breakfast, we make a dry landing on Punta Espinoza to observe and see a large colony of sea lions, marine iguanas and the flightless cormorants and clumps of lava cactus. You come aboard for lunch. In the afternoon, you make a panga ride around the islets of Elizabeth Bay to see marine iguanas, penguins, marine turtles, seabirds and shorebirds, herons and blue-footed boobies. Return to the Yacht for dinner and our nightly orientation.
Monday, Day 4 After breakfast, you will disembark to take the bus to the highlands of Santa Cruz Island for a visit to the native forests, Twin Craters, then, you will go to one of the ranches to see the giant tortoises in the wildlife. You will be delighted with the lunch in the ranch. After lunch, you will return to Puerto Ayora to start the visit to the Interpretation Center Fausto Llerena. You return to the Yacht for dinner and our nightly orientation.
Tuesday, Day 5 After breakfast, you make a wet landing on Post Office Bay, a historic site that recalls the days of the whalers, who presumably placed a wooden barrel in the 18th century to use it as a post office. Then, you will continue to the Baroness Point view, named due to the presence of a particular character who lived on Floreana Island, it is the Baroness Eloisa von Wagner, you will enjoy of the beautiful landscape and the ruins of her house. Return to the Yacht for lunch. In the afternoon, you visit the Devil’s Crown, a submerged volcano, for snorkeling for those who wish it (this is one of the best snorkeling sites in the Islands), then you make a wet landing on Point Cormorant for a short walk to the Flamingo Lagoon of this island. You then continue the walk until we reach the beach called “La Picona” to see marine turtles and their spawning grounds. Optional: time for those who would like to swim and/or snorkel. You return to the Yacht for dinner and our nightly orientation.
Wednesday, Day 6 After breakfast, you make an early dry landing on Punta Suarez to walk along lava beds where you will observe unique colonies of marine birds, including Albatross (May – December). Return to the Yacht for lunch. In the afternoon, you make a wet landing in Gardner Bay for a walk on the beach and observe a colony of sea lions, which inhabit the beach in great quantity during the breeding season; this is also an important nesting area for sea turtles. Then we make a panga ride around the Osborn Islet and the islets of Gardner. Optional: time for those who would like to swim and/or snorkel. Return to the Yacht for dinner and our nightly orientation.
Thursday, Day 7 After breakfast, your experienced Captain sails easily around Kicker Rock (Leon Dormido), a massive tuff-rock that juts abruptly almost 500 feet straight from the ocean. Kicker Rock serves as a nesting place for many seabirds. Then you make a wet landing on Cerro Brujo to walk on a white sand beach and observe sea lions, brown pelicans, marine iguanas, and blue-footed boobies. In the afternoon, you make a dry landing on San Cristobal port, after a short drive, you arrive at Jacinto Gordillo Interpretation Center where you learn about its reproductive process and the programs to maintain the species. You take the bus back to the port to visit the Interpretation Center of Human History of the Islands; this tour takes you through the geological and human history of the islands and its conservation. You return to the Yacht for dinner and our nightly orientation.
After breakfast, you make a panga ride on Black Turtle Cove, series of mangrove-surrounded coves and islets; here you can observe white-tipped sharks, marine turtles, spotted eagle rays, and yellow cow-nosed rays. You return to the Yacht for disembarking on the pier at 09:00. Your guide accompanies you on the bus ride directly to the airport.
Our passengers will have different visits to the islands according to the established itinerary with a bilingual naturalist guide. The naturalist guides on board are trained for the excursions and certified by the Galapagos National Park. Our passengers can discover the unique Galapagos marine life while snorkeling, panga raiding or kayaking in a friendly and familiar atmosphere. Our guests can read books about the Galapagos Islands, enjoy the selected movies or have fun with the games on board.
Our eight experienced crew members will provide a personalized service to each guest. Our chef will combine Ecuadorian and International cuisine to create delicious dishes. We will always have complementary: purified water, coffee or herbal teas that can be consumed free of charge.