Galapagos Horizon Luxury Trimaran: Islands Cruise

This is a 4-night, 5-day cruise. It begins on a Tuesday with your flight into Baltra Airport, where the crew meets you and transfers you to the trimaran, and ends on Saturday morning after the North Seymour landing, when you are taken back to Baltra for your flight to the mainland.

Over five days you land on Bartholomew (Pinnacle Rock), Santiago (Egas Port), Rabida, Genovesa (Darwin Bay and Prince Philip's Steps), Mosquera Islet, the Santa Cruz highlands and North Seymour. It is a northern and central loop that concentrates on seabird colonies, penguins and giant tortoises rather than the far western islands.

The Horizon is a luxury trimaran, a three-hulled yacht. The wide beam gives it noticeably more stability than a single-hull boat of the same length and creates unusually generous social areas on deck. All guest accommodation is in Balcony Staterooms, so every cabin has its own outside space.

Fares start at US$5,845 per person sharing a Balcony Stateroom, and the exact fare for each departure date is shown live on this page. The price covers the cruise, all meals, guided excursions and island transfers; flights to the Galapagos, the National Park fee and the transit card are extra.

Yes, a stateroom can be booked for one person. Single fares are quoted on request because they depend on the departure date and how many cabins remain, so ask us for the current single supplement before you book. Solo travellers who are happy to share can also ask about matched twin cabins.

All meals on board throughout the cruise, every guided excursion in the itinerary, all transfers within the islands, a bilingual Galapagos National Park naturalist guide, airport assistance, one hotel night in Quito or Guayaquil the evening before the cruise and one airport transfer for your Galapagos flight. Restrictions apply to the complimentary hotel night and transfer, so please confirm the details with us when you book.

Return airfare between mainland Ecuador and the Galapagos, the US$100 Galapagos National Park entrance fee, the US$20 Transit Control Card, alcoholic drinks, travel and medical insurance, tips for the crew and guide, and personal expenses. We can quote the Galapagos flights for you when you book.

You fly from Quito or Guayaquil to Baltra on the Tuesday morning. The naturalist guide meets the flight, and the group is taken by bus and dinghy to the trimaran in time for lunch. Because the flight schedules are fixed, we recommend arriving in mainland Ecuador at least one day earlier; a hotel night before the cruise is included in the fare.

The trimaran is built for 16 guests, which is the maximum group size allowed on most Galapagos visitor trails. One naturalist guide accompanies the group at every landing, so briefings and walks stay intimate and there is never a queue for the dinghies.

Very likely. Galapagos penguins are a highlight of the Bartholomew landing on the first afternoon, where they are often seen swimming below Pinnacle Rock, and Rabida and Egas Port on Santiago are also regular sighting spots. They are the only penguin species that lives north of the equator.

Genovesa, visited on day three, is the great seabird island of the archipelago. Darwin Bay has nesting red-footed boobies, frigatebirds and swallow-tailed gulls within a few feet of the trail, and the climb up Prince Philip's Steps leads to Nazca boobies, storm petrels and, with luck, the short-eared owls that hunt them by day.

Yes. On the Friday afternoon the group goes up into the Santa Cruz highlands, where wild giant tortoises graze in the pastures, and then visits the Fausto Llerena Breeding Center at the Charles Darwin Research Station to see hatchlings and the breeding programme that is restoring the species island by island.

Most days include a snorkelling session, and Rabida, Bartholomew and Genovesa's Darwin Bay are among the best sites in the northern islands for sea lions, reef fish, rays and the occasional white-tipped reef shark. Masks, fins and snorkels are provided on board; bring your own if you prefer a personal fit.

Walks are short, typically one to two hours over sand, lava and rocky trails, with the climb to the Bartholomew viewpoint and Prince Philip's Steps on Genovesa being the steepest sections. Landings are made by dinghy, some of them wet landings onto a beach. Anyone comfortable with a couple of hours of easy hiking will manage the itinerary well.

Yes, families are welcome and the trimaran's stability makes it a comfortable choice for younger travellers. Children under 5 travel on the infant band and children from 5 to under 12 on the child band, with age counted at the departure date; ask us for the current child fares. The Balcony Staterooms can be set up with twin beds for a parent and child.

A 20% deposit confirms your cabin, and the balance is due 65 days before departure. You can pay online on this page or through our concierge. If you are booking within 65 days of the cruise the full fare is due at booking.

The trimaran departs on Tuesdays, with dates currently on sale from October 2026 through December 2027. The live list on this page shows every departure with its fare and a booking button, and we update it directly from the vessel's inventory.

December to May is the warm, sunny season with calmer seas and water around 75-80 F, ideal for snorkelling. June to November is cooler and breezier with richer marine life and more active seabird colonies. Both are good times for this itinerary; the northern islands visited here are sheltered compared with the western crossings.

US, Canadian, UK and EU passport holders do not need a visa for Ecuador for stays under 90 days. No vaccinations are required for the Galapagos Islands themselves. You will need the US$20 Transit Control Card, which is bought at the mainland airport before your flight, and the US$100 National Park fee, paid in cash on arrival.

You can book any departure directly on this page. For questions about cabins, dates, flights or combining the cruise with mainland Ecuador, email travel@palacetours.com, call 786-408-0610, or message us on WhatsApp at https://wa.me/17864080610, where a travel specialist or our AI assistant usually replies within minutes.