Doing a land-based trip and looking for recommendations for day tour operators on San Cristóbal (Kicker Rock, Highlands) and Isabella (Los Tuneles, Sierra Negra). There don't seem to be many companies with too many reviews.
We used Pahoehoe tours for Los Tuneles on Isabela and had a fine day.
FYI Isabela is fantastic and our best day was renting and riding bikes out to The Wall of Tears. It’s not always the easiest biking b/c part is on sand so we walked the bikes occasionally (we are not bikers) but there are many sites along the route - isolated lagoons, lava tubes, beaches where we were the only people (sea lions and marine iguanas), a local cemetery, wild giant tortoises, scenic overlooks, and the Wall and short hike are ok too. Great exploring on our own.
I don’t remember who we used for Kicker Rock, just picked a place along the street among many. We were part of a group of ~40 i dependent travellers, so each was picking their own activities. Nobody had a bad experience with anyone they chose.
Edited: 28 September 2024, 18:46*independent travellers
I had a wonderful experience with Islanders Galapagos on San Cristobal. salesislandersgalapagos@gmail.com. WhatsApp +593 98 631 0202. They do Kicker Rock and Highlands tours as well as Española & Punta Pitt.
On Isabela, I booked with Pahoehoe, and they took good care of me. The Tuneles tour ended up being operated by Rosedelco, and the guide and crew were great, so I would recommend either Pahoehoe or Rosedelco for Isabela tours.
Have fun!
Awesome, thanks so much! How important is it to book these day tours in advance?
It's tough to know if day tours will sell out, so the question of pre-booking comes down to risk tolerance. The fewer spots you'll need, the better your chances of last-minute availability. It also depends on whether you'll be there at high or low tourist season.
I pre-booked the tours I most wanted to do because for me, the potential savings at last-minute prices wasn't worth the risk of missing out on the experiences.
Another benefit of pre-booking is that trips don’t happen every day, so in going through the detailed effort of planning, you will figure that out. I am speaking specifically to your highlands tour on SanCristobal. I was not able to work that out while I was there but probably could have if I had worked the details out ahead of time.
