Welcome
Take sometime to READ the various previous posts on this. Just scroll down a few or several pages and see what others have reported.
Note, i ONLY did the cruise.
There have been people that have done either and were happy with their choice.
Guess what? the way i see things you dont know what you dont know until you need to know. Same with an experience like this.
to me, if you can AFFORD to use a ship, i would.
Our guide stated that the islands ARE PROTECTED and you cant just go on your own. Also, they limit how many and how long we could be on the islands and areas. ON my 8 day cruise last year, we only saw 2 other boats and on 1 island 1 other group. that was in , in 8 days, other than going back to port for land tours.
And if you look at where all of them are located and where you can fly in/out of and where you can get a tour to get to the other UNINHABITED island, you may get an idea on using a ship.
Also, the way our ship did things were as follows..
> do some morning activity and come back for lunch. THen do some afternoon activity then come back for dinner. The activity could be snorkel then land or land then snorkel.
> at night, move ship to next stop.
> repeat.
> there wasnt alot of time for other things. Our ship had a lounge and some people used it after dinner, but not for long. For me since im 63, i was tired and slept well even with the motion sickness.
> you asked if "...If you could do the trip again, what would you keep the same and what would you do differently?..."
Answer: I would do it all again via ship. If i had more money and more time, i would do a longer cruise and then maybe do it all over again at a later/different date if there was more chances of seeing other/different critters. And i would also do some land based tours too.
If all you wnat to see is a handful of critters you may see them. If you want to see all that the Galapagos has, you may have to make more than 1 trip or get lucky.
once you get there and see whats possible you may change your mind and rethink how you want to things when you are there or after you do your trip.
By the way, did you read Heathers post on the Galapagos. Link below
https://shorturl.at/w46fD
Before you post a question on TA, spend a few moments reading what others have posted before you. If you read/scan a few pages you will find your question isnt anything new. Like all the other boards on TA, you will see a theme of some of the same questions over and over. You are not the first and wont be the last.
Also some people dont have the money for a cruise. So they have no choice. Circumstances dictate how they do things.
good luck
Edited: 26 November 2024, 10:34 
