Best time to go to the Galapagos?
 

Is there a best time to go to the Galapagos in terms of nesting or other animal activity? Another consideration would be the relative roughness of the seas. My husband can get slightly sea sick so if there is a better time to go in that regard,let me know.

We went the second week June and the conditions were ideal - calm seas, blue skies, warm but not too hot, and we got to see the albatross doing their mating dance. One member of our family normally gets seasick, and that wasn't at all an issue during that time period.

You can see all sorts of nesting and wildlife activity any time of the year. The songbirds (e.g., the "Darwin" finches) have a discrete nesting season that coincides with the warm/dry season (~Jan. - May) because they rely on insects that appear then to feed their young. But most people don't got to the archipelago for the songbirds. The sea birds (e.g., frigatebirds, boobies) have much more varied breeding seasons that can stagger across the whole year. The only exception to that is the marvelous Waved Albatross, which typically is on Española only between mid-March and Dec. In Jan. - March, they feed off the coast of Peru. Except for one small colony that nests of the coast of Ecuador, Española is the only place in the world the Waved Albatrosses nest. Even people who aren't particular interested in birds find these marvelous creatures amazing. If possible, I recommend an itinerary that gets to Española between April and Dec.

Galápagos Sea Lions breed at different times on different islands. But their breeding season is typically June - Sept. We were there in mid-Sept. and sea lion pups were everywhere and totally adorable. Galápagos Fur Seals (which are really sea lions rather than true seals) breed between Aug. - Nov. Galápagos Green Turtles (sea turtles) typically mate in Nov. & Dec., although we saw mating in mid-Sept. So sometimes you just get lucky.

But beyond details like these, you'll see amazing amounts of wildlife up-close and personal no matter when you go. The major species that you risk completely missing is the Waved Albatross, if you go between Jan. & March.

Tina
trip report at http://galapagos2009.wordpress.com/

With regards to calm seas, the best time to go in my opinion would be between April and JUne, when you would still have nice weather, but it wouldn´t be too hot or too rainy. You could look into catamaran options, or the larger ships, which would offer more stability.

Tina,

I have read and bookmarked your report-blog. It has been so helpful. I appreciate the links also. Thank you for your detailed reply. Right now we are leaning toward going in May as we have a family obligation in early June.

Crosscheck, which boat were you on and why did you choose it?
Thanks.

We were on the Explorer II (90 passengers). We chose it because we got a great last-minute deal. I originally looked at smaller, cooler-looking boats, but Mr. Crosscheck was concerned about seasickness and insisted on the largest boat possible. It turned out to be a great choice for our family.

Thanks, Crosscheck. Avoiding seasickness is an excellent reason to choose Explorer II. I chose a Princess cruise for a trip to the Antartica for the same reason and it proved to be a good choice. According to people on the small ships docked at Ushiah with our ship, most of them were sick most of their cruise. Not for me!!! :)

We just returned from Galapagos this week and it was absolutely amazing. We were on the smaller, 48-passenger National Geographic/Lindblad Islander and I too was very concerned about seasickness as I believe July/Aug has some of the roughest seas. The boat did not have a stablizer, either. But, while it got bouncy at times I had no problems whatsoever. I did take Bonine every day, starting before embarkation, and also gave it to our teens. My husband refused to take anything. No one in our family had any issues, and I don't believe any of the other passengers did either. The small ship does have advantages - less people to move on and off each day, etc. One of the naturalists told us he greatly prefers the smaller ship over their 98-passenger one.