Hello all,

I am planning a trip to Galapagos this summer and, as the spaces on cruise ships are becoming sparse, need make a choice on the timing and the boat/itinerary, and I was hoping your past experiences may help me.

My first dilema is: mid-June or late July/August.
I heard that the water temperatures are lower and the seas rougher in July/August than in June and that therefore June might be a better month.

To complicate this, Samba (the boat and its south/east itinerary), which I was kind of set on, is not avaialable until late July. Angelito, however, is available in June, but I'm just not sure about the boat and the itinerary.

So, my questions are:

Is the weather really that much worse in August? Is it still possible to snorkel or are the seas really, really rough? Are animal sightings as good as in June? I would be interested to hear from anyone who has been there at that time of year.

Is it worth compromising on the itinerary and paying more and go with Angelito rather than Samba just to go earlier? I would also like to hear if anyone has done Angelito (south/east itinerary) and what their experience was like.

Thank you sooo much for you input. I've been losing sleep over this for a week now and am turning this planning of my dream trip into a nightmare

Oh, my--losing sleep! First of all, whatever you decide, you will have a marvelous experience. So put that worry to bed.

We were in the archipelago in Sept., 2009--the least visited month, in large part due to the increased likelihood of rough water. The rough waters are a concern primarily during the long open-water crossings, such as to Genovesa or Española. One of the those trips was calm; one was pretty lively. But the long crossings are made at night, so the impact on us was very slight--mostly I just lost some sleep. But heck--you can sleep when you get back home.

We saw tons of wildlife. Sea lion pups littered every sandy beach; sea turtles were mating; Galápagos Penguins swam with us; sea bird breeding colonies were knee-deep in nestlings including the marvelous Waved Albatross on Española. We snorkeled once or twice a day each day. The waters are a bit murkier due to the extra nutrients brought in by the Humboldt current--so underwater photos might be a bit less clear. But "murky" is relative; we could see tons and tons of fish and rays and sharks with no problem at all. Due to the nutrients, the marine life were very close and paid very little attention to us because they were so busy feasting on the sumptuous bounty. The waters are cooler than during the warm/wet season, so you should consider bringing a wetsuit (a shortie would do, most likely) if your boat doesn't offer them

The weather, at least by our standards, was superb. (We're not huge fans of super-hot and humid.) The temps were in the mid-70s; the humidity, low. It made the landings very enjoyable. Even though it's the garúa (mists) season, we only had brief mists on 2 landings, both of which were handled with a light rain jacket for about an hour.

So don't let worries about late July/August hold you back. The Samba gets great reviews. I vote that you sign up for that boat in late July or even into August.

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

Tina, thanks for your suggestions and the tip to bring a wet suit. We snorkelled without wet suits in Australia last April and the constant shivering made it hard to enjoy what we were seeing.

Great trip report, btw. I will have to read more of it tonight.

August would be better for wildlife when the

Humbolt current predominates and fall is generally

better pricewise.

Investigate prices carefully

MonoHull motorsailors touted by cruise scammers the most

like Archipel Fragata Samba are the oldest have bug issues

and are worst for the seasickness prone many like the Samba

also have bunk beds not too great price markups are high

why they are touted by foreign expat cruise ship scammers

particularly on TripAdvisor where for profit touts are

dishonestly allowed to pose as "experts".

Personally find best values on the Cats newer more

stable like the Nina and Seaman II

from $800 for a short cruise.

Always go Direct with quality locals likew

www.galapagosexpeditions.com and cut out the

foreign expat middleman markup...

Also can save up to 50% by waiting to book till sales.

Do careful research watch out and always

www.insuremytrip.com

Happy Hunting,

EcoVentura fleet best itinerary value for price

on a GREAT local ship at discounts for me.

http://www.guanguiltagua.com/html/er...-flamingo.html

HI. I agree with Tina...the choice (although difficult) isn´t worth losing sleep over..either way you will have a great time. The later cruise closer to August will have slightly rougher and cooler seas (but hence more to see underwater!), but a good wetsuit and the "WOW FACTOR" will keep you in the seas.

Thanks everyone!
I think I will go with the later cruise as it suits our schedules better. I'll post a trip report either way!