Spunkie

My husband and would like to head to the Galapagos at the beginning of September. Looking for boat recommendations and length of cruising. My husband can't hike but would love to scuba/snorkel and panga around. We prefer 16 passenger size boats and cabins that have large windows. Also curious about flights from Quito to the islands. We will probably spend a few days in Quito either before or after the islands. Thanks for your advice.

Elizabeth_S

A couple of questions - when you say your husband can't hike what does that mean. Many of the landings involve some walking (although it's not strenuous the terrain can be uneven) - can he do those?

Otherwise we were on a 7 day cruise that had a fair bit of snorkeling (at least one time per day) but there were many walks on shore as well. There were a few purely panga trips.....but I think the focus for most of the boats is shore visits/walks with the addition of snorkeling opportunities/panga rides as opposed to that being the focus.

Re diving - is he an experienced diver? We are both certified but were counseled not to dive in the Galapagos .... the water is cold, currents strong and visibility can be limited. As I understand it's not the ideal location for an infrequent diver (which we characterize ourselves as).

That said the snorkeling was terrific and I didn't miss diving at all

Spunkie

Thanks for the input. We are both certified divers but doesn't sound very wise given your descriptions. We may have to rethink our destination. At this point my husband is leaning toward a multi-city trip to South America - Buenos Aries and Rio. Have you ever visited that area?

Elizabeth_S

Spunkie - I hope I haven't discouraged from going to Galapagos - it's a wonderful place. Here is a link to our blog - if you scroll down there are a lot of pictures of the walks we were on from the boat so you can get an idea of the terrain.

http://lizandrichardsa.typepad.com/l...th_/galapagos/

Have also been to BA and Rio - winter of 2011. Loved them both. Happy to answer questions and there are many highly experienced BA posters here as well.

Spunkie

After looking at the weather we have decided to head to BA and Rio, and the falls. Galapagos is a bit chilly in the water at the end of August. Soooo now we are looking for a travel plan and connection to set us up for a 10 to 12 day trip. Would prefer a very small group or independent travel itinerary. We know we will be looking at internal flights, too. Did you plan your own trip? How long were you traveling? Any input would be helpful.