The Galapagos Islands Island-Hopping Cost Breakdown

This article is part of my Galapagos Islands Trip Overview which consists of:

• The Overarching Galapagos Islands Trip Report
• Santa Cruz Island Trip Report
• Isabella Island Trip Report
• San Cristobal Island Trip Report
• Galapagos Islands Island-Hopping Cost Breakdown

The Galapagos Islands are a dream destination for many people, but it, rightly so, has the reputation of being pretty expensive. While you can spend thousands upon thousands on an adventure here, there are also ways to do it on a budget. This is a cost breakdown of our 2024 six-day island-hopping trip to the Galapagos Islands.

Disclaimer: this breakdown should merely be used as a guide and I can’t guarantee any of these prices.

Total Expenses

Straight off the bat, let’s get into it. For two people spending six nights in the Galapagos on a low-to-mid-level budget, we spent $2,437.76 which breaks down to $1,522.21 for one person.

I do indeed realize the one-person cost is more than half of the two-person cost, but there are some costs that don’t get halved if there’s only one person. So let’s jump into the breakdown of this total cost – from largest expenses to lowest.

Activities/Tours

We took four guided tours, which were

• Seymour Island: $220 per person (pp.)
• Puerto Ayora Bay: $40 pp.
• Charles Darwin Center: $10 pp.
• Tintoreras: $70 pp.

Other tours we’ve taken on previous trips that are not included in this cost breakdown:

• Daphne Islands Tour: $120 pp.

Lodging

This lodging bill was for six nights, averaging $101.11 per night. We opted for mid-range lodgings that had air conditioning and provided free breakfast (our two requirements). Lodging in the Galapagos can be found for both cheaper and more expensive than what we paid.

Eating Out/Food

This generally included lunch and dinner each day as well as regular coffee and ice cream stops #priorities. If this was a six-night, seven-day trip, the cost of food averages out to about $29 per person per day.

Flights

This is where your budget may differ significantly from ours. We live in Ecuador so these flights are round trip from Quito, Ecuador to Baltra (Santa Cruz), Galapagos. If you are coming from outside Ecuador, your flights will be more expensive. If you are traveling from Guayaquil, Ecuador, your flights will be cheaper.

Transport

These costs include two inter-island ferries ($30/person/trip) as well as multiple taxi trips around the various towns.

Fees

These costs include entry fees and other miscellaneous charges required for visiting the various islands.

Summary

Excluding flights and activities, our trip averaged out to about $150 per person per day.

How To Spend Even Less

I pointed out above that I consider this a low-to-mid-level budget trip as we weren’t spending money left and right, but there were indeed a few places we could’ve cut back on. Before we get into those, I do want to say the one area I wouldn’t cut back on are the tours/activities. You’re in Galapagos to experience things, and I’m a firm believer that those experiences are what you should spend your money on. The areas I believe we could’ve saved money if we had wanted were:

• Lodging: A quick search on booking.com shows several hostels for around $15/night. If you’re willing to stay in a dorm room and have variable levels of service/accommodation, you could easily turn our $606.66 expense into a $90 expense!

• Eating Out/Food: If you’re on a tight budget, you could easily buy food at the supermarket and make your own meals. I’m postulating here, but I’d wager you could turn our $202.80 expense into a $100 expense by doing this.

• Transport: If you chose to just stay on Santa Cruz island, you could cut $60 off our transportation expenses. You could also save the last $16.75 by walking everywhere (all the cities are quite small) and not taking taxis. Taxis are quite cheap (generally $1-$2.50 a trip), but when you’re on a budget, every dollar counts!

With just these three tips, you could save about 700 per person and do the six nights for just under $1000 per person! It’s all up to what you want to do, how much you have at your disposal, and what you’re willing to do to make the adventure happen!

If you haven’t already, check out The Overarching Galapagos Islands Trip Report to see what all these expenses can get you!