For Spring Break 2025 we took a cruise in the Pacific Ocean through the Galapagos Islands.
Monday, March 17th, 2025 was the first day of activities for our Galapagos vacation with Adventures by Disney. We met our guides on Sunday, but there were no planned activities and we didn’t do anything with anyone.
Early on Monday morning we had to have our bags packed and outside our rooms by 7am. We ate breakfast at the hotel and then boarded buses that took us to the airport for our flight from Quito to the Galapagos. The flight was fairly short and uneventful, definitely a boring start to the day. Traveling with a big group meant that we had to get to the airport extra early and then waited around for a couple of hours before our flight which was slightly delayed.
As soon as we landed in Baltra we noticed a difference in the atmosphere. We knew the weather was going to be a bit warmer than in Quito and from back home, but we were surprised by how warm it felt. Although the temperatures were in the 80’s, it felt much warmer and more humid than we expected. The passport control and check-in after landing was hot and uncomfortable, and we were already reconsidering whether we’d packed appropriately. We took a bus to the dock and then a small “Panga” boat to the Galapagos Legend cruise ship. The check-in procedure at the boat was fairly quick and we checked out our rooms which were to be our homes for the next week.
We were not overly impressed with the rooms. They were small, which we had expected, but they were a bit old and dated looking. The room where Andrea and I were staying had water dripping down one window, which ended up wetting the sheets on the first day. It was also uncomfortably hot on the boat everywhere you went. The rooms had no temperature control, and although the air conditioning was running, it was barely keeping it cool. Outside the rooms, on most decks, it was warm and humid. The workers, who were dressed in their uniforms, were almost always sweating their butts off. For the price, and based on our previous experience with Disney, we expected better. After we unpacked our things and ate lunch, we went through the typical safety drills and listened to the crew welcome us.
In the late afternoon we disembarked in the little Panga boats for a dry landing on the North Seymour Island for a nature hike. We saw quite a few Iguanas, Frigate birds, and Sea Lions on our walk. While we were taking some family pictures, two of the curious baby sea lions waddled up right in front of us and we are thankful they felt like being photographed with us.
Once our hike concluded, we boarded the boat, had dinner, and went to bed. It was an eventful first day of the journey.
Tuesday, March 18th, we disembarked after breakfast for a hike and snorkel on Bartolomé Island. The hike was across a fairly young and barren island and then up to the highest point where we snapped some photos.
After the hike, we had our first snorkel of the vacation. We’ve snorkeled in a number of places, but it was a memorable snorkel due to all of the interesting wildlife around us. There were quite a few large schools of fish, with little sharks swimming through them. We saw a stingray, a sea turtle, and even a penguin zipping past. The penguin was surprisingly fast and agile in the water. We spent quite a while in the water and the hot weather was perfect for the snorkeling. It felt especially nice after our morning hike.
We boarded the boat in the afternoon, washed up, and ate lunch. There was an opportunity to disembark for a deep water snorkel, which we had originally intended to do, but we were all pretty worn out from the snorkel in the morning and didn’t relish the idea of getting wet and sandy all over again. We relaxed on the boat while some of the guests snorkeled, and then we disembarked in the late afternoon for a hike on Sullivan island where we explored the pahoehoe lava beds from a recent flow on the island.
Once our hike was done, we had dinner, and played bingo before bed. I typically never come close to winning, but surprisingly I won the first game of the evening and I got a chocolate bar and picked out three keychains from the prize stash.
Wednesday, March 19th, we started the day with breakfast and then hiked Pitt Point which was a fairly rugged and steep climb up and around the island. We saw blue and red footed boobies, frigate birds, and in the distance we saw a huge pod of dolphins swimming and jumping across the surface of the ocean. The hike was enjoyable, and a bit hot. The demographics for our particular group on the ABD were skewed because unfortunately a group of older couples that were coworkers all decided to book together. They didn’t bring any kids, and took up a good portion of the spots. Paige and Connor hadn’t talked to any other kids yet during the trip, but Andrea noticed that a boy in our group, Sawyer, was a junior in high school. She engaged him in conversation and introduced him to Connor during the morning hike. Sawyer plays soccer and wrestles, and Connor is currently a fan of soccer, so they had some things in common.
Afterwards, we snorkeled right off the beach where we had landed. The water was not clear at all for the first 100 yards or so near the beach, but as we went further out it got clearer and it was good snorkeling. Some of the things that made the snorkel fun were the fact that Sawyer came out and swam around with us, the currents were strong and it was fun watching them move the fish and your body through the water, and there were a couple of sea lions that joined us on the beach. Unfortunately, a few of the young boys thought it would be fun to get way too close to the sea lions and a couple of times I was certain they were going to get bitten. The entire group was given a stern talk later about the incident.
After snorkeling, we boarded the boat for lunch, cleaned up, and then relaxed until our afternoon activity. In the afternoon, we took the Panga boats out to the Cerro Brujo beach. The beach was beautiful with white sand and clear water. The water near the beach wasn’t good for snorkeling because of the fairly large waves that were stirring up all the sand. They didn’t come on a regular cadence, but every couple of minutes there would be a huge swell that was visible off in the distance and as it neared the beach it would roll over in tall cresting waves that could get a bit scary.
The kids always love playing in the waves, and it was a fun spot for wave surfing. Sawyer said he’d never seen such large waves before and we got a few fun videos. Andrea was actually trying to leave the water after a decent wave came through, and the wave that followed behind it was even stronger. I actually got it on camera when it hit us and it tumbled Paige, Andrea, and I pretty hard. Andrea popped up and instantly noticed that her sunglasses were missing. I’ve lost a few pairs in the ocean, and Andrea has as well. We were certain it was never going to be seen again, but I waded out and wandered around trying to see through the swirling sand. I picked up a few dark stones and snatched at a few black fish before I luckily saw her sunglasses against the white sand.
After rescuing the sunglasses, Andrea and I took a walk down the beach, and then we were called in to head back to the boat. We were expecting it to rain on us, but we were fortunate that the dark rain clouds stayed off in the distance until we got back to the boat.
Once we got cleaned up, we joined our cruise guests in the lounge for an ice cream party. They served Ecuadorian flavors and Paige, Andrea, and I chowed down. I enjoyed the coconut and vanilla the best. Paige liked the blackberry, thought the strawberry was ok, and she liked the vanilla. Andrea tried the fruit flavors and liked the strawberry.
For dinner, we decided that comfort was the priority, and we brought both of our fans to the dining room. Our table, unfortunately, is right near the entrance to the room and always stays warm and humid. Instead of sweating, we enjoyed the cool breeze of our oscillating battery powered fans. I was worried we’d be laughed at, but the only comments we got were from people that wished they had fans too.
Thursday, March 20th, we slept in a little later and then rode a Panga boat in to San Cristobal.
San Cristobal is one of the few inhabited islands, and we walked through town to board a bus, which took us to the Galapaguera de Cerro Colorado tortoise sanctuary. We walked a path which took us through the area where the tortoises are free to roam, and also visited the cages and enclosed areas where the babies and young tortoises are kept. They keep the babies in a safe area until they’re four to five years old before releasing them.
We took the bus to a little farm where we walked through the grounds and admired the plants. We picked some bananas right off the tree and ate them, they were some of the most sweet and flavorful bananas we’ve ever eaten. For lunch, they served us watermelon slices, a tropical fruit juice, and a chicken dish with fries and rice.
After lunch, we played soccer with some of the kids, and we were lucky to have the soccer star Sawyer on our team who scored most of our goals. It was stupidly hot, and we all ended up sweaty and disgusting after about twenty minutes of soccer.
On the way back to town we stopped off at a museum that explained some of the Galapagos history, but it was too hot and stuffy to enjoy.
As we walked back to the bus, I noticed a snake climbing a tree and got the attention of our naturalist Juan Carlos. We all watched in amazement and horror as the snake raided a little nest that was on the cactus and ate the eggs. The poor birds were chirping angrily at the snake the entire time, but were apparently unable to stop it.
We rode the bus back to town, bought some gifts for the white elephant gift exchange, and watched the sea lions yelling at each other and lounging in the sand near the dock.
After dinner in the evening, we did trivia and were lucky enough to have Curt and Lindsey from our Albatross group join our team. We had low expectations, but actually did fairly well and tied with three other teams in the first round. Curt went up for the tiebreaker and remembered the fact that there are no seals in the Galapagos, only sea lions. That factoid from our naturalist Juan Carlos won us the round and we were all trivia champions.
Friday, March 21st, we ate breakfast and then had an early snorkel in deep water. Juan Carlos took us out with our Albatross group and he took us around some interesting areas up along the coast. We did a wet landing on a beach and then the snorkelers rode a different boat out to the deeper water.
We swam inside some large caves with sharks, and I spotted a ray with white spots. It was a beautiful morning for snorkeling and the water was comfortable, although it was surprisingly not nearly as clear as some of our other days. Somehow, when the direct sunlight hit the water it scattered and illuminated a lot of little particles in the seawater. It was actually easier to see further in the shadows and caves, although that could get a little spooky with the large sharks prowling around.
Once we finished snorkeling, cleaned up, and had lunch, we rested for a little while until it was time for our afternoon activities. We made a dry landing on Punta Suárez. On the way in we took a look at the Cormorant II, which was recently shipwrecked on the rocks.
On the island, we spotted lots of iguanas nesting, boobies, and of course sea lions.
There was a neat spot where the water came crashing against the coast and was forced up through a fissure in the rock. If the tides and waves were just right, the water looked like a geyser, blasting high in to the air.
Saturday, March 22nd, we rode a Panga out to Floreana Island where we visited a “Post Office” which was actually a barrel placed on the beach. People dropped postcards and letters in to the barrel and then visitors will theoretically voluntarily take them and deliver them. It’s an honor system postage service and has been in operation since 1793, so was interesting to see. We did not post any letters, but it was fun to read through the cards and see where in the world people had come to visit.
.jpg)
We swam at the beach for a little while and then the kids joined in a game of soccer with some of the kids and crew. There were too many people on the pitch to really get much action, but Paige had some good defensive stops, including one extremely hard kicked ball that she deflected off her thigh. She didn’t even flinch or complain when it happened, but afterwards she admitted it did hurt and it left quite a large bruise.
In the afternoon Paige and I went to the top deck to participate in a cooking demonstration. We were disappointed when we realized it was going to be a ceviche demonstration, as we had already made ceviche in Portugal, and tasted it in Peru, and are not seafood fans. Although our guide Robbie made a shrimp ceviche and a shrimp + fish ceviche, he also made a vegetarian option with heart of palm. Paige and I did not expect that we would like it, and it was a bit more oniony than we would have preferred, but it was quite tasty.
There was an option for a deep water snorkel in the afternoon, or a beach snorkel. We opted for the deep water snorkel. We didn’t depart with our typical Albatross group and instead took a Panga out with a few random people we hadn’t talked to before. The naturalist warned us that the current was going to be strong, but the snorkeling should be ideal with the clear weather and water. He dropped us near some huge rocks and we were immediately swept along with the current. It was a bit disconcerting at first to try and stay together with unfamiliar people, with water pulling you along, and all kinds of wildlife around you. I had intended to stay with Paige, and initially we were together. A lady was kind of crowding in to us, and thankfully I noticed that we were about to be swept up against a corral covered rock and pushed Paige out of the way in time.
As we drifted alongside one of the huge cliffs, Paige pointed out a decent sized shark, and I spotted a large sea turtle gliding along the bottom. The current pulled us past the rock and someone directed us to swim against the current. I was next to Paige, but I saw that Connor was further ahead so I swam hard to catch up with him. A little while later I checked back and saw I’d lost Paige. I looked around and saw Andrea getting in to the boat with Paige, so I stuck next to Connor and we had quite a workout swimming against the current. Eventually the guide asked everyone get back on board the Panga and they took us to another spot. We snorkeled there and did a better job staying together.
Overall, the snorkeling was fairly good, but it was definitely a little scary. They had informed us of the conditions, however we could see a few people panicking, and there were moments when I was worried for our safety. I remember one moment where I’d been following along behind the turtle and then realized I was getting too close to the rocks. I swam against the current and for a minute or two I made no progress at all. I was wondering what it would feel like to be dashed against the jagged rock and corral, but thankfully I made headway and got clear of it.
For dinner, we joined our guests on the upper deck for a seafood buffet. We had low expectations of both the comfort of eating outside, and of the things we might like, but it was actually my favorite dinner of the trip.
Our waitress Maria beckoned us over to our table, which was in one of the little life rafts. The sun was setting and the weather was cool, so we were comfortable. We all found a few non-seafood items that we enjoyed.
The best part of the meal was when someone pointed over the side of the boat. We stared out in to the blackness, and at first you couldn’t see a thing. As our eyes adjusted to the darkness, we could suddenly make out the pale shapes of large sharks below us. There were dozens of them that you could see at any one time. Apparently they were Galapagos sharks, which were hunting the fish that had been attracted by our boat’s lights. Multiple times we would see them churn up the water as they attacked the schools of fish, and we saw the fish jumping out of the water to escape. One of our friends said they saw one of the sharks completely emerge from the water as it jumped after them.
Shawn stayed after dinner to do star gazing, which was a perfect opportunity to view the Milky Way as well as the southern hemisphere sky. The boat shut off the lights, and after a few minutes of adjustment, there were many stars and planets visible. Unfortunately my eyes have deteriorated a bit after my PRK years ago and I couldn’t see the sky as well as I’d hoped, but it was still neat.
Sunday, March 23rd, was our last full day of activities. In the morning we rode our Panga then a bus to see the Charles Darwin Research Station and Fausto Llerena Breeding Center.
We learned a bit more about tortoises, but honestly this part of the tour was quite boring, and it was uncomfortably hot. We visited a local school for children with special needs, and then a coffee plantation where we learned about how Galapagos climate is ideal for growing coffee.
After cleaning up, there was an option to go one more time to the beach. Andrea planned to do some packing, but Connor and I went out and had a fun time. It wasn’t the best beach of the trip, it was actually probably the worst with huge rocks in the water and huge horseflies biting us. We had fun anyways and I may have gotten a mild concussion from Connor smacking my head to rescue me from the flies. We did manage to kill a few, so maybe it was worth it?
Before dinner we dressed up a little, took some family photos, and then ate ice cream.
It was odd timing right before dinner, but it was amazingly delicious and worth spoiling our appetites.
After dinner we joined our friends in the lounge to watch the traditional slideshow of pictures and we exchanged contact information with many of our friends. Our Albatross group turned out to be wonderful traveling companions and we loved hanging out with them one more time.
Monday, March 24th, we had our bags outside our rooms at 8am and ate breakfast upstairs. Our Albatross group was paired up with another group for the White Elephant gift exchange and we were all happy with what we ended up with. I got a chocolate bar, Andrea got blue footed boobie statue (that she bought), Connor got a little ceramic boobie figurine, and Paige picked out a couple of magnets that Connor had purchased and that we all liked.
The boat ride and wait at the airport was a hot and terrible experience. There was no air conditioning on the bus or in the airport, which we were starting to get used to, however there were also a swarm of mosquitoes chowing down on everyone. Even with huge fans blowing, the mosquitoes were a constant nuisance and I killed at least a dozen before one of the tour guides passed around bug spray, which finally kept them at bay. Our flight to Quito was uneventful and we were able to check in to our hotel rooms without any issues. It was nice to be in a comfortable room, with cool air conditioning, large beds, good internet, and plenty of space.
Our overall experience with the Galapagos Adventure was positive and we had a wonderful time together. There were a few things that we did not like, such as the terrible air conditioning and the poor state of the Legend (the ship). Most other things were great, and did help to make up for our discomfort. The food was typically good, with interesting Ecuadorian flavors, and many options. Our guides Kim, Kevin, and Robbie were friendly and our assigned naturalist Juan Carlos was personable, warm, and knowledgeable. We enjoyed almost all of our fellow travelers in the Albatross group. Although the Starlink internet provided by the boat was slow and probably overloaded by all the passengers and crew trying to use it at once, it was nice to be connected when it was working. The crew did a nice job rotating through the groups so that it was a fair process to decide which group would get to leave first or last. Many things were well thought out, and the staff was certainly working hard to make it a fun experience.
The natural wonders of the Galapagos were everything we hoped for. There were so many animals on the islands, and they were typically so unafraid of people that you would have to step over or around them. The sea lions would walk right up to people on the beach, the iguanas would sun themselves on the rocks next to us, and the birds would fly right up to us. We’ve seen most of the animals elsewhere in zoos or in captivity, but it was an entirely different experience to see them in the wild and in such abundance.
The best part of the experience was traveling together with our family. Andrea ended up with a cough that bothered her, and Connor started a series of antibiotics because he likely got food poisoning somewhere along the way. It wasn’t a perfect experience, but we shared it all together and got along well. The walls on the boat were paper thin and Andrea and I could often hear the kids laughing together in their room every day. We hope they have fond memories of our vacations together and will always carry their friendship and bond with them through their lives.
Favorite Moments and Memories
Shawn
- Deep water Snorkeling - Swimming with penguins, sea lions, sharks
- Swimming in the caves and in the strong current
- Ice cream
Andrea
- First snorkel and first hike
- Looking at all the sea lions
- Tortoise ranch
Paige
- First snorkel
- Blue footed boobies (Disliked the frigate bird red sacks)
- Trivia
Connor
- Hanging out with the Albatross group
- Beach with the huge waves
- Morning vibes - waking up to the soothing music, the sunrise, and eating breakfast together
- Disliked tummy trouble
- Egypt
- Costa Rica
- Galapagos
- Disney and Hollywood
- Wyoming
- Peru
- Iceland
- Danube
- Canada
- Portugal
- Arizona
- Costa Rica & Egypt & Galapagos
- Danube & Iceland
- Peru & Wyoming
- Disney and Hollywood
- Canadian Rockies
- Portugal
- Arizona
- Costa Rica
- Egypt
- Galapagos
- Peru
- Iceland
- Wyoming
- Portugal
- Danube
- Arizona
- Disney and Hollywood
- Egypt
- Costa Rica
- Disney and Hollywood
- Wyoming
- Peru
- Iceland
- Galapagos
- Danube
- Portugal
- Arizona
