We shoot when the light is right — not anchored to boat schedules.
Six hundred miles off the west coast of Ecuador, the Galápagos is the rare place on earth where the wildlife doesn’t run from you. Isolation did that. On islands with almost no natural predators, the animals never learned to fear us. Marine iguanas ignore you entirely. Blue-footed boobies perform their courtship dance three feet away. Sea lions surface and look straight down the barrel. Giant tortoises move through highland mist as if time stopped centuries ago. For a wildlife photographer that fearlessness changes everything: you work close, you work calm, and you make frames that simply aren’t possible when animals flee.
Why we sleep on the islands
Most Galápagos trips are cruises, and a cruise runs on the ship’s clock. It arrives when it arrives, it leaves when it leaves, and the light gets no say. We stay on the islands instead. That means we’re at a location before the sun is, we stay through the golden window, and we come back to the same rock at the other end of the day. A marine iguana colony at first light — cold, still, packed onto warming lava — gives you frames the scattered mid-morning version never will. Same place, different hour, different photograph. That’s the whole argument for doing it this way.
Over 11 days we work three of the archipelago’s richest islands — Santa Cruz, Isabela and San Cristóbal — each with its own cast. Boobies and frigatebirds. Marine iguanas at dawn and penguins on the equator. White-tip sharks resting in clear shallows. Flamingos in the coastal lagoons. Pinnacle Rock above a white sand beach. Three islands, not a dozen — that’s deliberate. Every location gets worked properly instead of checked off.
The group stays small: a maximum of eight photographers. Local naturalist guides handle behavior, access and species. We handle the flights, boats, permits, lodges, meals and timing. Your only job is to read the light and make the pictures. Every day begins before sunrise and ends after sunset — and everything in between is photography, plus the boats and the walking it takes to be standing in the right place when the light arrives.
Tour Highlights
October to mid-February
8 Guests
Vans, AWD vehicles, boats, planes and e-bicycles
Hotels, Hostals and Eco-Lodges
Level 2 - Easy Level
We, of course, would do whatever is necessary in case of medical emergency and evacuate to the closest hospital or clinic to make sure you receive medical care.
You arrive at Quito’s Mariscal Sucre International Airport, at 9,350 feet (2,850 m) in the inter-Andean highlands. After immigration and baggage, our team greets you and transfers you to your hotel—about 45 minutes to downtown Quito.
If you land early enough, there’s an optional afternoon walk through Quito’s historic center, a UNESCO World Heritage Site—colonial facades, baroque domes, and street scenes in warm afternoon light. Sites may include the Basílica del Voto Nacional, Plaza de la Independencia, and the San Francisco Church.
At 6:00 p.m. we gather for a working briefing with your photography guide: the plan for each island, gear prep for salt air and equatorial light, and your personal goals for the trip. Bring your camera (and your owner’s manual)—so we can double check your settings. Then a welcome dinner nearby to settle in and meet your fellow travelers.
Hotel: Go Quito (5*)
Meals included: D (breakfast and lunch not included today)
Photographic prep before tomorrow’s departure:
Pro Tip: Always have your camera handy and ready to shoot. You never know what can happen when you least expect it.
We take the 9:00 AM flight to Baltra Island. After the Galápagos welcome center, a short bus ride to the Itabaca dock and a 10-minute ferry to Santa Cruz. From there we climb into the highlands to El Chato Reserve for a late lunch and good coffee—then we visit the tortoises.
We arrive as the mist lifts from the highland pastures. Work the giant tortoises from ground level—low angle, wide aperture, shallow depth of field against the green. They’re big enough to fill a frame with a 28-75mm zoom lens. Watch the mud wallows, where sky reflections build layered compositions, and hold for eye contact: a tortoise looking straight into the lens, from ground level, is one of the defining Galápagos images. A telephoto captures the detail of their feeding and intricate mouths while keeping a respectful distance. No harsh shadows—just quiet mist and animals with no reason to hurry. We leave around 6:00 PM for the 30-minute drive to Puerto Ayora—check in, dinner, and rest before an early start.
Also present: Galápagos flycatchers, vermilion flycatchers (vivid red males on fence posts—a gift for a telephoto), and plenty of Darwin’s finches.
Overnight on Santa Cruz Island.
Hotel: La Isla (4*)
Meals included: B, L, D
An early morning 1-hour bus ride to the Itabaca channel, then a 2-hour open-water boat ride to Bartolomé—the most iconic landscape in the Galápagos. Pinnacle Rock rising from turquoise water, white sand and distant Santa Cruz behind it, is the defining image of the archipelago. Every serious photographer wants this shot—and there are plenty of other gems too.
The summit trail (30-minute walk via a boardwalk) puts you eye-level opposite Pinnacle Rock. Work it until you find your version—sea lions on the beach below, a pelican through the frame, first or last light on the spire. The Galápagos Penguin nests at its base, one of the only places on earth to shoot penguins against a tropical seascape. Back to Puerto Ayora around 5 PM.
*There’s the option to add a snorkeling session here—let us know ahead of time and we’ll plan for it.
Overnight on Santa Cruz Island.
Hotel: La Isla (4*)
Meals included: B, L, D
After an early breakfast we drive to the trailhead and walk about an hour to Tortuga Bay. Marine iguanas warm in the first horizontal light, sitting motionless—time to work close-focus detail: scale texture in warm side light, mass colonies on black lava, the interplay between individuals. No hurry—we have plenty of time, and so do the iguanas.
Afternoon — water transfer to Isabela.
The Santa Cruz–Isabela crossing (about 2 hours; we depart 3:00 PM, arrive 5:00 PM, on a strict schedule) is itself a shoot. Frigatebirds follow the boat, pelicans cruise the bow wave, and on good days dolphins or a whale shark appear—keep a camera with a telephoto lens on it handy, not in your bag. We reach Isabela just before sunset, check in, and head straight to the beach for last light.
Overnight on Isabela Island.
Hotel: Iguana Crossing (5*)
Meals included: B, L, D
The photographic day on Isabela begins at 5:30 AM and doesn’t stop until the sun drops below the Pacific horizon. It will be a full day and so many photo ops…you will be surprised.
A 15-minute boat ride from Puerto Villamil, Tintoreras is a jagged formation of black lava in turquoise water. Work the white-tip reef sharks from the boardwalk—relaxed, predictable, and visible through the shallow, crystalline water. It’s one of the few places on earth to photograph sharks in natural behavior from dry land, in clean light, at close range. A polarizer filter is mandatory to cut the glare and reveal them below.
Blue-footed Boobies nest on the rock formations here. Wait for the courtship display—the male lifts each foot deliberately to show the color. In low side light, that sequence is an iconic Galápagos image.
Isabela holds the largest population of Galápagos penguins. At the colonies you’ll find them at rest—preening, interacting, occasionally launching into the water. Pair a wide lens with the volcanic backdrop for context, then a telephoto for behavioral close-ups.
*Snorkeling is an option today—let us know ahead of time. We then return to Puerto Villamil for lunch.
The wetland trail behind town passes through lagoons and mangroves where flamingos, herons, stilts, and pintail ducks live year-round. This session is for bird photography—patience, slow movement, and a long lens.
Overnight on Isabela Island.
Hotel: Iguana Crossing (5*)
Meals included: B, L, D
Full day — Sierra Negra Volcano
Sierra Negra holds one of the world’s largest volcanic calderas—nearly 10 km across. The rim trail opens a full 360-degree view: raw black lava and sulfur vents inside, outer slopes dropping to the Pacific, and on clear days other islands on the horizon. The scale is immense—bring your widest lens and your telephoto. The challenge is translating that three-dimensional scope into a flat frame, so work the foreground: lava formations, native vegetation, the rim’s edge against sky. This is a landscape day – and with plenty of birds en-route…make sure you have your telephoto lens handy.
What to photograph:
Morning light on the caldera’s interior is dramatic—the low sun casts long shadows across the lava that reveal its texture. By midday the light flattens, so we’re down from the rim before noon.
In the late afternoon we shoot sunset from the beach—right outside the hotel door, facing west.
Overnight on Isabela Island.
Hotel: Iguana Crossing (5*)
Meals included: B, L, D
Morning — Playa del Amor & the wetlands
We start close to home. Playa del Amor is a quiet stretch of black lava and pale sand where marine iguanas haul out in numbers—ideal for low-angle detail as the early light rakes their scales. Then the wetlands, including the lagoon behind the hotel, where flamingos feed in the shallows and herons, stilts, and pintail ducks work the mangroves. Long lens, slow movement, patience.
Afternoon — Los Túneles (Cabo Rosa)
Los Túneles is the most visually complex location in the Galápagos—ancient lava cooled into a maze of arches, tunnels, and lagoons, half above water and half below, with light shafting down through the openings. For landscape-and-wildlife combination shots, nothing in the archipelago equals it. We can begin with a snorkel session, then work the tunnels through the afternoon. We can decide if we do both once there. The snorkeling… is amazing, especially when the rays, sea turtles and sharks come around and peek at us. We provide all the snorkeling gear.
Above-water photography:
In-water photography (bring an underwater housing or GoPro):
The water inside Los Túneles is exceptionally clear and calm, sheltered from swell by the lava.
On the way back to Isabela, we stop at Piedra Unión (Unión Rock) for the Nazca Boobies.
Overnight on Isabela Island
Hotel: Iguana Crossing (5*)
Meals included: B, L, D
Morning — Arnaldo Tupiza Tortoise Breeding Center
The morning is at the Arnaldo Tupiza breeding center, where giant tortoises of every age—hatchlings to old bulls—are raised and protected. The controlled setting is perfect for clean portraits and detail of faces, shells, and texture. Then lunch on Isabela and back to the hotel for our bags.
Afternoon — inter-island flight to San Cristóbal
The inter-island flight to San Cristóbal departs at 2:00 PM and lands 45 minutes later at Puerto Baquerizo Moreno, the sea-lion town. The sea lions own this harbor—sleeping on park benches, hauling out on the docks, commandeering moored boats as if they paid the slip fee. At Playa Mann, right in town, you’re eye-level with pups nursing, juveniles play-fighting, and bulls patrolling the surf. Sit low, stay still, and let the colony forget you’re there.
Sunset — Punta Carola
A short walk from town, Punta Carola is the sunset beach: west-facing pale sand and black lava where the sea lions gather as the golden hour begins. Work silhouettes—a bull against the burning Pacific, iguanas on dark rock, a surfer on a good swell. As the sun drops, the wet sand turns to mirror and a sea lion at the edge doubles in reflection. Stay until the color’s gone—one of the most reliable golden hours in the archipelago.
Overnight on San Cristóbal Island.
Hotel: Golden Bay Galápagos (4*)
Meals included: B, L, D
Today we circle the whole island by boat—the only way to reach its remote coastlines, hidden beaches, and seabird cliffs. We leave Puerto Baquerizo Moreno around 6:15 AM while the harbor’s still calm. From the sea the island shows a different face: uninterrupted volcanic outlines and coves no road can reach. A full day of open-water exploration, paced to the wildlife, not a transit schedule.
Hidden beaches & remote coastline — Bahía Rosa Blanca
First stop is Rosa Blanca, a remote bay where the water is clear to the bottom and the sand is white as wet chalk. We slip in and within minutes find sea turtles feeding among the rocks; farther out, rays glide past in slow motion. No crowd, no rush—in-water wildlife work in some of the cleanest light of the trip.
Cliffs & seabirds — Punta Pitt
By mid-morning we reach Punta Pitt, a windy volcanic corner of layered, eroded ash—the only place in the Galápagos where all three booby species (blue-footed, Nazca, and the elusive red-footed) nest together. The guide points out active nests and courtship sites; we hold the boat steady and work the birds along the ledges as the salt wind and seabird cries fill the air.
Overnight on San Cristóbal island.
Hotel: Golden Bay Galápagos (4*)
Meals included: B, L, D
Sunrise — La Lobería sea-lion colony
A 20-minute walk from town, La Lobería is a rocky coast where a permanent sea-lion colony lives among tide pools and surf. At sunrise the light catches the wet rocks and the animals in warm orange: pups nursing, bulls challenging, sea lions launching into the surf. Work the sequences, as well as the single frames. The animals go about their business while you make photos. Life is good.
Morning — free photography time
Return to any nearby location for images not yet made. Individual sessions based on each photographer’s priority—we’ll accommodate everyone’s needs.
Afternoon — Cerro Tijeretas (Frigatebird Hill)
The most reliable frigatebird sunset in the archipelago. Great frigatebirds nest on the hillside above a west-facing viewpoint; males with inflated red pouches shoot beautifully against the sunset sky—red pouch, dark plumage, orange background, extraordinary contrast. Arrive an hour before sunset and work the perched birds before the light drops.
Overnight on San Cristóbal island.
Hotel: Golden Bay Galápagos (4*)
Meals included: B, L, D
An early-morning light session at the harbor before our transfer to the airport. Sea lions on the dock, pelicans on the fishing boats, blue-footed boobies on the buoys. The harbor at dawn is underrated—familiar subjects in clean morning light, completely uncrowded.
We depart around mid-morning to catch the noon flight to Quito, arriving around 4:00 PM. After getting our bags, we have a short transfer to Hacienda La Jimenita, a peaceful country estate minutes from the terminal, for dinner and your final night. Staying here—rather than driving into the city—keeps an early international departure simple and calm. It also provides a soft-landing from the Pacific Ocean to the Andes highlands. After such a nice nature experience in the Galapagos archipelago, it’s nice to avoid the hustle and noise of Quito and land at an hacienda with superb birding opportunities! The rooms and meals are top-end at Hacienda Jimenita!
Most flights home leave in the early hours (around 1:00 AM) or early morning (around 6:00 AM)—your choice, and we handle the transfers. We aim to leave about 3 hours before an international flight; from La Jimenita the drive is only minutes and direct.
The photographic expedition ends here, but you leave with memory cards full of vivid images and a deeper feel for the Galápagos—its wildlife and its people.
Safe travels, and we hope to photograph with you again.
Hotel: Hacienda La Jimenita (4*)
Meals included: B, D
Most Galápagos operators quote you a price, then hand you a second bill: the national park and transit permits (three separate government fees, roughly $230 a person), the round-trip flight from the mainland ($600 and up), gear, transfers, “optional” boats. You find out what a Galápagos trip really costs at the airport, with your credit card out.
We don’t do that.
On this all-inclusive photographic expedition, the price is the price. Everything below is already handled—every flight, every boat, every permit, every meal, every bed (based on shared double occupancy). From the moment we meet you in Quito to the moment you fly home, you never pull out your wallet to make the photography happen.
Included:
Why everything is chartered (and why it matters for your pictures)
Every boat and inter-island flight on this trip is a private charter for our group. It costs more than buying seats on the scheduled tourist boats—and that’s the whole point. Charters let us move on the light’s schedule, not a ship’s transit timetable. We leave before sunrise or as early as we are allowed, stay through the golden hour, and reach remote coastlines the cruise itineraries never touch. A ship-based trip runs on the boat’s clock; ours runs on the light. That flexibility is exactly what separates a photography excursion from a sightseeing cruise.
Not included (the short, honest list):
That’s it. Everything else—the part that usually turns a Galápagos quote into a moving target—is already in your price.
Our tour prices are based on a tiered pricing model. More guests = lower price, per person. That means the prices go down on a per-person basis as more people book onto a specific tour departure. Prices are based on double occupancy / twin share basis. All prices are in U$ Dollars.
Contact us for guidance on a quote for your group or private trip.
| Lowest Price | 7-8 travelers | $ 10,950 / per person |
| Average Price | 4-6 travelers | $ 13,950 / per person |
| Optimum Price | 2-3 travelers | $ 21,950 / per person |
| Highest Price | 1 solo traveler (= private trip) | $ 39,950 / for 1 solo traveler |
| Single Supplement Fee | per person / per tour | $ 975.00 / per single room |
Deposit & Terms (universal — identical on every tour. Custom tours have special terms, please contact us. ): A 30% deposit (minimum $1,000 per person) reserves your space. Of that, $1,000 per person is a non-refundable administrative fee — but it’s never lost: it’s always credited toward your trip, even if you change trips or dates, and it’s part of the total price, not an extra charge. Balance due 90 days before departure. Trip insurance (with a “cancel for any reason” rider) is required. See our Terms & Conditions for full details, or contact us for a custom or private quote.
Start Date: October 1, 2026
End Date: October 11, 2026
Start Date: October 16, 2026
End Date: October 26, 2026
Start Date: November 1, 2026
End Date: November 11, 2026
Start Date: November 20, 2026
End Date: November 30, 2026
Start Date: December 9, 2026
End Date: December 19, 2026
Start Date: January 6, 2027
End Date: January 16, 2027
Start Date: January 21, 2027
End Date: January 31, 2027
