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My first travelling trip was to Ecuador when I was 19 but I had no budget to visit the Galapagos Islands then.
Flash-forward 15 years and I’ve just travelled overland from Mexico to South America on an 8-month trip. I was determined to visit the Galapagos Islands this time around!
In my 30s, my budget is luckily higher than when I was 19. However, I’m a solo traveller so sometimes things cost more than when travelling with someone to split hotel rooms and taxis with.
Also, because I travel full-time while working remotely, my trips aren’t usually on the ‘splurge’ level of someone on their annual 2-week vacation.
All this to say, I wanted to visit the Galapagos Islands without taking an extortionate cruise or completely blowing the budget.
If you feel the same, fear not. Although the Galapagos Islands aren’t cheap, you CAN do them on a budget. I recorded every single cost from my trip to share everything I know!
Read next: solo travel in Ecuador, a complete guide
Note – all costs in this blog are listed in USD, the currency of Ecuador
Do you need a cruise / where to stay on the islands?
Galapagos cruises cost at least $500 a day. Two weeks on a luxury vessel can cost up to $10,000.
I’m sure these trips are incredible… but so is a DIY Galapagos trip!
I took the approach of staying on the islands. I spent 4 nights on San Cristobal, 4 nights on Santa Cruz, and 3 nights on Isabela. I took ferries ($30-35) between the islands.
I decided the best value option was to fly into one island and out of another, therefore saving $30 on an extra ferry journey.
The two main airports are San Cristobal Airport and Baltra Airport (on a small island beside Santa Cruz, easily accessible). I flew into San Cristobal and out of Baltra.
To tag on Isla Isabela, I took a return ferry from Santa Cruz, therefore costing $60 to add this third island (plus an extra $10 entry fee). It was worth it; Isabela is unique with a laid-back vibe and some wonderful excursions.
Santa Cruz is the most touristy island and my least favourite. However, the boat trips from here (I visited Santa Fe and Pinzon) were fantastic. Overall, I thought San Cristobal and Isabela had nicer, more authentic vibes and were generally nicer Galapagos islands to visit.
Realistic cost of a budget trip to the Galapagos
I’ll delve into the details later, but here are the headlines…
Flights – I paid $400 for return flights from Quito. This included $120 for luggage so you could consider storing it in Quito (my accommodation charged $5 per week) if you can pack light.
Entry fee – $200 (cash only) for the Galapagos entry fee on arrival, plus another $20 departing Quito. Then, another $10 if you visit Isabela Island. Sadly, the main entry fee was $100 until August 2024, then suddenly doubled!
Ferries between islands – $30 per ferry. I took three: San Cris – Santa Cruz – Isabela – back to Santa Cruz for my exit flight. In total, $90.
Airport costs – from San Cris, I walked to my accommodation as the airport is close to the town. Departing Santa Cruz (Baltra airport), it cost $16. More details to come.
Activities – $100-180 for daily boat trips (I took four), plus $40 for the Sierra Negra hike. My total activity cost was $500 but the sky’s the limit.
Accommodation – this only cost me about $20 a night (private rooms for one); couples could split this.
Food – this is surprisingly affordable. Local restaurants serving ‘menu del dias’ (2-3 course meals with a drink) can be found everywhere for as little as $6! I lived on them.
Snorkel hire – I bought one second-hand for $15. A new one will be slightly more expensive, or hire one for $5 a day.
Entry fees – not many. I spent $10 seeing the tortoises at the Charles Darwin Research Station.
Laundry – I only did this once and it cost $2.
Overall, I spent $1600 on a 10-day Galapagos trip including flights and entry fees.
Cost of getting to the Galapagos
I flew in with LATAM, a reputable airline I’ve used countless times while living in Mexico and backpacking Latin America. I’ve randomly been assigned ‘premium’ seating (with free coffee and a snack like a nice patisserie-style pastry) twice now for no reason!
If you’re travelling through Latin America and taking several flights, I suggest making a LATAM account to record your points. Sadly, I never gathered enough to get a free flight (well, yet!).
Avianca also offers similarly-priced flights (however, I think LATAM is a nicer airline).
I flew from Quito; this technically includes a ‘stop’ in Guayaquil but you don’t need to get off the plane. Other people just get on. I have only ever heard terrible things about safety in Guayaquil so I chose not to visit.
How much more extra did being solo cost me?
Not a lot, to be honest. I spent an average of $20 a night on accommodation, so if split between two people, this would have been $10. So over a 10-day trip, you could save around $100.
The rest of my costs, like food and activities, were per person.
The $20 taxi ride from Santa Cruz town to the ferry port for Baltra airport was the only other ‘splittable’ cost, but I found another traveller in the hostel to share it with. There’s also a local bus for $2 but the times are odd. During my trip, it only operated in the mornings.
I’m glad I didn’t spend much on solo surcharges because the Galapagos is already an expensive destination!
Cost of accomodation in the Galapagos Islands
I was surprised by the affordability. I spent $220 on 11 nights accomodation.
I had an apartment in Puerto Ayora, San Cristobal (no longer available but you can find similar places on Booking.com), then a hostel in Santa Cruz, and finally a private room in a hostel-style place (more of a local’s home) that I found on Airbnb.
One thing to note for solo travellers who stay in hostels – although you can find places on Hostelworld, these are actually shared rooms in hotels where you’ll have a single bed (rather than a bunk bed) alongside another 1-2 guests. Also, the cost is usually similar to getting a private room on Airbnb.
Once I figured that out, I stopped booking hostels in the Galapagos as it wasn’t saving me any money. But if you’re keen to meet other travellers while travelling alone, it could be a good option.
Costs of getting from the airport
From San Cristobal airport, I walked to my accommodation as the airport is close to Puerto Ayora town. Alternatively, you can take a short taxi ride. The walk to my apartment was just 11 minutes.
Departing Santa Cruz (the airport is on Baltra Island beside it), I spent a total of $16 on the following multi-part journey:
- $10 on a 1-hour taxi (the price was $20 but I split it with another traveller in the hostel)
- $1 for a quick public ferry to Baltra Island
- $5 for the bus on Baltra between the port and the airport (expensive for a 5-minute journey!).
Note – there’s also a public bus from Santa Cruz to the ferry port but you need to take a taxi to the bus station, plus it only leaves in the morning.
Getting from Quito to the airport – Mariscal Sucre Airport is around a 1-hour drive from the city. A $2 bus connects it with Rio Coca Terminal in the north of the city. You can take a bus between Rio Coca and the city centre, but I took an Uber for $3 when I first landed in Quito. So from the airport to my hostel, I paid $5 total.
To take a taxi directly to the airport, expect to pay $25 in Uber or $15 in Indrive. Flying to the Galapagos, I messaged in the Hostelworld chat and arranged to split the ride with another solo female traveller. Leaving the Galapagos, two guys I had made friends with on the islands were on my flight, so we shared a ride to downtown Quito.
Activity costs in the Galapagos
This was the main bulk of my spending, so be sure to budget generously for activities.
My top tip is not to book any tours online in advance. Shop around on arrival to get the best deals. Don’t book through your accommodation as they usually add a commission. In Santa Cruz, my hostel was selling the Santa Fe boat trip for $150 but I found it for $100 in an agency in town. A huge commission since asking in agencies takes a few minutes!
Also, you may get bulk discounts if you book all your day trips with the same agency. I always find this gives you some bargaining power!
You may also get better prices when paying in cash. However, you pay around $5 per transaction to withdraw from ATMs (and you can usually only get $100 per transaction). If you don’t already have plenty of cash with you, this might not be beneficial.
Prices I paid in 2025:
360 day trip by boat from San Cristobal (the best one I did including the legendary Kicker Rock snorkel spot!) – $160. I got a last-minute deal as I booked in the evening for the next morning. Most agencies were charging $180+.
Pinzon Island (day trip by boat from Santa Cruz) – $120.
Santa Fe Island (day trip by boat from Santa Cruz) – $100.
Note – if you just do one boat trip from Santa Cruz, I preferred the Santa Fe one (and it was cheaper!).
Tunnels half-day boat trip (from Isabela) – $100.
Sierra Negra volcano half-day hike (from Isabela) – $40.
I have forgotten the names of the exact agencies I booked these trips through. But there are only a few in each town so ask around.
Note – boat trips usually include lunch and snorkel hire, and the nicer ones also serve tea and snacks throughout the day.
Cost of scuba diving
With so much to see in the ocean, scuba diving is obviously a fantastic option in the Galapagos, especially if you want to swim with hammerhead sharks. We did spot these snorkelling at Kicker Rock but you had to swim down considerably. You’ll have better luck diving, but you need to budget for it.
You can expect to pay $150 to dive in the nearby bays or $220-280 for longer-range day trips. You can also get qualified here but the Open Water course costs at $600+, double what you’ll pay in many places.
So, if you want to dive, the cheapest option is to get qualified beforehand. I hear great things about Honduras, but sadly didn’t get to go during my Latin America trip because they’d just stopped Brits from entering without a visa (that was near impossible to get outside of the UK consulate).
ATM costs
You’ll often get better deals on excursions if you pay in cash (and many hotels and restaurants are cash-only) so it’s important to have some.
In my experience, it costs around $5 to withdraw cash in the Galapagos, and you can only take around $100 in one go. I heard there’s a $600 daily limit but I can’t confirm as I never tried to withdraw that much in a day.
Due to the ATM fees (and reports that machines are sometimes low on cash), I brought plenty with me from Quito. I found that Cajero Banco Internacional ones – strangely located inside Fybeca pharmacies – didn’t charge fees. You’ll only pay fees to your bank, and I have several fee-free cards like Wise, Revolut, Monzo and Starling (I believe the last two are for UK citizens only).
Visiting in off season
December to May is the warm season, ideal for snorkelling without a wetsuit.
You may get bargains on accommodation and excursions if you visit during the low season of June to November, making it a good time to visit the Galapagos on a budget.
There’s not really a bad season to visit, though. The low season may have rougher seas and colder weather, but it’s the best season for whale-spotting (even orcas can be seen here), so it really depends on what you want.
Cheap & free things to do in the Galapagos
Snorkelling – bring your own snorkel and this is free. Alternatively, hire one for $5 a day from any local agency. If you think you’ll snorkel more than five times, it may be worth buying one. I managed to get one second-hand from someone leaving.
Some of my favourite free snorkel points were Muelle Tijeretas on San Cristobal and Concha de Perla on Isabela. Expect to see iguanas and sea lions in and out of the water.
Cycle or walk to the Wall of Tears (Isabela) – many people hire bikes but I decided to walk. It was long and exposed so bring sunscreen and a hat. I wasn’t that impressed by the Wall of Tears (forcibly built by prisoners in the 1940s) but the scenery en route is lovely. Expect white sand beaches, volcanic rocks, giant tortoises and countless lizards.
Darwin Interpretation Centre (San Cristobal) – close to Estacion Beach, this is where to learn about the islands’ history and fun nature facts. Entry is free.
Charles Darwin Research Station (Santa Cruz) – there are some parts of this centre you can visit for free, but the real appeal is seeing the giant tortoises. You can enter for free, but the staff will likely ask you to pay $10 for a guided tour. Annoyingly, my guide was annoying and sexist; I’d have paid him to leave me alone!
Take a walk on the beach near the Research Station; I saw red crabs, black iguanas and more.
Flamingo Pond (Isabela) – although there were only about three flamingos there when I visited, it’s free and worth a quick visit.
Beaches – there are beaches everywhere but I particularly enjoyed relaxing and wildlife spotting on Playa Estacion and Playa la Loberia on San Cristobal. The latter is further from town and, although some people recommended a taxi, I walked. It took 30 minutes and is quite exposed, so bring sun protection.
Cost of food in the Galapagos
The best (and only) bargain of the Galapagos is the food! I spent $150 in 10 days, averaging $15 a day.
I had a menu del dia (menu of the day) at a local restaurant at least once a day. These are great value, usually including soup, a main dish of chicken or fish with rice and salad, and a drink (generally sweet juice). These are usually around $6.
In Santa Cruz, visit any restaurant on Charles Binford Street. In San Cristobal, try D’L Coco and Los Guayacos. On Isabela, try Albita Grill and its neighbours. The $1 coffee rolls at La Panaderia nearby are living rent-free in my head!
Of course, if you eat Western food, you will spend a lot of money. I didn’t find the quality of Galapagos restaurants to be great. The one time I treated myself to coffee and cake at a nice cafe, it was pricey and disappointing. Save it for Quito (see the ‘where to eat’ section in this guide).
I sometimes brought groceries and cooked. The stores aren’t great, but you can find eggs, vegetables, pasta etc. For breakfast, I made overnight oats with fruit.
Itinerary for a budget Galapagos trip
Here’s how I spent my trip (10 days, 11 nights). I arrived the evening before this itinerary starts.
Day 1 (San Cristobal): I did the 360 boat tour. I peaked early as this was the highlight of my whole trip!
Day 2 (San Cristobal): after a busy and expensive previous day, I went snorkelling for free at Muelle Tijeretas.
Day 3 (San Cristobal): I visited Mann Beach and the Darwin Interpretation Centre in the morning, then La Loberia Beach in the afternoon.
Day 4 (Santa Cruz): after a morning ferry, I spent the afternoon at Charles Darwin Research Station seeing giant tortoises.
Day 5 (Santa Cruz): I took a day trip by boat to Pinzon Island.
Day 6 (Santa Cruz): another boat trip, this time to Santa Fe Island.
If you have time/money for only one, I recommend Santa Fe over Pinzon.
Day 7 (Isabela): after a morning ferry, I spent the afternoon snorkelling for free at Concha de Perla.
Day 8 (Isabela): I went on the Tunnels boat tour which was fantastic.
Day 9 (Isabela): I did a coastal walk (free) to the Wall of Tears.
Day 10: before my afternoon ferry back to Santa Cruz, I did the Sierra Negra volcano hike (guided).
The next morning, I flew out of Balta airport.
Getting affordable SIM cards in Ecuador
I got a Claro SIM card in Ecuador by going into a Claro store in Quito (bring your passport). It cost $15 for 12 GB, valid for a month. I spent almost an hour in the shop whilst they set it up.
It looks like they have a store in Puerto Ayora on San Cristobal if you arrive directly into the Galapagos.
The same amount of data with an e-SIM will typically cost around $40 so it depends whether the convenience is worth it for you. I have always had smooth experiences with Airalo, and got 1 GB (before getting the CLARO SIM) so I could call an Uber when first landing in Ecuador. Browse packages.
Thanks for reading!
