Cruise Port Guide · 90 cruises visit Puerto Ayora →
The bucket-list things to do — and the private, expert-led way to do each.
Here’s the bucket list for your day ashore: the most extraordinary thing to do at each stop, and the private, small-group, or expert-led way to make it yours — your own pace, real access, none of the crowd.
Board an exclusive private yacht to Pinzón Island — one of the Galápagos' most pristine and least-visited islands — for a full day of snorkelling with sea turtles, swimming with sea lions, and wildlife encounters that feel entirely untouched by tourism.
Journey into the misty Santa Cruz Highlands to encounter wild giant tortoises roaming freely on their ancestral land, descend into cathedral-like lava tunnels, and peer into the twin volcanic craters of Los Gemelos — a trifecta that defines the Galápagos highlands experience.
Sail to North Seymour Island — the Galápagos' greatest wildlife theatre — where blue-footed boobies dance, magnificent frigatebirds inflate scarlet pouches, and land iguanas lounge feet away from the trail, followed by an afternoon at Bachas Beach's flamingo lagoon.
Sail to the otherworldly Santa Fe Island — home to the endemic Barrington land iguana and towering opuntia cacti — for world-class snorkelling with sea lions and reef sharks, then discover a hidden beach accessible only by sea.
Pedal electric mountain bikes through Santa Cruz's iconic highland landscape, stopping to walk among wild giant tortoises at a private ranch and descend into a dramatic lava tunnel — an active, exhilarating way to experience the island beyond the port.
Walk the two crown-jewels of Puerto Ayora on foot with a private licensed naturalist: a behind-the-scenes visit to the Charles Darwin Research Station — where the conservation of the Galápagos tortoise was reborn — then a barefoot stroll to Tortuga Bay, one of the world's most beautiful beaches.
⚓ Your bucket-list concierge
Tell us your sailing and we'll send the bucket list for every port — the most extraordinary thing to do at each, and the private, expert-led way to make it yours.
No spam. The honest plan, even when it says skip the ship’s tour.