Galapagos Island cruises

Environment
The Galapagos Islands are an incredibly important wildlife haven, which is why it is protected as a national park and has achieved UNESCO World Heritage sanctuary status. We have carefully chosen a vessel owner which has a clear responsible travel policy. It demonstrates a strong commitment to sustainable tourism in the Galapagos through its support of social organisations and wildlife conservation efforts.

Despite the fragile and unique status of this ecosystem, it is tourism that is the main driving force behind its protection. The Galapagos National Park fee of US$100 paid by each traveller helps to fund initiatives which promote conservation in the archipelago. The National Park losely inspects and controls the activities of all vessels, from itineraries and landing sites to visitor numbers, in order to monitor the impact tourism is having on the region and limit the impact that visitors have on each site.

All naturalist guides who accompany the cruise are licensed by the Galapagos National Park Service. Naturalist guides are responsible for informing and educating travellers about natural history and conservation of the Galapagos, and ensuring that the actions of the travellers they are responsible for do not violate established legal provisions or technical and administrative provisions contained in the Protected Area Management Plan.

Our vessel owner is a permanent supporter and member of the Charles Darwin Foundation, an important organisation in the Galapagos which works to preserve the islands and endangered species through research which is gathered and distributed through the scientific community.

Fundacion Natura is a non profit organisation in Ecuador which actively works with the World Wildlife Fund to identify and solve the environmental problems faced by the Galapagos and other national parks of Ecuador. Our vessel owner is a member and supporter of this organisation.

As a member and active supporter of Fundacion Galapagos, our vessel owner helps to promote the recycling of the waste produced by the tourism industry and the population of Galapagos. Projects undertaken by Fundacion Galapagos include recycling glass bottles to produce tiles for use in the islands.

Community
Our vessel owner is acutely aware that the long-term conservation of the Galapagos Islands depends on the local community. Since 2006 they have supported the Boy Scout Project of Galapagos, empowering local children to reach their full potential in life by becoming active participants in conservation. Scouts are offered vacation camps, donated uniforms and kayaks, sponsored seminars and other courses.

All of our travellers are encouraged to learn a few words and phrases of the local language and interact with the locals as much as possible to enhance their social experiences on tour. In addition to the Spanish phrase sheets which are available on our website, we encourage travellers to be courageous enough to test out their language skills with the bilingual naturalist guides during the cruise, as well as with the local people they encounter in the Galapagos and in Quito. It’s as simple as starting a friendly conversation - even using a combination of pidgin Spanish and body language you’ll have a richer experience than you would if you didn’t try.