Tours With a Naturalist on Santiago
Tour listings for Santiago Island are easy to misread, so this page walks through what each kind of listing means. Santiago is an uninhabited island in the Galapagos, and the only attractions are natural ones: a lava field, a fur-seal coast and a nesting beach. All are visited with a licensed park naturalist, and none can be reached on your own.
Listing type one: the cruise
A cruise listing names a ship and a route. Santiago appears as one or more landings, often next to Bartolome, Rabida and Sombrero Chino. Operators such as Galapagos Legend and the Coral I and Coral II appear in the gogalapagos.com island pages . Rates are per cabin and rise with the ship’s class, so compare like with like.
Listing type two: the day yacht
This listing is sold in Puerto Ayora on Santa Cruz. It usually sells Bartolome as the star and adds a Sullivan Bay walk on Santiago. Read the timings: you should be collected at about 6:00, then spend about 40 minutes on the road and about 2 hours on the water. The boat is generally back in the late afternoon.
Typical price bands are worth knowing before you shop. A local office tends to ask about $250. Online platforms list nearer $296 to $364, and one international site goes as high as about $550. A wetsuit is normally charged on top.
Listing type three: the dive day
Dive shops in Puerto Ayora list day outings to Bartolome and Cousins Rock, where the dive sites are about 1.5 hours beyond the Itabaca channel. A daily dive tour has been priced at $270. Divers describe Cousins Rock as a spot for intermediate levels, with moderate current and regular shark and ray sightings.
What a good guide adds
On Santiago the guide is more than a formality. Guides decide where the group may stand, explain how the lava formed and stop everyone at the park’s required 2 m from animals. At Puerto Egas that means fur seals and young sea lions close to the path. At Sullivan Bay it means hornitos and tree molds.
Checks before you pay
- Does the price cover the park fee, which is $200 for a foreign adult?
- Is the wetsuit included?
- Which Santiago landings does the plan include?
- What time is the boat due back?
Official pages are the best reference for rules. See the Galapagos Conservancy rules and the park tribute page .
Compare departures on Viator .
Read more: activities , walking tours and the Galapagos Islands guide .