Galapagos 3 days open post liveaboard- seeking recommendations

[texmaxdiver]

Hi everyone,
We are going down to Galapagos in early August for a live aboard dive trip. We have 3 days after the boat returns to port before we fly out of Guayaquil early the morning of the 4th day.

We will have already spent some time Guayaquil and San Cristobal on the way in, so we will get to explore that earlier in the trip.

So, we have almost 3 full days to explore some of Ecuador, starting and returning to Guayaquil.

I would really appreciate any advice on what we should do as a side trip. Open to more diving, mountains, rivers, overnights... Almost anything.

 

[Azbuceadora]

I lived in Ecuador for several years and am active on the TripAdvisor forums. Any diving after Galapagos is going to be a letdown. If you enjoy wildlife, there are a number of reserves in and around Guayaquil. To get to the Andes without sucking up too much time, I would suggest a 45 minute flight to Quito and environs, or a 4 hour bus ride to Cuenca (or hire a driver who could get you there more quickly). There are some wonderful areas to explore around there besides the city itself.

 

[texmaxdiver]

I lived in Ecuador for several years and am active on the TripAdvisor forums. Any diving after Galapagos is going to be a letdown. If you enjoy wildlife, there are a number of reserves in and around Guayaquil. To get to the Andes without sucking up too much time, I would suggest a 45 minute flight to Quito and environs, or a 4 hour bus ride to Cuenca (or hire a driver who could get you there more quickly). There are some wonderful areas to explore around there besides the city itself.

Thanks for the suggestions! So, maybe we strike diving off the list and just focus on land excursions. I'll look into Cuenca and try to find a driver. Is there a link to the forums you mention on Trip Advisor?

 

[Azbuceadora]

The main Ecuador forum Ecuador Forum, Travel Discussion for Ecuador - Tripadvisor And the Cuenca-specific forum Cuenca Forum, Travel Discussion for Cuenca, Ecuador - Tripadvisor

Cuenca is a lovely city if you enjoy architecture and cultural sites. There is a workshop where you can watch Panama hats being made (yes, they are Ecuadorian in origin and not from Panama) and sold. I also enjoy the outlying areas where there are weaving villages and a fabulous orchid farm, as well as small fabricators of handmade guitars and other instruments.

There is a national park nearby, El Cajas, that is pretty spectacular, with hiking trails and small brilliant blue lakes.

 

[Scared Silly]

Having just returned my suggestion is to do some Galapagos land tours as it will be harder to return there than the main land. For instance, go over to Isabella and hike up to its crater or wall of tears or sea kayak around the Tintoreras.

 

[DiveTheGalapagos]

I agree with Scared Silly. Do some land based tours in Galapagos. If your liveaboard sails out of San Cristobal, you can always disembark after your final full day and overnight in Santa Cruz. From there, you can take a day tour the following morning to either Bartolome or N. Seymour. Or, as Scared Silly suggested, take a boat over to beautiful Isabela. Trek the volcano and visit Los Tuneles.

On the other hand, that's prime manta season at Isla de la Plata. And humpback whales migrate there during Aug, too. Trips are available from Puerto Lopez, about 2.5 hours from Guayaquil by car. Even the dive guides in Galapagos go to dive with mantas on the coast.

 

[Scared Silly]

One comment about the dive boats and Santa Cruz. The dive boats based out of Santa Cruz are mooring in Baltra by airport which is on the other side of Santa Cruz from the town of Puerto Aroya and is a solid 30 minute taxi ride. So one needs to plan transportation accordingly.

In our case, even though our boat was based out of Baltra we spent the last night of the trip in Puerto Aroya rather than on the boat so to catch the ferry at 7am. This allowed us to get some extra sleep and avoid panga/taxi ride at 5am. By taking the 7am ferry we arrived in San Cristobal by 10am so had the day for a walk about. We also left all of our dive gear but our masks in Puerto Aroya (we did a second live aboard for land based tour after the dive live aboard).

Regardless, skip the mainland and spend the extra time in the Galapagos before and after the diving. We did, as did some others on all of our trips.

 

[Johnoly]

...we have almost 3 full days to explore some of Ecuador, starting and returning to Guayaquil.

Have you done the 444 individual steps of the Los Penas tourist district?? The top at night is very cool to look over the city.
PS>Don't wear shorts on the streets in Guayaquil-They'll peg you as an easy tourist

 

[ChrisM]

Hi everyone,
We are going down to Galapagos in early August for a live aboard dive trip. We have 3 days after the boat returns to port before we fly out of Guayaquil early the morning of the 4th day.

We will have already spent some time Guayaquil and San Cristobal on the way in, so we will get to explore that earlier in the trip.

So, we have almost 3 full days to explore some of Ecuador, starting and returning to Guayaquil.

I would really appreciate any advice on what we should do as a side trip. Open to more diving, mountains, rivers, overnights... Almost anything.

Not sure if the timing works, but one year we did a 4 ish day add on to a jungle lodge in the Ecuadorian Amazon. La Selva Lodge. Amazing trip