Machu Picchu and Galapagos Trip?

[RedFishBlueFish]

Hello fellow bubblers. Just wondering if anyone has ever done a Machu Picchu and paired it with a Galapagos diving trip? Looking to possibly go in September 2020. Was thinking of three weeks in total, starting in Machu Picchu then doing Galapagos so no worries with the altitude issue. Any thoughts on logistics would be appreciated. We would be bringing our own gear also. Not sure on liveaboard or land based diving in Galapagos. Wondering if we do land based diving if we would miss anything that we could only see via liveaboard.

 

[hilljo88]

I’ve done three separate trips: one to Machu Picchu, one to southern Galapagos with the non-diving family and one on live aboard to Wolf/Darwin in the north.

All great trips. The southern Galapagos have some diving opportunities, but they’re limited. Most itineraries focus on daily guided land tours and snorkeling.

Wolf/Darwin are 200 mile plus to the north and are where the “serious” diving is. Schooling hammerheads, etc. Live aboard is the only way to do it.

All bucket-list trips. I would do any of them again.

 

[diveUAE]

Following
Have the same idea for Sep-Oct 2021, so you’ll need to come back with a trip report

So far I’ve found that there seems to be ok flights between Lima and Guayaquil for going to Galápagos. We will for sure do a LOB as can’t imagine going that far and then not going to Darwin/Wolf.

 

[jstrang]

I have been to Galapagos twice and both times did a trip before going to the galapagos sky for a week.
Once a trip to the amazon in Ecuador for the week before leaving from Quito - trip was organized by the LDS. It was good. Saw tons of insects, a few birds, a few monkeys.

Second was a trip to Machu Picchu. Required dropping gear at a hotel in Lima. Did the trip with a guide from Goway adventures which we booked. There were supposed to be 4 people on the trip but 2 cancelled so we had a very personal tour. We did the 4 day hike - tradational machu picchu. The hike is manageable for almost everybody. Gap adventures was on the trail with us with a group of about 40 from the UK ranging in age from 20-70.I did pass one girl who was in tears as her knee hurt.
We did a day in Cuzco before and after the Inca trail and that was appreciated.

Comparing the two side trips is unfair. I loved Machu Picchu - the history, the people, the hike, the views all made it worthwhile. Cuzco was beautiful too. The amazon was interesting but I'm not really a bug/bird person. Quito was nice but didn't feel as safe as Cuzco. The equatorial museum just outside of Quito was pretty cool.

We flew direct from Toronto to Lima, dropped scuba equipment, flew to Cuzco, did the hike, returned to Cuzco, flew to Lima, picked up scuba bags, flew to Guayaquil, met group travelling to Galapagos, flew to San Cristobal.

enjoy.

 

[RedFishBlueFish]

This is very helpful. Not interested in the Amazon but knowing you did both Machu Picchu & Galapagos during the same trip is helpful. What month did you go? Where were you able to drop your scuba gear? An airport locker? How long was your vacation & how much time did you spend in each area?

 

[covediver]

It has been a number of years (2004), but I would definitely recommend the Machu Picchu trip in combination with a live aboard. We did it after the trip to Galapagos.

 

[jstrang]

What month did you go? Where were you able to drop your scuba gear? An airport locker? How long was your vacation & how much time did you spend in each area?

We did 8 days in Peru, arriving Oct 10 and leaving October 17th. Spent the 18th in Guayaquil. Then went to the Galapagos to just do the liveaboard - Galapagos Sky from the 19th-26th of October - then back to Guayaquil on the 26th and home on 27th of October.

We stored the scuba gear at our hotel in Lima and picked it up on the return flight from Lima to Quayaquil. We had had our clothing from Machu Picchu washed in Cuzco and stored all the hiking stuff - trekking poles, backpack, and sleeping bags in Quayaquil.

I have been a couple of times and the last was an El Nino year so water temperatures were about 8-10F warmer than usual. Still saw Whale Sharks, but definitely less hammerheads and rays than on the previous trip. I think MP is doable either before or after diving. For me, it was more important to do MP - so we did it first.

 

[Manuel Sam]

RFBF: I did this combo in September 2016. Flew Boston to Lima, then Lima to Cusco on LATAM. After overnighting in Cusco to acclimate to the altitude, I took the PeruTrail train the following morning from Cusco to Aguas Calientes, which is the town at the foot of Machu Pichu. I arrived into Aguas Calientes late morning, checked in at my hotel, and then spent that afternoon doing the ruins to shoot them with the afternoon sun.

The following morning I went back to climb Machu Pichu Mountain and also to reshoot the ruins with the morning sun. I left that afternoon and headed back to Cusco on the same PeruTrail train. Overnighted in Cusco and then flew back to Lima on LATAM. I then flew from Lima to Guayaquil on TAME and after overnighting in Guayaquil, I flew to Baltra in the Galapagos. About TAME: to me, they were a joke. Big time delays on the LIma-Guayaquil flight as well as on the flight back from Galapagos to Guayaquil after my Galapagos dive trip. So I have nothing good to say about them (TAME).

There is a luggage storage facility at the Lima airport but they are not inexpensive. I found out because I had a long (8 hr) layover in Lima (that became 14 hrs thanks to TAME), after returning from Machu Pichu, before flying to Guayaquil. I couldn't check in that early before departure, so I thought about storing my luggage so that I could go into town and have dinner there before returning to the airport for my flight. But the cost was a lot more than what I wanted to pay. Had I chosen to spend an additional night in Lima before flying to Guayaquil, then storing it at the LIma hotel would have been the most likely option.

So as far as what to do with the luggage while in Machu Pichu, I took it with me to Cusco. Since I had to overnight there after Machu Pichu before flying back to Lima, I stored most of it at the hotel I stayed at in Cusco and just took a carry-on with me to Machu Pichu.

I have a rather lengthy write-up with more details and logistics information. I would be more than glad to email it to you if you wish. It's just too much to paste here. I will also add that I did everything the DIY way after doing some research on the internet, but I am sure that there is something to be said for having a tour operator do all the planning and bookings for you. Also, I chose to not tour the ruins with a guide because I was more interested in taking in the scenery while doing it at my own pace and getting my shots, as opposed to getting immersed in the culture, history and folklore, most of which I could probably read about in the internet.

The question of diving Galapagos land-based vs. liveaboard is an often debated topic. I've done Galapagos 5 times and to me, no dive trip to Galapagos is complete without going to the Northern Islands of Wolf and Darwin, and you can't do them land-based.

 

[itempleton]

I went on a fantastic three week Galapagos & Machu Picchu trip in Aug/Sept 2013. I spent a little under two weeks in the Galapagos where I did a liveaboard and some land based diving (with Scuba Iguana). In Peru I left my scuba gear at a hotel in Lima.

As great as the land based diving is I would highly recommend a liveaboard. In the following video the sea lions are from land based diving out of Puerto Ayora (Floreanna) and the rest is from a liveaboard (Wolf, Darwin, Cabo Douglas & Punta Vicente Roca).

 

[MOABCHICK]

I think you should do it! Last year, June 2018, my family and I did 17 days in Ecuador. We started out in Quito for 2 days, then did a 3-day mountain biking tour in the Andes. That is probably a similar effort to the Machu Picchu trek. After that, spent 2 nights in Otavalo, then flew from Quito to Santa Cruz/Galapagos (Baltra airport).

Now, we brought our kids (age 11 and 15) and they were finishing their OW certs. Doing a liveaboard to Wolf and Darwin was not in the cards in that situation, so we did 4 days of land based diving with Scuba Iguana in Santa Cruz. We saw everything on our list except whale sharks (hammerheads, mantas, tons of other sharks and fish. This gave us time to have a couple of beach days, plus go to the tortoise preserves. We then flew back to Guayaquil, spent one night and home to Denver.

We did the high altitude stuff first because we live in Denver and wanted to take advantage of our adaptation.

You'll have an amazing time!

Edited to add: we were able to store the huge dive bags in Quito with our bike tour operator, then pick them up before Galapagos. The airport also has storage - not cheap though. Guayaquil also has airport storage.