Day Trip To North Seymour Island From Puerto Ayora

Byron was a joy to work with. We are a dive travel agency in the states and wanted to plan a few extra days in the Galapagos after our dive charter. After speaking with several agencies and tour groups, I was happy with the schedule Byron put together. He made is seamless from the transfers (including moving a lot of SCUBA dive gear on day one) to the day tours, to having the hotel we stayed at (Santa Fe) - all ready for our arrival. He thought of everything-he even set up a private luncheon and dinner for our group at two great local venues. I can not rate him any higher. The tour operators were high quality boat charters, and the tour guides were superb. We did a “New” kayak tour and loved it. It was a perfect half day excursion- perfect for after our dive charter- that allowed us a “break” from our schedule and a free afternoon. If you plan on a day trip- or are looking for an agency to set up your group for a fantastic time- I highly recommend Galapagos A La Carte. It was great to meet him on site, and all of us had a terrific time. Kudos- well done. Laura @ Oceans Of Images.com

What a lovely day on the water and land! Our tour guide , lucho, was superb. The boat was a schooner that made the ride so smooth. Seymour island was amazing - the birds, sea lions, and topography were cool. We got to see so many frigate hatchlings and the males showing off!

Excellent service from help to plan trip to checking in frequently during the trip. Smooth transfers. Good day trips with informative guides. Helped us get wetsuits along the way. Courteous and knowledgeable. Responsive. Highly recommended.

This was an excellent tour - the highlight of our trip to the Galapagos. The whole crew was great and the guide's knowledge and enthusiasm were very much appreciated. The yacht was very well-equipped, including the nice showers that were provided after each snorkelling activity. My only suggestion would be to possibly drop the final beach stop at Playa las Bachas. The waves are too strong to allow for any useful snorkelling and the beach is plagued by horse flies. It would certainly be ideal if more time could be spent on North Seymour island viewing the fantastic wildlife rather than having an hour on this beach at the end of the tour.

Best boat trip we did , do not miss this one ! We used the Galaxy day boat which is excellent, the staff , facilities and food are top notch. However the Island is just amazing we saw seals , blue boobys , frigate birds , many iguanas, coloured crabs and so much more while snorkelling. Wonderful day and great memories

We had a wonderful day. Nice small yacht which was safe and roomy with safety briefing. We went to the island and had a private guide seeing frigates, boobies, iguanas and sea lions. We have a surprisingly wonderful lunch of grilled fish and then snorkeling. Diego the guide led us to the best sites and a sea turtle. This was on of the best days in the Galapagos and would highly recommend. The local tour company also communicated with me for any questions prior to the trip.

Frigate birds were mating and puffing chests. Blue footed boobies were prevalent. Saw many land iguanas. Galapagos a la Cart is spectacular! Every bit of our trip was organized and seamless. They took care of us! Their hotel SAnta Fe was the best.

We read a review on trip advisor that the reviewer used 4 tour companies and Galapagos a la carte was her best tour. I was at the beginning of planning my trip so I contacted this travel agency for a suggested itinerary. I got a reply from Byron. He sent me an itinerary for my trip but with no individual pricing - just a total at the end. We were doing day trips instead of a cruise. After thoroughly researching for a few weeks, I modified my itinerary taking out some tours which were more focused on snorkeling and putting in more hiking instead. He had put a Highlands tour, transfers from airports and ferries on our itinerary without me requesting that. I had a lot of questions and reviewers said how helpful Byron was. I guess I asked too many questions because I kept telling him I wanted to book the tours, but he would not get back to me. Finally, I called instead of messaging and he said he would not book any tours for me because I had asked too many questions. Some of my questions were to itemize the pricing, to find out why he was charging $35 for the ferries instead of the $30 it cost. Why the transfer from Santa Cruz cost $150 for 2 people when when researched it would be $35. He lied to me and said the ferries fee changed because of an increase in pricing for gas. It had not increased. If he had just said that you need to pay a $5 commission fee, I would have said ok. He also offered the $150 transfer to the airport for free at first, but when I lessened my tours from $2000 to $1500, he took the free transfer away. I got him to book one tour for me in the end to North Seymour island. Byron said the reason that they were higher priced than other companies was that they had better boats. Choco Tours who I booked the rest of my tours with was priced at $190 for North Seymour and I paid $254 per person with Galapagos A la Carte. Choco tours were so nice and were happy to answer my questions. They also were way less expensive than Galapagos A la Carte. So did more money pay for a better experience? I was sure it was going to. Absolutely not. We booked a total of 5 tours and this was by far our worst tour. The Santa Cruz 2 boat that Galapagos a la carte booked was nicer and a little larger but the outfit was disorganized and the equipment was not in good shape. They did not have enough life jackets for those who wanted them. They couldn’t find enough snorkeling masks and fins. They finally found them but my masked leaked the entire time. They didn’t even have enough de-fogger spray for everyone. The fins they did have, had rips in them. The naturalist was ok but nothing special. He also was not passionate. It was just another day and another group of people. It was the only time we went snorkeling on a tour that they didn’t have a go pro to take photos for us that we could download later. The lunch was nothing great. In every way, this tour came up short compared to our other tours. I have never written a bad review in my life because I don’t like to hurt small businesses but I felt it was important to let people know that the extra money for their tours are not worth it😔

We absolutely loved our excursion with Galapagos a la Carte. Our guide, Diego, was incredible. He was so knowledgeable, attentive and went out of his way to make sure we saw the flamingos that I was really hoping to see. This was mostly a land based excursion (there was an optional short snorkel that we opted out of), so we thought it was the perfect combo to do this visit to North Seymour/Playa las Bachas one day (for the frigates, blue-footed boobies and flamingos) then go snorkeling the next day in Pinzon (to swim with sea turtles, sea lions and marine iguanas). We were only in the Galapagos for three nights, so these excursions helped us see everything that we wanted to in our limited time.

Great tour, communication, and day. Saw frigates and a few boobies and baby sea lions. Diego was an informative and fun guide and the ship crew was on point. Easy to book and a solid day from Santa Cruz!

Our tour guide was great. Very knowledgeable and personable. The tour was well organized and our lunch was very good. I would use them again

Our trip included everything that we dreamed of. We toured Santa Cruz Island with Greg, who is a biologist and geologist. I learned things about Darwin and the species on Santa Cruz and also on other islands. The second day we were taken by boat to North Seymour and North plaza Islands. Beautiful colorful fishes in pristine blue waters. Balmy warm m, but not hot air caresses the visitor. on our third day, we had a free day. Made it to Garapatero Beach, which is remote and has ocean kayaks for rent. Water and sunblock is a must. The only thing we regret is we didn't stay longer.

Wow - had a great and smooth boat ride on a safe and beautiful boat. Had a great hike, viewing blue footed boobies including nests, new hatchlings and huge numbers of birds. Wow - best excursion of our trip. Very well-educated and friendly guides, nice pace of tour. Lunch was outstanding - grilled tuna steaks, delicious salad, great dessert. Best trip on our vacation.

WOW! What a wonderful experience! Byron worked with us over 3 weeks in advance of our trip to make all the arrangements for our family vacation. Every aspect was well planned, executed and on time from pickup at the airport, hotel pick-up for each trip, excellent guides, competent crew aboard Santa Fe II, to the return to the airport. Once we were on the tours, there was always extra time to stop and look at a turtle on the road or divert the boat for a look at dolphins. We never felt rushed and experienced the full Galapagos experience.

"Amazing day in North Seymour! We saw a lot of blue-footed boobies and the red-breasted frigates are super close. The walk is not difficult and the guide was very friendly explaining everything. The food on the boat was also delicious. Highly recommended if you are in Santa Cruz, we loved it." Option 2: The "relaxed" foreigner (Shorter and more informal

I don't recognize the Seymour Norte and Las Bachas I saw four years ago. Flamingos deserted the place. Rangers are reduced to making false tracks of turtles (easy to recognize when you know me) Great sea lizards are gone either. Otherwise, there is nothing to say about the organization, the skills of the guide and the friendliness of the crew.