Full Day Floreana Tour

Fantastic tour. We enjoyed every single minutes. Our tour guide was very informative. We recommend this tour deeply

nothing worth mentioning. Lunch was like in a penny hotel bare minimum Beach stop/ snorkeling was very basic

Getting to experience the amount of sea turtles in one area was fantastic. Our guide was very knowledgeable and able to share that. He made sure to include the few non Spanish speakers. All in all, it was a good day.

Ron was a very informative guide, it was very interesting to see the turtles and learn the history of Floreana island. Snorkelling with turtles and sea lions was super fun and entertaining. We would highly recommend this tour, points to note below: More information about equipment would have been good, e.g. bring swimming shoes as you will walk between two snorkel sites, also bring your own fins if you want to get more out of the snorkelling, bring bug repellent. The transfer to floreana is on a regular shuttle boat not a tour specific one.

This is so far the worst tour I took in Galapagos. I'll explain: To start, it seems like the agency just sold me a ticket to another tour, and taking insane commission. Others on my boat, paid 100 dollars less. Naively I thought I was booking a better tour, as the description was nicer but none were portrayed during the day. I paid 235 dollars, and upon arrival to the meeting point was asked to pay a port tax, I don't mind paying 2 more dollars but I paid so much and this was not written, the guide then said it said so under the exclusions for the trip. It was not. I had mentioned I am a vegetarian that only eats dairy and vegetables, no other animal products and was given an omelette for lunch, so I ate rice with beans on a different plate, as I'm strictly avoiding eggs. At the meeting point, we waited for almost an hour, then the "late" passengers showed up finally and we found out they were just given a later time. The tour include much explanation but the guide had to explain everything in Spanish (first) and then again in English, sometimes going on and on in Spanish for so long - it made a walk that should have taken maybe 45 min to stretch on to almost two hours. It was unbearable. Keep in mind there's no seating places throughout this place so you stand for so long, eaten by mosquitoes. We were 9 English speakers to 5 Spanish speakers and I think it says it all. All in all the guide was doing his best at a very unpleased audience. He was in fact very well informed and quite a delight, lucky for them this was the only sole reason not to seek out a refund. It was obviously not his fault that the agency was scheming with a more lush description of the same poorly executed, terribly operated tour. The boat there was a speed boat that took much longer than had been said, the boatier was wreckless and the waves were way too much for this vessel. 3 people vommited. I was sure I'm booking for a much much nicer facilities and operation. This was for me the worst tour I have yet to take on Viator. And in Galapagos in particular. I paid so much for this after saving for this trip for so long, this is hardly the value for this much money that I have expected. And clearly I could have paid via other agencies half of what I paid. Maybe for much much less this would not have felt all that scammy and manipulative.

Surprised by extra costs for water taxis and government tourism taxes. Guide not up to usual exceptional standard, but he did his best for us to swim with penguins!

This was by far the worst tour I ever taken 1) I had to pay for everything (again), transport, food, equipment 2) the tour guide spoke no English so one of my colleagues could not understand anything 3)regardless, he gave no information in Spanish either, he just said “read the informational signs from the park” 4) they were 1 hour late to pick us up. Needless to say I want a refund for this horrible experience and if you Are looking for a tour don’t do this one

We had one day to do a tour. I booked this island in July. The night before our tour, it was cancelled. I went to a local tour company on Santa Cruz and got the last 2 tickets to another island. This experience had the potential to ruUnin our entire long, hard trip to the Galapagos. So unacceptable!

So, we were sent to Pinzon instead. And my review is about Pinzon tour which is from the same agency. First- for the pick up they were 40 mins late and we had to wait in the sun and no one was picking our phone. Second- They overcrowded people in a tiny boat. There was barely any space to move. Third- they wasted so much time in the boat. Of the 8 hours, only three hours was snorkeling and the rest was on this tiny boat. They would stop for fishing (i dont know for who) and every time someone had to go to the bathroom. The trip could have been easily done in 6 hours. Not worth is for the price. We are getting more high end tours at much cheaper price. The agency is a fleece.

First, be aware that the boat ride from Puerto Ayora (1 hour 45 min each way) is choppy and will pound you. Other than that a great tour. We went with another couple and our guide. The guide was wonderful and very helpful. He knew the history and lore of the island, spoke very good English and was extremely helpful to my handicapped partner who got assistance climbing over loose and wet rocks in the highlands and the volcanic rocks and sand at the beach. Is you have ever read Margret Wittmer's book Floreana you will now get to see where it happens, including the first pirate cave her family lived in. The snorkeling was beautiful, as was the beach itself...perhaps the most unique and beautiful one we saw, with black volcanic rock, light brown coral sand ,clear blue/green waters and red ground cover. Here you swim with the turtles and sea lions...the latter who like to play with the swimmers. The meal for lunch was simple and satisfying. This is a great day tour off Santa Cruz if you are based there.

WE chose this excursion because it said it only had a short walk as part of the tour. Would not recommend for anyone over 60 unless you are in good shape. The boat ride was long 1.5 hrs in a boat probably 30 feet or less in the open sea - very rough - take sea sickness medicine before you go. After the lunch which was very good we were dropped off to go go snorkeling - had to walk on long trail over rough terrain (rocks) to get there trying to carry all your gear with no help from the tour service. After snorkeling we had to again walk at least two miles back for the return boat ride, again carrying all our gear. This tour is for the young or those in very good shape. The tour guid was knowledgable but in my option talked to much and could have given some assistance to those of us carrying all our gear on the rough trails. Snorkeling was average to below average and there were not very many birds on that we saw on this island.

We did this excursion yesterday and can highly recommend it! Our guide was very polite, helpful and well- informed about history, flora and fauna of the Galápagos islands. Thus our excursion got a very interesting, informative and enjoyable day trip! Thank you!

Boat ride was fun and captain was great. He made the ride as smooth as possible for us. We had a really well informed guide, Jorge. He had much history of the originating families on Floreana and their tortoises that remain there today. Food was great for lunch at a local restaurant. But when we got to the beach, the surf and rocks were very rough. It was really hard to get back to shore (everyone commented how tiring it was). I think we should have skipped the snorkeling under those conditions. And the guide should have not have left one person out there snorkeling alone, especially in those conditions. This part of the tour was definitely not worth the long hike there and back, especially with back packs and snorkel gear we had to carry ourselves.

The ride was less than 2hours on a fast boat. At arrival we got on a minivan to drive up on the hill to start the walking tour. I didn’t enjoy the guide who took us around, Jorge. He wasn't much informed about the island, giving vague answers to simple questions, like how and when the Galapagos became part of Ecuador, but what I really disliked was the cheap way he was trying to be funny when talking about the tortoises. He kept making jokes about how and how often they have sex, using a language which wasn't funny and not appropriate for a 13 yrs old teenager, my son, and another teenager/young adult girl with her parents. Jorge was also very confusing with dates and events about the history of Floreana, but at that point I had lost interest in asking questions. At the beginning of the tour Jorge told us to stay in a group, we were 6 people, and to follow him. After lunch we started walking towards the beach, but he was walking so fast ahead of us that we lost him and were not sure which way to go. We kept walking and found him on the beach rushing us to get ready for snorkeling.We were able to swim with turtles and it was a great experience, but I wish we had a different guide. On the return ride more people got on board, to fill up the boat to full capacity.There was no space and was uncomfortable. Considering that the people who got on at Floreana paid $30 for the ride to Santa Cruz and I paid $236 each, I can't justify the price.At least we should have had a private boat

The ride to Floreana was about one hour and forty five minutes on a fast boat. After being welcomed by marine iguanas and sea lions, we got on a minivan to drive to up on the hill, where we started the walking tour. I didn’t enjoy the guide who took us around Floreana island, Jorge. He didn’t seem to be much knowledgeable about the island because gave vague answers to simple questions, like how and when the Galapagos became part of Ecuador, but what I really disliked was the the cheap way he was trying to be funny when talking about the turtles. He kept making jokes about how and how often they have sex, using inappropriate language which was 1- not funny 2- not appropriate since there was a 13 yrs old teenager, my son, and another family with a teenager/ young adult daughter 3-not interesting He didn’t give us any useful and intelligent information about the turtles, the sea lions or the marine iguanas on the island. Jorge was also very confusing with dates and events when he was telling the history of Floreana, but at that point I had lost interest in asking questions. At the beginning of the tour he told us to stay in group, we were 6 people, and to follow him, which we all did. After lunch we started walking towards the beach, but he was walking so fast ahead of us that we lost track of him and were not sure which way to go. We kept walking and found him on the beach rushing us to get ready for snorkeling. We were able to swim with turtles and it was a great experience, but I wish we had a different guide. On the return boat ride more people got on board with us, to fill up the boat to full capacity. We were tight with no space to even switch position for the entire ride. I believe the tour was overpriced, considering that I paid $236 each and the people who got on at Floreana paid $30 just for the transfer to Santa Cruz. At least we should have had a private boat for the tour paying tourists. I wish I could have just paid $60 for a round trip transfer, gone straight to the beach, which was awesome, and avoided the guide, which was useless.

The two hour trip to/from Floreana was what you would expect for that length of trip in deep, open, calm water. Not rough but you do bob up and down in probably 3-4 ft seas (which means really bobbing up and down probably 6-8ft). Near Floreana we ran across a large pod of Dolphins (50 or more) and the crew let us play/interact with them for at least 15 minutes. An unexpected, yet welcome experience. Once on the island, the trip to the tortoise reserve is nice but while there it poured rain on us for like an hour. I know you can't predict weather but it should have been clear that up in the mountains you could get drenched. Not wet but drenched. It's not so much ourselves but the electronic gear with us like cameras. The meal afterwards was excellent. The snorkeling was a mixed bag. The hike out to it, and back to the dock was longer than expected for wearing just my booties. I would have rather had some better shoes for that. The place where you snorkel is picturesque but the current is very strong and unless you brought your own flippers it was difficult to navigate around. I am not a strong swimmer and felt like the tide could easily suck you out to potential danger. Therefore I opted to stay in fairly shallow water where I could touch the bottom. That said, I did see a sea turtle. During the day we saw a wide variety of wildlife including dolphins, sea lions, iguanas, tortoises, sea turtles and lots of different birds.

<p>Fantastic tour of the island with a great guide. We saw a school of dolphins while on the boat, and on the island we saw Christmas iguanas, sea lions on the beach and snorkeling was included we did not participate. The tour featured a hike through the highlands, where we encountered Galapagos tortoises and learned a lot about the history of the island - the flora, the fauna, and the early residents. Small group and great guide - I'm sorry I don't remember his name - maybe Paul?</p>

The boat crew and tour guide were exceptional. Pick up was a little later than we expected, but communication through our hotel gave us helpful information. Lunch was at a restaurant on the island and delicious. Snorkeling was lovely.

<p>I really liked the tour. My guide Sergio was so nice and full of knowledge. We were the only tourists i saw there which was nice. We went snorkelling after the hike in the forest. We saw sea lions and i even swam next to a turtle.</p>