We are a small, locally owned company that aims to satisfy the needs of travelers who come to the islands by offering the best options and the right information to discover this wonderful place.

+ (593) 967 74 2545
Av. Baltra y Charles Binford, Santa Cruz
info@galapagosbestoption.com
sales@galapagosbestoption.com

Tip Top Yacht

The Tip Top IV, launched in 2006 is a first-class yacht offering small ship cruises to the Galapagos Islands. Catering to just 16 guests, she offers personalised service and amazing adventures. There are 10 cabins onboard, spaced over the lower and upper deck. Each cabin has AC, private bathrooms, lockers, drawers and safety box. All cabins offer the choice of twin or double beds. The main deck is home to the spacious salon with entertainment system & dining area, whilst there is a lovely outdoor lounge on the upper deck which is a great place to enjoy the views and cooling sea breeze. On the top deck is a spacious sun deck kitted out with comfortable loungers and a shaded area.

RESERVE THIS CRUISE

Starting Price Per Person: $6.499,00 USD, all taxes are included.

Please confirm availability for your desired itinerary by contacting us at:

info@galapagosbestoption.com / sales@galapagosbestoption.com / Whatsapp +593 967742545

PAYMENT POLICY

To book and confirm any tour, we must receive 100% of the total amount prior to the tour as follows:

50% due at the time of booking

50% due two weeks before the date of your tour

CANCELLATIONS

Any last minute cancellations or changes by the customer may incur a fee to be imposed by Galapagos Best Option SA.

If for any reason a passenger is not present at the time of their flight they will be considered a no show and will not be subject to any refund by the agency.

Please read our full Cancellation and Refund Policy.

The Galapagos National Park has the right to make any changes to the itinerary due to natural disasters or scientific research projects.

OPTION 1

DAY 1 (Friday): Baltra - Mosquera Islet

Connecting flight from mainland Ecuador (Quito or Guayaquil) to Baltra, arriving at 09:20 a.m. approximately. Your guide will meet you at the arrivals gate, our crew will take care of your luggage. Your guide will conduct you to a bus and after a short 5-kilometer ride to the pier; you board the Yacht immediately. As the crew weighs anchor, we greet you with our first orientation and we offer a light snack. After lunch, you make an early wet landing on Mosquera Islet, a reef of rocks and coral (the result of an uprising) and a great white sand beach and tide pools. You observe colonies of sea lions, brown pelicans, blue-footed boobies and sally light-foot crabs, the contrast between these bright red crabs on top and blue on the bottom and the black lava is stunning.

Optional: time for those who would like to swim and snorkel. In the evening, we have an orientation about the Galapagos Islands in general: their origin and evolution. Welcome cocktail with the entire crew, and dinner.

 

DAY 2 (Saturday): Santiago - Rabida Islands

After breakfast, we make a wet landing on Sullivan Bay, a perfect place to get a feel of the volcanic origin of the islands.

Optional: time for those who would like to swim and snorkel. We return to the boat for a delicious lunch. After this, you make a wet landing on Rabida, to walk and observe marine iguanas and sea lions, pelicans, blue-footed boobies, masked boobies, and brown pelicans. You make a little walk and you arrive at a small saltwater lagoon where you can see pink flamingos.

Optional: time for those who would like to swim, snorkel or kayak. Return to the Yacht for dinner and our nightly orientation.

 

DAY 3 (Sunday): Fernandina - Isabela Islands

After breakfast, we make a dry landing on Espinoza Point to observe and see a large colony of sea lions, marine iguanas and the flightless cormorants and clumps of lava cactus.

Optional: time for those who would like to swim and snorkel. You come aboard for lunch. In the afternoon, you make a panga ride around the islets of Elizabeth Bay to see marine iguanas, penguins, marine turtles, seabirds and shorebirds, herons and blue-footed boobies. Return to the Yacht for dinner and our nightly orientation.

 

DAY 4 (Monday): Isabela Island

After breakfast, you make a wet landing on Urbina Bay to take a walk and observe a coral area, land iguanas, flightless cormorants, and giant tortoises.

Optional: time for those who would like to swim or snorkel. Return to the Yacht for lunch. In the afternoon, we make a panga ride on Tagus Cove, a cove between the shoulders of two volcanic craters, which protect it from the open sea; we observe penguins, marine iguanas, sea lions and a variety of birds including flightless cormorant and blue-footed boobies.

Optional: time for those who would like to swim, snorkel or kayak. Return to the Yacht for dinner and our nightly orientation.

 

DAY 5 (Tuesday): Santiago - Bartolome Islands

After breakfast, you make a wet landing on James Bay (Puerto Egas), to walk and observe sponges, snails, hermit crabs, a variety of shorebirds, barnacles and the endemic four-eyed blenny, marine iguanas and sea lions.

Optional: time for those who would like to swim or snorkel. You return to the boat for a delicious lunch. In the afternoon, you make a dry landing on Bartolome Island, to hike to the summit; during the hike, you observe colonies of marine iguanas and lava lizards. On the summit, you see an impressive view of the surrounding islands, including the eroded tuff cone of Pinnacle Rock.

Optional: time for those who would like to swim or snorkel. You return to the yacht for a delicious dinner and our nightly orientation.

 

DAY 6 (Wednesday): Chinese Hat - Santa Cruz Island

After breakfast, you make a wet landing on Chinese Hat (Sombrero Chino), a small island off the coast of Santiago Island, you can observe on the rocky shoreline: Galapagos penguins, eagle rays, sea lions and marine iguanas. This is an excellent snorkeling site.

Optional: time for those who would like to swim, snorkel or kayak. You return to the boat for lunch. Later in the afternoon, you make a dry landing on Dragon Hill, where you can see land iguanas; you walk to a hypersalinic lagoon (saltier than the ocean), where you can observe flamingos, common stilts, pintail ducks and other species of birds.

Optional: time for those who would like to swim or snorkel. You return to the Yacht for dinner and our nightly orientation.

 

DAY 7 (Thursday): Santa Cruz Island

After breakfast, you will disembark to take the bus to the highlands of Santa Cruz Island for a visit to the native forests, Twin Craters, then, you will go to enjoy the giant tortoises in the wildlife in a farm. You will be delighted with the lunch on the farm. After lunch, you will return to Puerto Ayora to start the visit to the Interpretation Center Fausto Llerena inside the Charles Darwin Research Station. You return to the Yacht for dinner and our nightly orientation.

 

DAY 8 (Friday): North Seymour Island - Baltra

After breakfast, you make an early dry landing for a walk along the coast and the interior of North Seymour Island, a low, flat island that was uplifted from the sea by underground seismic activity. You observe blue-footed boobies (they nest from May to November), marine iguanas, pelicans, frigate birds, shorebirds, sea lions and endemic Palo Santo. You return to the Yacht for disembarking on the pier at 09:00. Your guide accompanies you on the bus ride directly to the airport.

Highlights: Flamingos, green sea turtles, tortoises, whales, dolphins, flightless cormorants, Galapagos penguins, sea lions, hawks, iguanas, Sally Lightfoot crabs, Darwin finches, fur seals, blue-footed boobies. Visits to beautiful beaches, mangroves, lava flows, research stations, and amazing snorkeling spots.

5.499,00 USD P.P.

 

OPTION 2

DAY 1 (Friday): Connecting flight from mainland Ecuador (Quito or Guayaquil) to Baltra, arriving at 09:20 a.m. approximately. Your guide will meet you at the arrivals gate, our crew will take care of your luggage. Your guide will conduct you to a bus and after a short 5-kilometer ride to the pier, you board the Yacht immediately. As the crew weighs anchor, we greet you with our first orientation and we offer a light snack. After navigating, we disembark on Playa Las Bachas, a place where you can appreciate a Flamingos lagoon. During all walks, your guide will be explaining details about the lives of the birds and animals. Optional: time for those who would like to swim and snorkel.

In the evening, you have an orientation about the Galapagos Islands in general: their origin and evolution. Welcome cocktail with the entire crew, and dinner.

 

DAY 2 (Saturday): After breakfast, you take a panga ride and you make a dry landing on Prince Phillips’s Steps (Barranco), you walk and observe the interesting lives of the birds here. Optional: time for those who would like to swim and snorkel or kayak.

You come on board for a delicious lunch. Later in the afternoon, you make a wet landing on Darwin Bay to walk and observe frigate birds, herons, mockingbirds, boobies, shorebirds, turtles, marine iguanas, etc. Optional:time for those who would like to swim, snorkel or kayak.

Dinner on the Yacht, and then your orientation about conservation efforts made to protect the Islands.

 

DAY 3 (Sunday): After breakfast, you make a dry landing on the pier of the South Plaza, where you can enjoy the antics of the sea lions. A walk through a cactus forest allows us to observe land iguanas and many species of tropical birds. Return to the Yacht for lunch. Then, you make a wet landing on Santa Fe Island to visit the cactus forest and a colony of land iguanas native from Santa Fe. Optional: time for those who would like to swim, snorkel or kayak.

At the end of the afternoon, we return to the Yacht for dinner and our nightly orientation.

 

DAY 4 (Monday): After breakfast, you will disembark to take the bus to the highlands of Santa Cruz Island for a visit to the native forests, Twin Craters, then, you will go to enjoy the giant tortoises in the wildlife in a farm. You will be delighted with the lunch on the farm. After lunch, you will return to Puerto Ayora to start the visit to the Interpretation Center Fausto Llerena inside the Charles Darwin Research Station. You return to the Yacht for dinner and our nightly orientation.

 

DAY 5 (Tuesday): After breakfast, you make a dry landing, you will continue to the Baroness Point view, named due to the presence of a particular character who lived on Floreana Island, it is the Baroness Eloisa von Wagner, you will enjoy of the beautiful landscape and the ruins of her house. Then, you will continue to Post Office Bay, a historic site that recalls the days of the whalers, who presumably placed a wooden barrel in the 18th century to use it as a post office. Return to the Yacht for lunch.

In the afternoon, you make a wet landing on Cormorant Point for a short walk to the Flamingo Lagoon of this island. You then continue the walk until we reach the beach called "La Picona" to see marine turtles and their spawning grounds. Optional: time for those who would like to swim and snorkel.

Then, you have a panga ride on Champion Islet, for snorkeling for those who wish it. You return to the Yacht for dinner and our nightly orientation.

 

DAY 6 (Wednesday): After breakfast, you make an early dry landing on Punta Suarez to walk along lava beds where you will observe unique colonies of marine birds, including Albatross (May - December). Return to the Yacht for lunch.

In the afternoon, we make a panga ride around the Osborn Islet and the islets of Gardner. Then, you make a wet landing in Gardner Bay for a walk on the beach and observe a colony of sea lions, which inhabit the beach in great quantity during the breeding season. This is also an important nesting area for sea turtles. Optional: time for those who would like to swim, snorkel or kayak.

Return to the Yacht for dinner and our nightly orientation.

 

DAY 7 (Thursday): After breakfast, you make a wet landing on Cerro Brujo to walk on a white sand beach and observe sea lions, brown pelicans, marine iguanas, and blue-footed boobies. Optional: time for those who would like to swim, snorkel or Kayak.

Then, your experienced Captain sails easily around Kicker Rock (Leon Dormido), a massive tuff-rock that juts abruptly almost 500 feet straight from the ocean. Kicker Rock serves as a nesting place for many seabirds. Optional: time for those who would like to swim and snorkel.

You come aboard for a delicious lunch. In the afternoon, you make a dry landing on San Cristobal port, after a short drive, you arrive at Jacinto Gordillo Interpretation Center where you learn about its reproductive process and the programs to maintain the species. You take the bus back to the port to visit the Interpretation Center of Human History of the Islands; this tour takes you through the geological and human history of the islands and its conservation.

You return to the Yacht for dinner, and our nightly orientation.

 

DAY 8 (Friday): After breakfast, you make a panga ride on Black Turtle Cove, series of mangrove surrounded coves and islets; here, you can observe white-tipped sharks, marine turtles, spotted eagle rays, and yellow cow-nosed rays. You return to the Yacht for disembarking on the pier at 09:00. Your guide accompanies you on the bus ride directly to the airport.

Highlights: Flamingos, green sea turtles, tortoises, whales, dolphins, flightless cormorants, Galapagos penguins, sea lions, hawks, iguanas, Sally Lightfoot crabs, Darwin finches, fur seals, blue-footed boobies. Visits to beautiful beaches, mangroves, lava flows, research stations, and amazing snorkeling spots.

PRICE : 5.949,00 

The Cruise includes:
  • Airport Transfers
  • Naturalist Guide Certified by the Galapagos National Park
  • Full Meals
  • Coffee, Tea and Snacks
  • Snorkel Gear (Mask, Fins and Snorkel)
  • Wetsuit
  • Private Bathroom With Hot Water
  • Air Conditioning
The Cruise does not include:
  • Entrance Fee to Galapagos National Park $100 USD
  • Immigration Control Card $20 USD
  • Personal Expenses
  • Tips for the Crew and Guide
  • Galapagos Flights ($450 to $550 USD – ask us for a quote!)
  • Alcoholic Beverages and Soft Drinks