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Galapagos Travel Guide: Cruise, Tours, Last minute deals
Santa Fe Island | Tour price is $144 | Galapagos
Santa Fe Island, is one of the most famous tours in Galapagos. You will snorkel with turtles, sharks and with luck the sea lions will swim. I can help you book the tour to Santa Fe Island for *$144
SANTA FE ISLAND VIDEO
Santa Fe Island in Galápagos is one of my favorite islands. You can visit it on a tour that does not include landingor on a tour that includes landing. The best part is when you go snorkeling in the island’s bays and see the sea lions come close to you to play. The sea lions’ attitude can change during mating season.
Santa Fe Island day tour
- How to get there
- Trip itinerary
- Tour information
- Reviews
- Check availability
- Check availability
- ES: Isla Santa Fé
Chokotrip unlike Viator, Civitavis, GetYourGuide and other
When you book tours through ChokoTrip or ChokoTours, you`ll receive the names of the boats and operators, so you have security in your reservations. Many people believe that the policy on websites like Expedia, Viator, etc that allow you to cancel your tour 24 hours in advance are favorable however, it also means tour operators can cancel your tour 24 hours in advance, which happens frequently in Galapagos. This is not a risk when booking with us because we work directly with the local operators, which also allows us to keep our prices down. We dont take big commissions from the locals that the travel companies do so our prices are not inflated.
Easy hike on the tour with landing on Santa Fe Island
Easy hike on the tour on Santa Fe Island
How to get to Santa Fe Island?
There are two ways to get to Santa Fe Island in the Galapagos. The first is on a Galapagos cruise that includes this stop in its itinerary. The second is by taking a day tour from Santa Cruz Island.
Santa Fe Island beach
Santa Fe Island beach
Trip itinerary
Once on the yacht, you’ll sail for 45 minutes until you reach the bays around Santa Fe Island to do some snorkeling. Since the island is located between San Cristobal, Floreana and Santa Cruz Islands, you’ll observe a variety of marine life, like: tropical fish, rays, Tintonera sharks, and sea turtles. This is a wonderful snorkeling experience!
The sea lions tend to be harmless, they’ll swim alongside you in a playful way. There’s always an alpha sea lion present, and you should keep your distance. Before ending the tour without landing, you’ll observe some sea fishing in action. Get ready to see a 30 lb fish battling the rod.
Sea lions playing at Santa Fe Island
Sea lions at Santa Fe Island
Sea lions are usually harmless; sometimes they swim near you and are very playful. When there is an alpha male, you must be careful not to get too close because they can be aggressive and won’t let the sea lions in their group go into the water.
Vivencial fishing is part of the tour in Santa Fe without landing.
Experiential fishing in Santa Fe without landing
The tour does not stop on land. There is a short time for fishing to show how it works. Tourists who are not part of this activity need to understand that when the national park changed their artisanal fishing permit to a tourism permit, they were given this no-landing tour of Santa Fe, also called experiential fishing. This is to show passengers how they used to fish. They just cast a couple of fishing lines while the boat is moving, and if a fish bites, get ready to see 30-pound fish fighting on the line. Sometimes, a sea lion or shark eats the fish before they can catch it.
Hidden beach is perfect for enjoying with your kids
Hidden beach on Santa Cruz Island part of the no-landing tour.
Hidden beach is perfect for your kids
Hidden beach on Santa Cruz Island
On this Santa Fe tour (without getting off the island), you will visit Playa Escondida on Santa Cruz Island. It is surrounded by volcanic rock and is ideal for swimming, walking, and seeing baby Galápagos sharks and groups of marine iguanas.
Iguana from Santa Fe Island, Galapagos
Endemic iguana from Santa Fe Island Galapagos
Iguana de la Isla Santa Fe
Iguana endemica de la Isla Santa Fe
There is also the tour that lands on Santa Fe Island. You take a short walk to see the land iguanas and the cactus plants that are only found on Santa Fe.
One tour company with a Luxury Yacht has a plan on Wednesdays and Thursdays to visit Santa Fe Island and South Plaza Island. On both islands, you get off the boat and go for a walk.
Santa Fe Island Tour Information
› Tour price WITHOUT landing: US$ 144
› Tour price WITH landing: US$ 275 – 330
› Tour price WITH South Plaza: US$ 395
*The price of the tour changes in high season
› Available days:
› Tour WITH landing: Monday and Wednesday
› Tour WITH Souht Plaza: Wednesday and Thursday
› Passenger per yacht: 12 – 16 people
› Pick up: As agreed with the operator
› Navigation time: 1h45
› Start time: 08h00
› Return time: 15h:00 – 16h00
› Does not include: Alcoholic drinks, soda, tip, and wetsuit.
* This tour is not recommended for children from 0 to 2 years old.
Reserve this Santa Fe Island tour with a partial payment using the available payment methods: a bank transfer from any Ecuadorian bank (no additional cost), Revolut, Wise, using WeTravel you can a bank transfer from any U.S. bank (1% + 0.30 cents in additional costs), credit or debit card (only 3.9% additional cost) o using Paypal (5.9% additional cost). Price does not include TAX. (We only charge it if you want a invoice).
Santa Cruz Island Hotels and Hostals
DON’T MISS OUT!
I can help you reserve a tour to Santa Fe Island with local operators that own the vessels. Instead of wasting time wandering around each island looking for tours, you should be enjoying the places you can visit on your own while at the Galapagos Islands.
DON’T MISS OUT!
I can help you reserve a tour to Santa Fe Island with local operators that own the vessels. Instead of wasting time wandering around each island looking for tours, you should be enjoying the places you can visit on your own while at the Galapagos Islands.
GALÁPAGOS CON CHOKOTRIP
Check out the following links with important information and guides about the Galápagos. I should clarify, all the content is updated and based on my annual trips to the Islands.
◾ Guides: Galápagos island / Santa Cruz / Isabela / San Cristobal
◾ Day tours: Bartolome Island / 360 Tour / Santa Fe island / North Seymour island / Cabo Rosa tunnels / Pinzon island / Sierra Negra volcano
◾ Cruceros: Everything you need to know / Check availability and prices
◾ 5 tips before traveling to the Galapagos
◾ The best diving spots in the Galapagos.
◾ 7-Day Itinerary and budget for the Galapagos
◾ Personalized assessment by Choko for your Galapagos trip
ES: Islas Galápagos
on daily tours with ChokoTours per person and enjoy the best islands of the Galápagos.
Book your accommodation in the Galapagos with Choko.Host and for each stay on each island, you get $10 per person staying.
It doesn`t matter, just make sure that the same person who books the tours also books the accommodations at Choko.Host.
Enter here to see the policies for using the discount.
Book your accommodation at Choko.Host
TRAVEL SAFE THROUGH THE GALAPAGOS
Many people believe they don’t need travel insurance for the Galápagos, so let me explain in this link why you should purchase comprehensive health and cancellation insurance when traveling to the Galápagos.
We did 3 trips with Choko tours, North Seymour, Santa Fe and Bartolome.
The company was so well organised and each tour was so good. Each island was unique but equally good. We ticked off all the beautiful animals we wanted to see which was wonderful. The guides were extremely knowledgeable and respectful to their environment. I loved each trip and would not hesitate to recommend them.
Excellent tour! We had the sweetest tour guide who ensured we saw everything – sea lions, an octopus, schools of fish, white tip sharks and loads of massive green sea turtles. Plus lunch of “pescado encocado” was super delicious. We were a group of 4 and booked in advance since we had limited time in the Galapagos and everything went perfectly booking with Choko. I’ll be back to Galapagos and will book all my tours through him again. A+++++ experience
I’m sorry to admit that I was a bit disappointed with the Santa Fe island trip. Even though we met a beautiful guide, who was very helpful and did an excellent job, it didn’t really looked like a trip to the island. After a nice snorkeling near the shore in Santa Fe, where we played with sea lions in the water, and a nice fishing session by the crew of the boat, we headed back to Santa Cruz to visit another beach (playa escondida), which was ok, but basically we did not spend any time on the island. If you want to land on the island and have a walk there and know more about the wildlife or ecosystem (as it is possible in Seymour, Bartolomè and Floreana for example) this is not the right trip.
I only had 3 full days at the Galápagos Islands and booking with Chokotrip ensured that I had a spot on the tours I wanted to do. The process was easy and the prices are similar to what is offered when booking in person on the island.
The Santa Fe tour was incredible! the boat was comfortable and the guide very friendly and knowledgeable. We saw so much amazing sea life including sea turtles, eagle rays, star fish, sea snakes, plenty of colourful fish, and swam with sea lion pups 🙂
Tour to Santa Fe was amazing! Due to limited of time to do research, I simply write to chokotrip what tours I’d like to join! They are also very responsive through email.
The trip we booked included visits both to Santa Fe and South Las Plazas islands. While more expensive than the “traditional” Santa Fe excursion, we wanted the opportunity for both snorkeling and hiking while experiencing the diversity of two different islands. The guide and crew were friendly and helpful. The food was exceptional. I was a bit disappointed with the hike on Santa Fe (very short) and limited, but we were still able to see the Barrington land iguana. Our time snorkeling near Santa Fe was amazing. The sea lions were so playful and our guide showed us how to safely engage with them. Next we went to South las Plazas where we had a great land based experience that allowed us to capture the breadth of the flora and fauna.
Christian was great with getting this setup and helping on the day of the excursion with some clarity around meeting times and location when the crew wasn’t immediately there.
My dad and I went to Galapagos at the end of March, and that is definitely the best time to go. Chokotrip made things searching for tours very easy for us to do, and they were very easy to get in contact with to book things. The engine on the tour boat was damaged the day before our tour. Chokotrip gave us another tour that same day and time going to pinzón instead of Santa Fe. We thought that Santa Fe would have been much better. The companies were very accommodating, friendly, and followed all safety rules. The food was also very good.
Christian m’a parfaitement aidé dans l’organisation et la réservation de mes différentes activités aux Galápagos.
The trip to Santa Fe + South Plaza was the first trip that me and my parents made once in Galapagos. The tour was planning two hikes and one snorkelling. The boat for this tour was sailing from the Itabaca Channel, between Santa Cruz and Baltra, so once at the meeting point you will drive approximately 45 minutes to reach it. The transfer to the boat is made by panga. The boat included in our tour was really a top quality one, with a chef on board who cooked and prepared 2 delicious snacks and a very tasty and super quality lunch! The team on the boat was always professional and friendly and the guide extremely informative. During the hikes you will mostly see land iguanas which are only to be found on Santa Fe island and no other islands. During the snorkeling we saw many different animals, sharks, rays, a turtle, sea lions…
It was a great tour, a great service
Hi Christian,
I very much enjoyed the two tours that you arranged for me. First the 360 around San Cristobal and then the Santa Fe/South Plazas out of Santa Cruz. At my age I don’t snorkel however I enjoyed the landings and treks that came with the tours and watching everyone else be super happy with the interaction they had with the sea lions and turtles. My joy was photography and I took over 900 photos. After arriving back home I prepared a flash drive and commentary of all the animals that I photographs and sent it on to my grandchildren. They receive it today and I know they will be overjoyed. Even though I have traveled the world over I was amazed at the number of families that travel to the Galapagos. Generations better understand what has and is happening by experiencing Galapagos. They go home knowing the change they must be part of in the future. The very best regards and success that you will have in being part of this in the future.
Had an amazing trip!! ChokoTrips was easy to book and communication was great. The trip to Santa Fe was amazing we had the opportunity to swim with sea lions! They were amazing to watch in their natural habitat!
Santa Fe was probably the best snorkeling we encountered while in Galapagos. The water was quite cold though even in late December. I would recommend renting a wetsuit if one is not provided.
I will be there in November and was looking for a Tour of Santa Cruz Island without landing. Will you be offering?
thanks
Sure. you can do it here http://www.choko.tours/book-tours
What a tour. Best snorkeling with sea lions. Two spots and tons of sea lions playing right in your face. And with you. Such an amazing experience. If you want to snorkel with sea lions this is trip to take. Thanks choko and to the guide for a great trip.
My daughter and I had a wonderful day of snorkeling and fishing. While there was no landing on Sante Fe island, we stopped first at “Hidden Beach” on the end on Santa Cruz. Gorgeous beach and much wildlife. Well organized with friendly captain, crew and guide. Well worth the money. A highlight of our trip to the Galapagos.
It was amazing snorkeling on this tour. Thank you, Choko, for making reservations for us and arranging all.
The trip to Santa Fe was amazing.
Firstly Christian helped us find a spot on the boat in a time of the year where it soon gets very busy. It can be hard finding spots for the daily trips and whilst no other tour operator seemed to be able to help us, Christian really managed to get us onboard.
The boat was amazing and the crew very helpful. The trip itself was fantastic; Visiting Santa Fe from both land and sea is a great opportunity to spot lots of different animals amongst which sea lions, turtles, school of fish.
The guide we had was very knowledgeable and could speak both English and Spanish. He really took his time to explain lots of things about wildlife and the interaction with the environment. It was like being in a BBC documentary.
I highly recommend this trip and Christian as organiser. He is truly great, always available and super efficient!
All six of us enjoyed the snorkeling trip to Santa Fe on yacht. The tour included deep water snorkeling in a scenic bay and fishing. The trip was very well organized, the boat was fast, food was great, and snorkeling was excellent. First spot with the sea lions had pretty strong currents for our group, and the guide decided to move us to a safer area. On the way back we caught 2 pretty big fish. Just make sure you understand that landing on the island and hiking are not part of this trip.