Day 1 – Yacht La Pinta Western

At Baltra’s Seymour Airport (GPS), after the Galapagos National Park control, your hand luggage will be checked by authorities to ensure there are no prohibited products such as seeds, etc. The authorities will also register your arrival and ask you for the Sworn Statement of Goods form you filled out on the plane. Next, you will proceed to collect your checked luggage. Please note that if your hand luggage was taken by the airline staff (either in Quito or Guayaquil, because it was too big) this is the time to retrieve it using the claim stub provided by the airlines.

You then hand your checked luggage to our ship’s staff who will take care of its transfer to your vessel. Please follow our staff’s instructions regarding transportation and feel free to ask them for any additional information.
From the airport, we take a bus to a dock. This bus is a basic official airport shuttle which you may need to share with other passengers. Sometimes, this means we must wait a while for the next available bus. The ride generally lasts no more than 10 minutes.
At the dock, you will board an inflatable landing craft (our staff may refer to them as pangas) used to transport you to the ship. Before you board, you will be instructed in the correct use of life jackets and the hands-free policy, both of which are key parts of our Safety Management Certification Program (ISM) designed to ensure your wellbeing throughout your stay with us.

Once aboard the ship, check in with the Hotel Manager. This is the time to hand in the cruise voucher. Please make sure you keep all papers given to you by the local Galapagos authorities. You will need them later when departing Galapagos. All activities on board are announced through the P.A. system.

As soon as all guests have arrived, we serve lunch and provide a briefing in which we share all details regarding how the expedition is handled and what will happen from that moment on. By this time, your luggage will have arrived and have been placed directly in your cabin by the ship’s crew. An emergency boat drill is carried out within the first 24 hours of embarkation. The Naturalist Guides will let you know about your first outing, which is only hours away!