$75 sunblock?!!!

Fair warning: the Galápagos is basically Disney for environmentalists.

Expect to overpay for everything. Things in Galápagos are not just far more expensive than on the Ecuador mainland, they are even more expensive than most places in the US.

Although you can wander around whichever island you are on, if you hope to see anything or get from one island to another you will have to pay a local who knows where to go and has a boat to get you there.

Let me share some things you might expect in order to get the most out of any trip you might take to the Galápagos.

The Galápagos Islands lie almost right on the Equator. That means that unless you are wearing lead-lined clothing, you WILL get sunburned.

My daughter and I did not have proper sunscreen for this environment. That means we had to buy some locally. After we’d already gotten sunburned.

One 3oz. bottle of SPF100, one 12oz. bottle of aloe, and two ice cream bars cost $75.04.

I’m not kidding.

The prices here are quite distressing.

I guess this is the cost of being one of the most famous island chains in the world. And being at the top of everyone’s bucket list.

If you go to the Galápagos, here’s a quick, and hopefully useful, rundown of some things you should expect:

• Taxis are plentiful within the town of Puerto Ayora. They are all white, four-door pickup trucks and roam up and down even the side streets during waking hours. That means they can haul any amount of luggage and up to four people at a time. Within town, all rides are a fixed price of $1.50 no matter where you want to go or how many people you have.
• There is only one morning bus back to the airport. It leaves from the one and only bus stop in town at 8:30am. If you miss the bus, instead of paying $2 in bus fare you’ll have to pay $25 for a taxi.
• Many of the islands are bigger than you’re probably expecting. Isla Santa Cruz, where nearly all tourists stay and most locals live, is only a mid-sized island in the chain. It takes 30 minutes to drive across on a very good road.
• If you see or do only one thing, or if your budget is tight, take a boat ($30 each way) to Isabel Island. That’s where all the “good” wildlife is: giant tortoises, blue-footed boobies, flamingos, penguins, marine iguanas… Although it’s the largest island in the chain, there are few permanent inhabitants and tourists can reportedly only go for day trips. So the island is basically run by the animals.
• Guided tours will provide a boat, a crew, and lunch. Nothing else. No drinking water, no sunscreen, no towels… Anything you want or need you will have to bring yourself.
• Wear sunscreen! Lots of it. And then a shirt, hat, and sunglasses. Locals wear long-sleeved shirts even in the water. There’s a reason for that. If you are going to go swimming, snorkeling or diving and are not wearing a wetsuit, get a long-sleeved shirt specifically for wearing in the water. When you get out of the water take off your wet shirt, dry yourself, and put your dry shirt back on. You can switch back and forth like this all day. That’s what many locals do.
• The locals and the Ecuador government are serious about conservation here. You will see very little trash and almost all of it is from careless tourists. Recycle bins are plentiful. Even toilets use reclaimed water or are dry. (You’ll see signs in both English and Spanish explaining this.)
• There are special fees just for the privilege of going to the Galapagos. All fees are in US dollars (the official currency in all of Ecuador) and are payable in cash only. Here’s the minimum you can expect. Some of these fees are mandatory while others, like the bus, you could forgo if you wanted to take a more expensive taxi or are there as part of an all-inclusive tour package.
  • $20 per person to get airline boarding passes. This is some sort of conservation fee imposed by the Ecuadoran government and must be paid at a separate window from where you get your boarding passes. It’s not the only conservation fee you will pay.
  • $100 per person to enter the islands. This is another conservation fee, also imposed by the government, and is payable at the airport in the Galápagos. You will not be allowed past the checkpoint, and thus will never be able to get out of the airport, without paying this.
  • Free bus to ferry dock. When you come out of the airport, just get on any bus that’s not a private charter or part of an all-inclusive tour. They all go to the ferry dock as pretty much the only thing on the island is the airport. In this way, they keep the environmental impact contained to just one small island.
  • $1 per person for the ferry to Santa Cruz Island. The airport is on Isla Baltra, one of the smallest islands in the chain. The channel between Isla Baltra and Isla Santa Cruz is only about 200ft. wide. If the water were shallow enough and you had no luggage to carry, you could literally just walk across. The ferry ride takes only a few minutes.
  • $2 per person for the bus to town. (Make sure you get the right bus! There are no signs so you must ask. Simply saying the name of the town is usually enough. You don’t have to speak Spanish.)
• WiFi is spotty at best. After all, you’re 600 miles from the mainland. Cell reception is okay within Puerto Ayora if you really must be in contact. You can find decent WiFi in some places but even that may have “off” periods where it just doesn’t work well. So disconnect and enjoy nature.
• Hot water is only called that because it’s warmer than the cold water. In most places, it’s about room temperature or just slightly warmer. Being in the tropics where it can get stifling hot, that’s usually not a big problem. Just be prepared for it.