Galápagos by yacht: a conservation journey

The definitive Galápagos experience

While organising the most ambitious multi-yacht trips in the Galápagos, we’ve established a close working relationship with the national park, with our clients supporting and gaining unique access to the region’s vital conservation projects.

They’ve witnessed the behind the scenes of hammerhead monitoring and giant tortoise geotagging, while using helis to relocate endangered species and gain epic aerial views.

Of course, it’s all tailored to our guests, whether that’s wanting to hike onto lava fields among basking iguanas with a top conservationist or swim with penguins as a family, documented by our media team.

And, we have the best access to private yachts, bringing a slice of luxury while travelling in serene seclusion.

All media taken on Cookson Adventures trips

The passengers on those helicopters had an up-close view of molten lava as it crept down the volcano’s southeastern flank… at some points, lava was being thrown up to 200 feet in the air… In the days after those helicopter flights, Cookson Adventures arranged to fly Gustavo Miranda, Ecuador’s environment minister, into the area so that he could assess the risk to biodiversity

February 2022

Conservation

Whether it’s scientists measuring juvenile sharks or geotagging giant tortoises and rehoming them by heli, our relationship with the national park has seen our clients witness vital conservation work up close. It’s a chance to see behind the scenes and learn from experts in their field.

On land

From lunch setups on white-sand beaches and the lush cacti of Santa Cruz to the rugged volcanic lava fields and stark landscapes of Bartolomé, the Galápagos is wonderfully diverse. We’ll arrange ranger-led hikes to your interest and capabilities, bringing you among the likes of lava lizards, colourful flamingos and, of course, the iconic giant tortoises.

From the air

By donating heli hours to the national park, they’ve been able to construct a research station where juvenile pink iguanas were found for the very first time, as well as rehoming hundreds of endangered giant tortoises. This has also meant our clients have been able to see the islands from the air – a genuinely rare experience that even coincided with a volcanic eruption. Here, the helicopters were used to successfully evacuate a team of national-park rangers.

Under the water

We pride ourselves on tailoring every experience to our clients. That could be gentle swims and snorkel trips with the whole family meeting friendly sea lions, marine iguanas and penguins or epic scuba adventures. Think diving with hammerheads and giant rays.

Above the water

Whether exploring by kayak, SUP or tender, you’ll be able to explore the Galápagos’s diverse ecosystems at your own pace, looking out for wildlife as you go. Paddle up to lava cliffs to admire blue-footed boobies, sail through mighty sea caves and kayak turquoise island lagoons to find Galápagos hawks.

Remote islands: Wolf and Darwin

We can bring you off the beaten bow wake to these more remote islands, home to some of the world’s best-regarded dive spots. Sitting at the confluence of multiple ocean currents, they attract great aggregations of everything from eagle and manta rays to hammerheads and melon-headed whales. Our past client trips have even encountered giant whale sharks face to face. That’s without mentioning the underwater lava flows and bubbling fumaroles or the unique above-water formations, like Darwin’s Arch – a mighty rock bridge marooned in the ocean.

Ecuador extension

We’ve got access to the best off-market properties to enjoy a pre- or post-trip stay on the mainland, from private haciendas in the highlands to designer lodges on the coast or in the cloud forest. We’ve brought clients to volcano-top lunch setups, on historian-led tours of the country’s colonial treasures and on family adventures into the Amazon.

Having evolved in isolation without humans for millennia, not only is the wildlife of the Galápagos unprecedentedly diverse, but it’s often wonderfully friendly. This means a natural inquisitiveness, with the likes of sea lions playing with travellers as they swim.

Of course, with our expert rangers, you’ll enjoy unique wildlife experiences throughout. That could be kayaking alongside marine iguanas, hiking among lava lizards or scuba diving with giant rays. We know all the best spots and, with your private yacht and our logistics, you’ll discover it all in blissful seclusion.

Throughout, we can see you witness the conversation of these unique islands up close. Our clients have learned from top conservationists, seeing how geotags are applied to giant tortoises and shark nurseries are monitored, before getting an insider’s look at heli relocations. With no helicopters stationed permanently in the national park, we’ve brought them in for this exact use. That also means genuinely unprecedented aerial views for our clients, soaring over islands, volcanic caldera and even – on our last trip – great eruptions, as documented in the New York Times.