After much research on this site and others, I decided to book our Galapagos Cruise with Galapagos Natural Life (online at galapagoslastminute). I wanted to support a local Ecuadorian agency... read more and boat. They were fantastic! From my very first inquiry online to leaving Ecuador, Rodrigo was only an email or WhatsApp message away. He answered all my questions, usually within an hour any time of day. Rodrigo books and handles reservations for many local ship operators. We picked the luxury boat, Alya. Wow, was it fantastic! I will write a review about the boat and cruise under Alya.
I was nervous to send so much money to an Ecuador bank and tried to do some research to make sure it wasn't a scam. When Rodrigo but a hold on a cabin for me I went to the extra effort to see that another travel site now showed 1 less cabin for my cruise, so I was hopeful this was a reliable travel agency. Galapagos Natural Life was not only a reliable agency but very well organized and informative. After all decisions were made about what we wanted to do, Rodrigo booked and sent us all our cruise tickets and air flight tickets, and all the information we needed for the Galapagos fees and transit cards. We also booked their "Quito Extension" tour and had a 2 day tour of Quito highlights with a private driver. Rodrigo booked our Quito hotel as part of this tour, and had a driver meet us at the airport, take us to the hotel and return us to the airport at the end of our trip. I usually organize all these things myself when we travel but it was a nice touch especially when I don't speak Spanish and have never been in South America. He also had a company representative meet us at the airport on the day we flew over to Galapagos, and she made sure we were all booked in with our Galapagos transit cards and fees paid. After all the back and forth WhatsApp messages with Rodrigo, I felt like I knew him, so it was nice that he took the time to stop by our Quito hotel and introduce himself and make sure their wasn't anything else we needed.
If you want to book a local Galapagos cruise or land tour I highly recommend Galapagos Natural Life.

  Thank you to Rodrigo and Betty. It was my first time to travel alone. To galapagos no less. I decided to contract a travel agency to guide my tour. I... read more took a land-based guided tour. They were there every step of the way. From inquiring,...More

  Booked a last-minute Galapagos cruise through Rodrigo and his team at Natural Life. Rodrigo's deep knowledge and personal insights into the cruise operators, sights and routes really helped us... read more to choose the right boat and route to match our needs. As it turned out, the...More

  We booked the Galapagos Passion Luxury Cruise through Rodrigo at Galapagos Natural Life. Rodrigo was extremely helpful, explained all of the options and gave us the best rates we could... read more find (which we knew as we had checked with other tour agencies). He organised everything perfectly including the salvaconducto required and made sure to tell us to print documents (we saw other people struggling in the airport who had not realised they needed to do this!). He also has contacts to ensure you can take a covid test to enter the Galapagos as required. The Passion cruise was absolutely amazing and we saw all the animals that we wanted to see (including sea lions, tortoises, plenty of the birds, sea turtles, penguins and even a snake!). We were so glad we booked with Rodrigo as everything was perfect including our dietary requirements. He even got us a cheaper deal for the flights! There are lots of options available here which we were able to review before we picked the Passion cruise. Rodrigo is also easily contactable so if you have any questions he is happy to help out. I would definitely recommend this agency if you are looking for a cruise around the Galapagos! …

  We booked our Galapagos tour with Galapagos Natural Life. First thing is that both Joseph and Rodrigo were extremely responsive throughout the booking process. They were also very flexible. We... read more couldn't get a cruise due to the sold-out situation, but they worked with me to...More

  My travel was amazing. I took a lot of pictures of gigant turtles, blue footed boobies and penguins. Therefore I did scuba dive with sharks, sea turtles, sea lions and... read more hundreds of fishes at Seymour, Mosquera and Daphne islands. Hotel was very comfortable with a beautiful sight of the sea. Also I visited Bartolomé Island, Tortuga Bay beach and Bahía de los Perros. Food was delicious at the entire island and Angermeyer restaurant is one of a kind. People in the islands are very kind and is 100% secure to travel despide of the coronavirus. Security is amazing cause there aren’t robbers. I totally recommend this experience!! …

  Highly recommend Natural Galapagos Life tours! Rodrigo is CEO and a very good point of contact. He replies to all emails quickly and professionally! We even had a problem with... read more our flight being delayed...and Rodrigo was available to chat on WhatsApp. Our trip was planned...More

  We booked a cruise of 7 days on the Anahí and an island hopping for other 7 days on the Galapagos. The organisation was excellent and everywhere the staff and... read more guides where very friendly and courteous. Thank you very much - Rodrigo and all the...More

  We just finished a 6-day cruise booked with Rodrigo from Natural Life. It was an amazing cruise aboard the Alya Yacht. Everything was perfect, from the expert guide to... read more the food. Oh my gosh the food was fantastic. The chef used to work at one of the top hotels in Quito and each meal was gourmet using local fresh ingredients. We had ceviche twice, tuna, filet mignon, shrimp, and more. The staff aboard was so nice, and everything was planned for us. We kayaked, snorkeled everyday, hiked, and more. We saw so many different animals. We swam with dolphins, turtles, sea lions, and sharks. Our guide, Luis, was so knowledgeable and had a wonderful sense of humor. We had so much fun! I wholeheartedly recommend this trip. Rodrigo from Natural Life was outstanding and held our hands the whole way — booking our cruise, securing our hotel rooms, getting our salvoconducto documents, and arranging our Covid tests. He was quick to reply to all my questions at all hours. He clearly is customer service focused. …

  Rodrigo Canchig at Galapagos Natural Life organized a trip for me and my family, a group of 11 people. We had an 8 night cruise on the Beluga Yacht... read more around Isabela Island, and a few days in mainland Ecuador before and after.
Our experience was amazing, and everything was so well organized that we could just enjoy it without any worries.
The boat was very comfortable, and the staff were amazing. The food was good, everything was always clean, the panga drivers were very skilled and everyone was so attentive to our needs. Our naturalist, Richard Ruiz, was great. He was very organized, knowledgeable, and responsive to everyone's needs and expectations.
Rodrigo also helped us organize transport around Quito, and our driver was also great - always on time, very kind and a good driver.
If you are organizing a trip to the Galapagos and Ecuador, I highly recommend contacting Rodrigo at Galapagos Natural Life.

  What an absolutely amazing time we had with the crew & other holiday makers. Our mission- see as much wildlife & up close as we could. TICK, TICK, TICK. ... read more Must see- Flamingoes, TICK, TICK, TICK, just amazing ! We were not disappointed. Must do- Snorkel as much as possible, TICK,

  Rodrigo booked our 8D/7N cruise and flights around the Galápagos Islands (north east and south) whilst we were travelling in Colombia. We had an amazing time on the cruise and... read more are very grateful for Rodrigo’s patience as we worked out how to do the bank transfer, and find the funds for the trip!

It was a really daunting experience putting trust in a company / person when you are in a different country, especially large sums of money - Rodrigo understood and was very reliable sending the confirmation email and tickets and checking us into our flights. We also accidentally transferred $70 too much and Rodrigo let us know and we came to collect it in his Quito office - very honest!

Did I mention that we also had the most amazing time! Was a highlight of our South America travels! Would wholeheartedly recommend for a last minute deal!

  The Galapagos are amazing! We hired the Ocean Spray to be our home for five days/four nights. I was with my same sex partner and had spent the... read more previous three weeks in Peru where we felt welcome at every one of the hotels/boats/excursions. The experience on the Ocean Spray was not that. While our guide was amazing (Morris!!!), the rest of the staff was not only aloof, but sometimes rude. Ugh! After eating for three weeks at very nice restaurants and on board the Aqua Nera in the Amazon, the food on board was "okay"/"average". And the final insult was on the second to last day....when the tips are outlined. We were on the boat for four days and were told that the tips expected would be $400 for the staff and $200 for our guide. The $200 for the guide...no problem. But the $400 for the staff...for four days? Totally inappropriate and I was sorely disappointed. I left $100. Yes, I overpaid based on our experience, but wanted to leave something. c'est la vie.

  My husband and I decided to book a visit to the Galapagos as an extension to our Machu Picchu trip. I booked our multi-stop flight from Canada on points... read more so didn't have a lot of flexibility in dates. When searching for cruises in the Galapagos,...More

  Traveling during the pandemic is challenging even when everything goes well. This trip definitely had challenges due to the pandemic. Cruises that canceled due to not enough passengers. Flights... read more being canceled and delayed randomly at every turn. Literally as we were walking out the door to go to the airport our cruise was canceled..Rodrigo was on it every step of the way.. he stayed in constant contact with us... always lining up our options and making recommendations based on his experience.. he has a connection everywhere! He took care of us every step of the way, even arranging COVID testing at our hotel and again at the airport to go home. When he told us initially that our cruise was canceled I was ready to say forget it. I am so glad we went ahead. We did 14 days on the Passion Yacht, the Eastern and Western itineraries. It was amazing, from the crew to the guide and of course the amazing sites, landscapes and wild life. Every detail is handled. Get on the boat and forget everything else. Food is fantastic, everyone we encountered was so friendly. I look forward to returning and I would not let anyone else handle our trip other than Rodrigo and his team …

  Rodrigo was EXCELLENT! He found me a last minute 8 day/7 night boat cruise at an incredible price! He was extremely responsive to my emails and WhatsApp questions that I... read more had prior to booking as well as gave me suggestions about things to do prior to the start of my cruise. He was excellent and I will for sure recommend him and this company to family and friends! Thank you again Rodrigo!

  We were on Celebrity Cruise lines - the Flora. They had EVERYTHING arranged for pandemic travel - and the costs of tests (2 PCR & 1 ANTIGEN) was included. The... read more doctors came to the hotel in Quito. It was an unforgettable experience with the naturalists telling us all about the land, the animals, the birds and the vegetation. The ship was beautiful and environmentally friendly. The food was stellar and they supplied snacks each time you arrived back from any excursion. It was all inclusive and the staff did a fantastic job! What I would have liked before the trip was a detailed list of what to bring to wear and use so I have placed it here. It was not super hot in Quito at that time of year, so one pair of shorts was plenty. You will need sunglasses, sunscreen and hats - the hats should be tight fitting or should have a string to put under your chin or they will blow off on Zodiac rides. My husband used a soft baseball hat while snorkeling. Capris or pants with zipper pockets are a must (to put your key card and other items in). A one piece bathing suit is important (not a tankini with a skirt or shorts) because the one piece will fit better under the wetsuit for snorkeling. Light long sleeve shirts and pants are important - it is windy during the Zodiac rides to shore. Water socks for the wet landings were also indispensable and we had a small bag for wet items to store them in once they were wet so nothing else in the backpack got wet. We carried a small backpack onto land with one bottle of water (not one each as that was too heavy - the bottles were supplied by Celebrity and were refillable to save the environment - nice touch). One pair of track shoes and one pair of hiking shoes will do the trick for excursions and sandals or flip flops are great to have on the ship or on the beach. At night on the ship, having a small over the shoulder purse for carrying a camera and key card is nice. I took 2 sundresses and a pair of black pants with blouses and that was fine for the evenings. Finally, a couple of suggestions: If you are going to snorkel, buy an underwater camera - the pictures you can take of the marine life, such as turtles, are amazing. A camera with at least a 30X zoom for land shots is a must. Learn to snorkel and kayak before you go as you will have more options for excursions and you will be able to participate fully.

  We went with 2 other couples to experience the awe and wonder of the Galápagos Islands and we were very pleased with all aspects of our trip. Organization, details... read more handled exceptionally well, are only a small part of this companies expertise. From start to finish everything was handled efficiently, professionally and there were no details left out. Thanks for an exceptional experience!