Galapagos – General info

Galapagos General Information

From Guayaquil, after an hour and a quarter of flight, they emerge unexpectedly from the deep blue ocean: the enchanted islands, the enchanted islands, the enchanting islands. Tropical dream world, paradise on earth, Noah’s Ark in the Pacific, God’s workshop, prime example of evolution or fantastic laboratory of nature, are the many other intoxicating epithets for the exotic Galápagos archipelago, which has become the magical formula of constantly increasing visitor numbers for the entire Ecuadorian tourism industry worldwide.

Location and size Almost 1,000 kilometers west of the Ecuadorian mainland and 1,200 km southwest of Panamá and Costa Rica are the approximately 70 islands, islands and volcanic rocks of the Galápagos archipelago that rise out of the water. Isabela, by far the largest island with 4,588 square kilometers, occupies more than half of the total area.

It is followed by Santa Cruz (986 sq km), Fernandina (642 sq km), Santiago (585 sq km), San Cristóbal (558 sq km), Floreana (173 sq km) and Marchena (115 sq km). The total surface of the archipelago is just over 8,000 sq km. Among the smallest islands with an area of 1 to 5 square kilometers are Rábida, Seymour, Wolf, Bartolomé, Tortuga and Darwin.

On an axis from west to east, the island kingdom stretches over more than 320 km. The equatorial line runs exactly through the volcanic crater Wolf in the northern part of Isabela Island, which is also the highest elevation on Galapagos at 1,707 m.

Population and tourism today Today, a total of around 25,000 to 30,000 people live on the inhabited islands (Santa Cruz, San Cristóbal, Isabela and Floreana) – significantly more than the 20,000 or so mentioned earlier. The largest town continues to be Puerto Ayora on Santa Cruz with around 12,000 to 15,000 inhabitants, followed by Puerto Baquerizo Moreno on San Cristóbal (around 5,500–6,000) and Puerto Villamil on Isabela (around 2,000–2,500). Floreana remains the most sparsely populated of the four inhabited islands, with only around 100–200 inhabitants.

The annual number of visitors has risen massively since the previously mentioned 60,000: in 2023, the national park counted around 329,000 international arrivals, in 2024 the figure was slightly lower, albeit with a stabilized trend. The USA is by far the largest group of origin, followed by Great Britain, Germany and Canada. In order to limit the tourism pressure on the sensitive ecosystem, a legal upper limit for visitor numbers was introduced in 1998 (originally around 70,000 per year), which has since been replaced or supplemented by a system of zoning, licensing for tour operators and significantly higher entrance fees.

The history of the archipelago Like many other volcanic island chains in the Pacific region, the Galápagos Islands are of oceanic origin – the islands never had a connection to the mainland in the course of their formation history, but were lifted independently from the depths of the sea or were formed by hot magma ejection from the earth’s interior. Similar to the Hawaiian Islands, the Galápagos Islands are geologically still very young and still “growing”.

The outer crust of the Earth is divided into large tectonic plates that “float” on the viscous mantle and constantly shift against each other, leading to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. The Galápagos Islands are located on the northern edge of the Nazca Plate, which moves eastwards by about nine centimeters annually towards the South American Plate, which in turn moves westwards at about five centimeters per year. Along this collision zone, where the lighter Nazca Plate dives under the heavier South American Plate, both a deep sea trench and – due to the pushing up of the continental plate – the enormous Andes chain were formed.

Beneath the Galápagos Islands is also a so-called hot spot – a zone of hot, rising magma in the Earth’s lower mantle that pierces through the Earth’s crust. Where one of these volcanic cones protrudes from the ocean, a new island is formed; in the case of Isabela Island, these were once five separate volcanoes that grew together to form a large landmass due to persistent eruptions.

Since the hot spot remains stationary while the Nazca Plate drifts towards the continent, the islands can be divided by age from east to west: The oldest islands to the east are Española and San Cristóbal (over 3 million years old), while the most volcanically active – Fernandina and Isabela – are the youngest at around 700,000 years.

Recent geological findings also point to a “Proto-Galápagos” that existed more than nine million years ago, was much closer to the continent (only about 300–400 km away) and has since disappeared into the sea again – a circumstance that also explains why some endemic species have a higher evolutionary age than the age of today’s islands would suggest.

Galapagos – Entry and current visitor rules

The Galápagos Islands belong to Ecuador; therefore, the general Ecuadorian entry requirements apply to entry. German, Austrian and Swiss nationals can enter Ecuador visa-free for tourist stays of up to 90 days; a passport valid for at least 6 months at the time of entry and proof of onward travel are required.

For onward travel from Guayaquil or Quito to the Galápagos Islands, additional, special regulations for the protection of the ecosystem apply:

• Transit Control Card (TCT): All travelers must purchase a TCT before departure to the Galápagos Islands (as of last time around 20 US dollars), which is usually paid in cash at the mainland airport and is used to control entry and exit from the islands.
• National Park Entrance Fee: As of August 2024, the entrance fee is $200 per person for foreign visitors (previously $100), and half for children under 12 years old; it is paid in cash upon arrival at Baltra or San Cristóbal airports (card payment is usually only possible with a surcharge). Residents of Ecuador and nationals of some South American countries pay reduced rates.
• Rules of conduct in the National Park: Keep a distance of at least 2 meters from wild animals, no touching or feeding of animals, only use marked paths, no smoking, alcohol consumption or open fires in protected areas, no taking natural materials with you; professional photo/video recordings and drone flights require a separate permit.

Since fees and regulations have changed several times in recent years and further adjustments are possible, it is advisable to check the current information on the official website of the Galápagos National Park Administration (galapagos.gob.ec) and the respective tour operator before travelling.

Galapagos – Climate

Due to the meeting of different Pacific ocean currents in interaction with the winds, the Galápagos Islands do not have a typical equatorial climate, but a unique microclimate. The ocean currents are the key to this phenomenon, which basically causes two seasons – one cool and one warm.

From January to May/June, tropical summer air temperatures predominate due to mild northeast trade winds. The North Equatorial Panama Current, which is also known as El Niño due to its unusual strength, brings warm, plankton-poor seawater (24–27 degrees) into the region. The moist air above the ocean is warmed up and condensed; during these months, heavy rain showers can also occur in the coastal area, while many marine animals and seabirds have to fear for their food due to the absence of the cold, nutrient-rich Humboldt Current.

Nevertheless, the archipelago has the most sunny days during this sultry season. The otherwise dry vegetation thrives magnificently and takes on color; even the dusty, desert-like island of Baltra is covered in a green carpet. Many animals begin to reproduce in this more touristically attractive season.

From June to December/January, in the so-called Garúa months, cooler air and water temperatures prevail. With the Humboldt Current from Antarctic climes, subtropical weather fronts reach Galapagos from the south. A sea of dense clouds envelops the higher altitudes of the islands, caused by the interaction of cold water (17–20 degrees) and warm air; strong trade winds from the southeast further intensify this effect, resulting in fog and continuous drizzle (garúa).

The cold, equatorial Cromwell Current, which hits the Galápagos Plateau from the west at a depth of several hundred meters (Fernandina, Isabela, Floreana), also plays a crucial role in the supply of nutrients to the dolphins, whales and penguins living there.

The plankton-rich sea is very rough, especially between August and October, and marine fauna multiplies during this season. The coastal vegetation, on the other hand, dries up noticeably, even the Palo Santo forests lose their leaves. For divers, this time of year is sometimes considered particularly exciting, but a warming jacket or a light sweater is recommended for land-goers.

Galapagos – Fauna

There is hardly a place on earth where animals are easier to observe in the wild than on the Galápagos Islands.

Despite the decimation caused over centuries by pirates, buccaneers, whalers, fur seal hunters, settlers and the military, the animals show little fear of the groups of visitors who land today. The adult animals usually remain undaunted and can be observed and photographed at close range; humans are largely accepted as an insignificant part of their natural environment. Some animals, especially sea lion cubs and Darwin’s finches, even show pronounced curiosity, others – such as gannets – react with beak blows when approached too intrusively.

This tolerance of the animals towards humans is largely due to the professional nature guides, who have been trained for decades according to strict guidelines of the national park administration. One of their most important tasks is to ensure that visitors stay exclusively on the prescribed paths so as not to endanger animals and nesting sites off the paths. Since many birds and iguanas breed directly on the roadsides, careful evasion is always advised when taking photos – never step directly over a nest.

Any confrontation with territorial animals, such as bull sea lions, which claim a jetty or beach section for themselves, should also be avoided – the national park regulations naturally do not apply to animals, even if they were ultimately issued for their protection.

The best time to see wild animals is early morning and late afternoon; around noon, marine iguanas, sea lions, and sea turtles often dive in search of food, and many seabirds are also less active in the midday heat.

On virtually every Galápagos island, visitors get to see sea lions, marine iguanas, cliff crabs, lava lizards and Darwin’s finches. On most islands, you can also encounter blue-footed boobies, tropicbirds, pelicans, fork-tailed gulls, mockingbirds and Galápagos buzzards. On many islands, you can also find masked boobies, banded and magnificent frigatebirds, noddy terns and lava gulls. On a few islands, giant tortoises, fur seals, land iguanas, flightless cormorants, flamingos, penguins and red-footed boobies can be observed. Worldwide, only on Española can the ground-nesting wave albatross be observed up close.

Mammals: There are only four land mammal species on Galapagos – including the Galápagos rice rat (in two subspecies on Santa Fé and Fernandina) and the Galápagos bat, which is insignificant for visitors. This deficiency is explained by the fact that there was never a land bridge between the islands and the mainland.

The most common mammals on the coasts are sea lions, whose throaty calls often accompany visitors to the island until they fall asleep. Dinghies and jetties in Puerto Baquerizo Moreno (San Cristóbal) and Puerto Ayora (Santa Cruz) are often used by them as berths. Sea lions are polygamous – a bull can defend a harem of up to 25 people; after nine months of gestation, the females usually give birth to a cub weighing around 5 kg towards the end of the year. On Plaza and Rábida there are also small colonies of old or bachelor-like bulls that have been “left empty-handed” in the distribution of females, which are considered particularly aggressive and are better not to get too close.

The Galápagos fur seal differs from the sea lion in its denser fur, smaller, rounder head and larger auricles. It usually stays in shady rock niches, where it protects itself from the equatorial sun, and, unlike the sea lion, never seeks out sandy beaches. Its population size is estimated at several thousand.

Reptiles: A total of six reptile species can be found on Galapagos: giant tortoises, land iguanas, marine iguanas, lava lizards, geckos and some harmless snake species. The giant tortoises, which weigh up to 300 kg, can only be found on the Aldabra Atoll in the Indian Ocean; of the original 14 subspecies, 10 are still preserved today.

Important correction to the “Lonesome George”: The famous “Lonesome George”, which was relocated from its home island of Pinta to the Charles Darwin Station, was long considered the last known representative of the Pinta giant tortoise (Chelonoidis abingdonii). However, he died on June 24, 2012 ; his subspecies has since been officially considered extinct. His preserved body is now exhibited at the Fausto Llerena Giant Tortoise Breeding Center in Santa Cruz and continues to attract numerous visitors. In total, several of the original subspecies have now become extinct; others continue to be preserved and released into the wild in breeding programs of the Charles Darwin Station and the Galápagos National Park.

From island to island, the surviving giant tortoise subspecies differ in size and shell shape: Saddleback turtles with longer necks and legs have adapted to shallow arid regions, while the larger dome shell type prefers the wetter highland regions. Five different subspecies alone live isolated in the volcanic craters of Isabela Island.

The rescue of the subspecies on Española is a particular success: in the 1960s, only two males and twelve females lived there. Through incubation and long-term rearing in the Charles Darwin Station, it was possible to successively release around 700 animals back onto Española from 1975 until 1995 – one of the best-known species conservation projects worldwide.

Giant tortoises reach sexual maturity after about 25 years and reproduce between January and June during the rainy season; the females retreat to dry zones to lay eggs and lay between 2 and 20 tennis-ball-sized eggs in self-dug breeding cavities. The breeding site temperature determines the sex of the young animals – cooler temperatures favor males. In the wild, the animals can reach an age of almost 200 years; their only natural enemy is the Galápagos buzzard.

Land iguanas live in the dry zones of Plaza Sur, Santa Cruz, Isabela and Fernandina, a second endemic species exclusively to Santa Fé. The yellow-coloured males defend their territory with sometimes fierce head-nodding and biting battles. When Charles Darwin landed on Santiago in 1835, he found so many land iguanas that “there was hardly any room for our tent” – today land iguanas are completely extinct on Santiago, among other things due to introduced rats, pigs, feral dogs and cats that ate eggs and juveniles, as well as goats that destroyed their food plants.

Marine iguanas are the only reptiles in the world that have successfully adapted to life in the sea. With powerful tail movements, they swim for miles and dive for over an hour thanks to a heartbeat that slows down greatly in the water. A special gland excretes excess salt through the nostrils, which leads to visible salt crusts on the head of older animals.

Lava lizards populate the dry zones of almost all islands; one species is distributed on several islands, six other endemic species are each limited to a specific island. In addition, there are five endemic gecko species and several species of shy Dromicus snakes that are harmless to humans.

Birds: The Galápagos Islands are a paradise for birds. In total, there are 19 species of seabirds (five of which are endemic) with an estimated total population of over one million animals, as well as over 40 species of land and waders (23 of which are endemic).

With a wingspan of up to 2.40 m, the wave albatross is considered the largest bird in the archipelago and the tropical eastern Pacific region; the world’s only breeding site is Española, where more than 12,000 pairs can be observed at Punta Suárez and Punta Cevallos between April and June.

The endemic flightless cormorant is found exclusively on the remote lava coasts of Isabela and Fernandina, with an estimated total population of a few hundred to a few thousand animals. The endemic Galápagos penguin is considered the second smallest penguin in the world and sometimes even lives north of the equator – the only penguin to succeed in doing so.

The 13 Darwin’s finch species endemic to the Galapagos (with another species on Cocos Island, 14 in total) have contributed particularly much to the understanding of the theory of evolution through their beak shapes adapted to different food sources.

Marine animals: Of the more than 300 fish species in the archipelago, around 50 are endemic. Whitetip reef sharks and hammerhead sharks (some in schools of several hundred animals, such as at Isla Wolf) are harmless to humans, as are most other shark species found here; tiger sharks, on the other hand, are rare in Galápagos waters. Manta, eagle, cownose and stingrays are among the highlights of many dives.

Sea turtles mate between December and April; females lay their eggs at night on sandy beaches that are closed to visitors after 6pm.

Immigrant and introduced animals Over the last three million years, the endemic animals reached the coasts of the archipelago naturally – flying, swimming or carried by wind and currents. With the arrival of the first seafarers around 400 years ago, these natural balances became increasingly out of balance: rats, mice and imported domestic animals (goats, pigs, donkeys, dogs, cats) spread rapidly and decimated the endemic flora and fauna, sometimes dramatically – for example through the feral goats on Isabela, which were once estimated at over 100,000 animals and caused massive damage to vegetation and soil.

Charles Darwin Station and the National Park Administration have been conducting programmes to control introduced species for decades. These have already been successful on several smaller islands; the elaborate “Isabela Project” to completely remove feral goats from Isabela Island – one of the largest restoration projects for island ecosystems in the world – was essentially successfully completed in the 2000s, so that the vegetation and the giant tortoise populations there have since been able to recover noticeably. However, controlling introduced rats, cats and other invasive species remains an ongoing challenge for the preservation of the unique ecosystem.

Galapagos – Flora

In contrast to the Ecuadorian mainland, the Galápagos flora proves to be comparatively sparse. During the cool dry season from June to December, some of the otherwise enchanting islands are more reminiscent of a thorn bush desert than a tropical paradise.

In total, there are over 500 to 700 native plant species and subspecies (depending on how you count), of which almost half are endemic – compared to the approximately 20,000 species on the Ecuadorian mainland, this is comparatively few. With increasing colonization, more than 500 non-native plant species have also arrived on the islands, some of which cause considerable ecological problems, as the endemic flora is often inferior to them in the competition for sunlight, water and nutrients.

The flora of Galapagos is divided into several vegetation zones, mainly depending on the altitude: the salt-resistant coastal zone (up to about 20 meters above sea level), the dry zone (up to over 100 m), which only grows green in the rainy season, a moist-foggy transition zone (150–300 m), the year-round green Scalesia forest zone (250–600 m), the Miconia scrub zone on Santa Cruz and San Cristóbal (up to over 700 m) and the windy Pampa grass zone at the highest altitudes.

Among the most striking plants of the coastal region are the mangrove forests (black, red and white mangrove as well as button mangrove), which line protected, tidal shore zones. Other typical coastal plants are the salt bush, the solstice and the coral bush, which shows impressive color changes on Plaza Island throughout the year.

The Opuntia tree cacti are a landmark of Galapagos: Six endemic species of these up to 9 m high prickly pear cacti have adapted optimally to the dry climate with pointed spines, wax-covered bark and sun-oriented cushions. In addition, there are columnar or candelabra cacti (up to 6 m high) as well as the lava cactus, which thrives on bare lava rock, for example in the volcanic landscape of Bartolomé.

The most common tree in the dry zone is the palo santo (“sacred stick”), whose aromatic resin is reminiscent of incense and which sheds its leaves completely in the driest months, but sprouts light green in the rainy season.

In the wetter, higher-altitude Scalesia forests (250–600 m), 15 endemic species of trees and shrubs of this genus of the daisy family dominate, surrounded by bromeliads, ferns and mosses – this area has the most fertile soils in the archipelago and has therefore historically been heavily used for agriculture, especially in San Cristóbal and Santa Cruz, where large parts of the original forest have already disappeared.

Above about 500 m, the pampa-like mountain region with meter-high miconia bushes, isolated tree ferns as well as swamp and elephant grasses adjoins, especially on San Cristóbal and Santa Cruz; on Isabela, dense bushes even reach the crater edges of the volcanoes, which are up to 1,700 m high. Remarkably, this high-altitude mountain region has even more endemic species than the coastal dry and splash water zones combined.

Galapagos History

The first visitors to the Galápagos Islands were probably members of the Manteño or Huancavilca cultures, who came over from the Ecuadorian mainland on balsa rafts – pottery finds on Santiago, Santa Cruz and Floreana indicate this, although it remains unclear whether they ever found their way back.

In 1535 , the Bishop of Panamá, Fray Tomás de Berlanga, was involuntarily driven to the coast of the archipelago by a lull in the wind – the first documented European contact. He described the islands as “full of sea lions and turtles” and “completely uninhabitable”; In 1574, the archipelago appeared for the first time on a world map as “Islas de los Galápagos” (“Islands of the Turtles”).

In 1546 , the Spaniard Diego de Rivadeneira gave the islands the name “Islas Encantadas” (Enchanted Islands).

From the end of the 16th century, English, French and Dutch pirates – including Francis Drake, Captain Morgan and William Dampier – used the islands as a hiding place and base for raids on Spanish silver fleets. The buccaneer Ambrose Cowley named the islands after British nobles in 1684 and made the first detailed map. The sailor Alexander Selkirk, who was rescued in 1709 and whose fate inspired Daniel Defoe to write “Robinson Crusoe”, later commanded a privateer ship himself, which also called at Galápagos.

At the end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th century, the first whalers and sealers arrived; the number of fishing vessels operating in the region rose to over 2,000 by the middle of the 19th century. It is estimated that over 200,000 giant tortoises fell victim to hunters (around 15,000 of them on Floreana alone), as the animals could be stacked alive on board as a fresh meat supply – three subspecies have already become extinct as a result.

In 1832 , barely two years after Ecuador’s independence, the islands were officially added to Ecuadorian territory. First Governor General José Villamil failed with his utopian settlement plans on Floreana, which quickly turned into a notorious convict colony. Under the cruel Manuel J. Cobos, who ran a penal camp on San Cristóbal with lucrative sugar cane production from 1888 onwards, serious human rights violations occurred; Cobos was killed by rebellious prisoners in 1904.

Autumn 1835: Probably the most famous visitor, the young naturalist Charles Darwin, spent five weeks on the islands as part of the circumnavigation of the “HMS Beagle” and examined the flora and fauna there – his observations of the differently adapted finches and giant tortoises later became important building blocks of his theory of evolution, even though he hardly used the term “evolution” even during his lifetime.

In 1875–78 , the German geologist Theodor Wolf was the first to prove the purely volcanic-oceanic origin of the islands; the highest volcano in Galápagos still bears his name today.

In 1892 , on the occasion of the 400th anniversary of Columbus’ arrival in America, the archipelago was officially named “Archipiélago de Colón”. In the following period, there were several settlement attempts, some of them unsuccessful, such as a Norwegian fish factory on Floreana (1926) and a salt mine on Santiago (1924–1930).

In 1923 , a visit by the American researcher William Beebe inspired him to write his bestseller “Galápagos – World’s End”, which in turn influenced the German dentist and dropout Friedrich Ritter, who settled on Floreana with his partner Dore Strauch in 1929. In 1932, the Wittmer family from Cologne followed, some of whose descendants still live on the island today. During this time, the “Galápagos Affair” involving the self-proclaimed “Baroness von Wagner” and several mysterious deaths on Floreana occurred, which caused an international sensation.

During World War II, Baltra served as an air base for the U.S. Armed Forces to monitor the Panama Canal, which included the complete eradication of the island’s land iguana population.

On July 4, 1959 – the 100th anniversary of Darwin’s “Origin of Species” – 95% of the land area of the archipelago was declared a national park. In the same year, the penal camp opened on Isabela in 1944 was blown up; the “Wall of Tears” erected by prisoners can still be visited today.

In 1964 , the Charles Darwin Research Station was founded, and in 1978 UNESCO declared the Galápagos Islands the first World Heritage Site of mankind. In 1969, organized cruise tourism began on Galapagos with the ship “Lina A”.

In the decades that followed, the islands’ tourist importance increased continuously: from around 60,000 annual visitors at the turn of the millennium to over 300,000 international arrivals per year today (2023/24). In order to protect the ecological balance in the face of this growth and the growing resident population, numerous regulations have been enacted since the 1990s – including a special law for the province of Galapagos (1998), stricter immigration restrictions from the mainland, a system of controlled visitor locations and, most recently (in 2024), a significant increase in the national park entrance fee to 200 US dollars.

Among the greatest ongoing challenges are invasive species, the burden of continuing growth in tourism and – historically significant – the temporarily flourishing illegal trade in sea cucumbers (“Pepinos del Mar”), whose meat was traded as a supposedly potency-enhancing delicacy, especially in East Asia, and whose overexploitation can severely disrupt the marine food web. Since then, the National Park Administration and the Charles Darwin Station have been monitoring this fishery much more strictly than they did two decades ago.

Note: All information on population figures, visitor numbers, fees and entry requirements is subject to change and has been researched to the best of our knowledge as of August 2026. For up-to-date, binding information, it is advisable to take a look at the official website of the Galápagos National Park Administration (galapagos.gob.ec) as well as the travel and safety advice of the Federal Foreign Office before travelling.