Dreaming of a Galapagos cruise at a discount price? In the Galapagos, there is a special, little-known time of the year when you can travel on a top-notch boat and during the best weather/wildlife season at a great discount.
So when is this magic, sparkly time? The First Few Weeks of December.
Do a cruise on these dates and you’ll save enough money to buy Blue-Footed Booby stuffed animals for everyone in your office and a mojito for your guide on the last night of the trip.
The usual pitfalls of discount tours are subpar accommodations (that Paris hotel room you discover doesn’t have working plumbing doesn’t seem like so much of a steal once you arrive) or terrible weather (try visiting Arizona in August). But in early December, you can get a discounted trip on some of the best yachts in the Islands when the water is calm, the sun is shining, and the animals are all doing their best to impress the judges.
While the Galapagos is truly a year-round destination, the months of April, May and November are considered the very best months to visit for wildlife (check out our blog post here with all the supporting evidence). Early December isn’t actually that different from November, so you get all the perks of the summertime weather, placid seas, and strutting wildlife.
You get the great pricing because the vast majority of tourists want to travel over the holidays. They book those holiday trips waaaaaaay in advance (think 18 months to a year) and even pay extra Christmas surcharges – thus the open cruise spaces are very limited and what is available is quite pricey. So early December gets overlooked by most tourists and boat owners have a difficult time filling up their boats. To get those spots booked, discounts are thrown around like candy at a parade and you can wind up paying thousands less just by departing on December 4th instead of December 18th.
There are other perks of beating the Christmas rush too. The holidays tend to be a stressful time to travel – flights get cancelled and delays in the US, which has a ripple effect on other potential delays and headaches. If you prefer mostly adults on your small boat cruise, families almost exclusively travel over the holidays when their kids have school vacation. Quito and Guayaquil hotels are also jam-packed over the holidays. International flights tend to be pricier over the holidays which is to be expected. By traveling early, you avoid these worries and frustrations.
This year, spaces are still available (with awesome discounts) on some of our favorite Galapagos cruises including the Angelito, the Mary Anne, and the Eric Letty Flamingo.
Contact Detour if you want to know about these tours, or others with available spaces at great rates in early December 2013!
