Tip Top Fleet

Tip Top Fleet

Overview

Quick Info
Price: From USD 1790 Days: 5 and 8 days Ship:Tip Top (I, II, III) Place: Galapagos Islands.
Overview
The Tip Top II is specially designed and built to accommodate 16 guests in comfortable cabins. The 16 guests are accommodated in 9 cabins, each with private bathroom. The six cabins in the Lower Deck have two single lower berths. In the Upper Deck we have 2 cabins with two single lower berths and one cabin one double lower berth. Cabins, bar, dinning room and lounge are fully carpeted for your comfort. A beautiful teak floored sun deck creates a delightful place for resting and relaxing on board. The Tip Top III is specially designed and built to accommodate 16 guests in comfortable cabins. The 16 guests are accommodated in 9 cabins, each with private bathroom. With 100 feet of length, 22 feet of beam and a 5 feet Draft, the Tip Top III is a very comfortable, well known yacht in the Galapagos Islands. The 16 guests are accommodated in 10 cabins, each with private bathroom. Four of the cabins in the Lower Deck have two single lower berths and two of the cabins have double lower berth and one single upper berth. In the Upper Deck we have four cabins with one double lower berths and one single lower berth. Cabins, bar, dinning room and lounge are fully carpeted for your comfort. A beautiful teak floored sun deck creates a delightful place for resting and relaxing on board. With our highly trained professional crew on board, twin main engines, twin electric generators, twin Radars, Eco-sounders and GPS, Reverse Osmosis Water Maker, all the coastguard required safety equipment and twelve knot cruising speed, the Tip Top III ensure safe cruising around the Galapagos Islands. The Captain, Multilingual guide, Engineer, International cook, Barman, waitress and two sailors will be at your service. Our relatively numerous crew on board will ensure the best personal service to all of our guests. The Tip Top IV is a First Class Steel-hulled Motor Yacht, built to impeccably high standard in Guayaquil/Ecuador in 2006. The Tip Top IV is specially designed and built to accommodate 16 guests in comfortable cabins. The 16 guests are accommodated in 10 cabins, each with private bathroom. All cabins, six in the Lower Deck and four in the upper deck have two single lower berths that may be transformed in a king size bed and the cabins in the lower deck can be transformed in familiar suites by interconnecting doors. Cabins, Bar and lounge are fully carpeted for your comfort. A beautiful teak floored sun deck and dinning room creates a delightful place for resting and relaxing on board. With our highly trained professional crew on board, twin main engines, twin electric generators, twin Radars, Eco-sounders and GPS, Reverse Osmosis Water Maker, all the coastguard required safety equipment and twelve knot cruising speed, the Tip Top IV ensure safe cruising around the Galapagos Islands. The Captain, Multilingual guide, Engineer, International cook, Barman, waitress and two sailors will be at your service. Our relatively numerous crew on board will ensure the best personal service to all of our guests. Availability is subject to change without notice. To subscribe to our Availability Weekly Update, please enter your email address here. You will receive weekly updates.

PRICE 2010 (USD)
TIP TOP II
REGULAR CRUISES	5 DAYS/4 NIGHT		8 DAYS/7 NIGHTS
OCCUPANCY	DOUBLE	SINGLE	DOUBLE	SINGLE
Cabins 1 to 6	1790	2685	2506	3759
Cabins 7 and 8	n/a	2910	n/a	4074
Cabins 9 and 10	1940	2910	2716	4074
Charter 16 pax max	25 776		40 096
TIP TOP III
REGULAR CRUISES	5 DAYS/4 NIGHT		8 DAYS/7 NIGHTS
OCCUPANCY	DOUBLE	SINGLE	DOUBLE	SINGLE
Cabins 1 to 6	1940	2910	2761	4074
Cabins 7 and 8	n/a	3135	n/a	4389
Cabins 9 and 10	2090	3135	2926	4389
Charter 16 pax max	27 936		43 456
TIP TOP IV
REGULAR CRUISES	5 DAYS/4 NIGHT		8 DAYS/7 NIGHTS
OCCUPANCY	DOUBLE	SINGLE	DOUBLE	SINGLE
Cabins 1 to 6	2090	3135	2926	4389
Cabins 7 to 10	2240	3360	3136	4704
Charter 16 pax max	30 096		46 816

◊ PRICE INCLUDES

All meals
Transfers in the islands
All shore excursions with an English speaking naturalist guide

PRICE DOES NOT INCLUDE

US$100 Galapagos National Park entrance fee
US$10 Transit Control Card
Fuel Surcharge
Airfare from mainland Ecuador
Bottled beverages
Gratuities
Cancellation/medical insurance

FRIDAY: BALTRA – NORTH SEYMOUR

Arrive at Baltra Airport – Galapagos Islands.
The flight from Quito to the Galapagos Islands takes approximately 2.5 hours. Upon arrival at Baltra Airport, you will be met by your guides, who will escort you on a short bus ride to the harbor.

North Seymour is a low, flat island that was uplifted from the sea by underground seismic activity. Located North of Baltra, this is one of the best places to see Blue footed Boobies and Magnificent Frigatebirds. Blue footed Boobies are found on the flat area near the coast of this island (they nest from May to November). Continuing the trail to the interior, one stumbles upon the biggest congregation of Magnificent Frigatebirds in the islands. While on North Seymour, there is a high chance of seeing a great show of acrobatic flight, namely a frigatebird robbing a booby, a gull or even another frigatebird of their food.

SATURDAY: DARWIN BAY - PRINCE PHILIPS STEPS

Galapagos Travel Pioneer Journeys

Darwin Bay Beach is filled with frigate birds and their bustling activity. Along the trail are pairs of Swallow-tailed Gulls, the only nocturnal gulls in the world and Red footed Boobies, with their contrasting red feet and blue bills. Lava gulls, Yellow Crowned and Lava Herons, whimbrels and other birds feed near the shores of a tidal lagoon just beyond the rocky edge that faces the bay.

At Prince Philip’s Steps, you climb to a plateau that is part of the stretch of land that surrounds Darwin Bay on its eastern side. Here you will stumble upon an incredible number of Masked Boobies and Red Footed Boobies. The path passes through a dry "Palo Santo" forest and comes out on the eastern side of the island. Here you will see literally thousands of Storm Petrels flying all over, along the extensive lava fields. If you are lucky, you will get a chance to see the Short-eared Owl hunting down the more inexperienced petrels alongside the cliffs. The water inside the bay is very rich in nutrients.

SUNDAY: FERNANDINA

It is a narrow point of land, more like lava and sand, extending out from the base of Fernandina Volcano. Here what seems to be black rocks are really thick marine iguanas sunning themselves and care must be taken not to step on them. You may spot penguins, Sea lions, a flightless Cormorant nesting colony, lava fields, pioneering plants, clumbs of lava cactus.

MONDAY: URBINA BAY - ELIZABETH BAY

Urbina Bay is noteworthy because it is an area that was elevated from sea level in the 1950s during the eruption of Alcedo volcano. A part of the shoreline was raised more than 4 meters and now the visitor can walk on what was once the sea floor, Ecuador Pioneer Journeys

and see the dried corals and remains of a variety of mollusks and other sea organisms that were stranded by the sudden uplift. In the midst of this bizarre setting where the sea became land, massive marine iguanas wander around along with drowsy flightless cormorants and, in the wet season, giant tortoises.

Elizabeth Bay is one of the farthest points a Galapagos cruise will visit. After a dinghy or kayak ride around two islets called the Marielas, where penguins, Flightless Cormorants, herons and Blue footed Boobies can be seen, it is possible to go into a sheltered cove, a marvelous mangrove ecosystem that is a refuge for sea turtles and rays.

TUESDAY: CORMORANT POINT - POST OFFICE BAY

At Punta Cormorant the landing is on a beach with green olivine sand. On a brackish lagoon, long, skinny-legged flamingoes wade through the water, sifting shrimp with their curved bills. White-cheeked Pintail Ducks, stilts, and other shorebirds feed along with the flamingoes.

Galapagos Islands Travel

The trail then goes over a hill to a blindingly white beach consisting of ground coral. This coral is so soft and fine that it gives the sensation of walking on flour. The beach is a nesting area for Green Sea Turtles. In the waters of the bay, accompanying the turtles, are Stingrays and White-tipped Reef Sharks swimming where the waves break and visible from the shore.

Post Office Bay is a historical site because of a wooden barrel that was put there in the 18th century by a group of whalers. From that time, tourists and seamen have used it as a post office. Visitors sift through the pile of postcards and letters deposited inside the barrel, and if they find one that they can deliver personally to its destination, they take it with them

WEDNESDAY: PUNTA SUAREZ - GARDNER BAY

Punta Suárez is one of the most popular and attractive visits of the Galapagos. The quantity and variety of wildlife on this site are remarkable and because it is one of the most isolated islands in the archipelago, it has a high proportion of endemic Galapagos Ecuador Pioneer

fauna. The blowhole, a fissure in the lava where water spurts high in the air like a geyser or watching Waved Albatrosses (up to 1 m high) take off is another unforgettable moment. Unique Waved Albatross nesting place in the world, nesting Blue footed boobies and Masked boobies, Galapagos Hawks, Darwin finches, Swallow-tailed gulls, Española Mockingbirds, Shorebirds, Galapagos Doves, Redbilled Tropicbirds, Marine iguanas, Lava lizards, Sea lions. Swimming, snorkeling.

Gardner Bay offers a great possibility for the visitor to enjoy some beach time in the Galápagos. At the ample beach you can walk and watch sea lions, or just lie down and relax. Or you can go swimming and snorkeling. The rocks in front of the beach are excellent snorkeling sites. A short dinghy ride away from Gardner Bay is Isla Tortuga. This is another fantastic place for snorkeling.

THURSDAY: CHARLES DARWINGSTATION – SANTA CRUZ HIGHLANDS

Charles Darwin Research Station and in the highland you will see a green landscape, Scalesia trees, Twin Craters, Flycatchers, Short-eared Owls and Galapagos Doves. Lagoons where Flamingos feed and on the top of Dragon Hill, Land Iguanas nesting. Tortuga Bay is considered by many to be the most beautiful beach in the Galapagos and Whale Bay is a navigational and historical landmark going back to the days of pirates and whalers.

From Puerto Ayora you go by bus to a picturesque restaurant in the highlands of Santa Cruz where you will have a delicious meal. The green landscape of this area is a welcome contrast with the more arid scenery of the smaller, lower islands. Afterwards you will visit the famed lava tunnels, a fun and geologically informative visit. The trip to the highlands ends with a visit to the Twin Craters.

FRIDAY: PUERTO AYORA - BALTRA

Departure from Baltra Airport

Photo Gallery

Galapagos Land Cruises, Daphne