Galapagos or Costa Rica?

[1958]

We are considering a trip (14 to 20 days) to either Costa Rica or the Galapagos in (UK) winter 2024/25 – and would welcome the community’s views on both destinations. We are experienced travellers (about 40 countries) – and we value comfort and “a good base” rather than different hotels every two nights. Our favourite recent trip was a three-centre visit to Western Australia.
So, all views welcome. Thanks.

[Notmyrealname]

Tripadvisor

We went to Galapagos on a RTW itineray.

We stayed in Airbnb’s and stopped on two of the islands for a total of around 10 days.

We did not do any cruises, just independant land based trips.

I used Avios on Iberia from MAd to get to Colombia then M&M miles to get to SCY. Avios were available too IIRC.

Have not been to Costa Rica-That’s next year 🙂

[meta]

Need @Cat to come back with her report on Equador and Galapagos. Hope she’s well as she’s not been here in a while.

[YC]

Galapagos is amazing (top 3 all time favourite holiday) if u like to get up close to the animals and snorkel/dive. I did not do it justice when I only stayed only on puerto ayora and did day trips. There is a new-ish indigo on San Cristobal which looks like a decent option if u wanted to stay there and puerto ayora. However, I do think it’s one of those places where a small cruise would be a good idea as loads of different spots that u can’t easily reach with day trips. U also don’t need to unpack and food was nothing special so not missing much on that front by going on a cruise.

[meta]

@YC How long would you recommend staying? Would a week be enough?

[YC]

Depends on how u like to travel and how crazy u are about the animals and various endemic species. Most cruises are about 7 days so that’s what I’ll try to do next time. They tend to do 2 landings/sites each day so it’s fairly action packed. Not cheap though (similar price to antartica)

[redlilly]

Galapagos, hands down. Stayed for 21 days on a 14 month career break around South America and parts of Central America, and it was absolutely fantastic. I didn’t do a cruise, and just island hopped around the 3 main islands and did day trips from each. I have had good feedback on cruises too.

Benefit of island hopping is you can make it as cheap or as expensive as you want, and e.g. you’re not stuck with people or in a berth by an engine.

There is no where else in the world that I have yet found where you can get so up close to animals in such a unique environment, or in more instances they get up close to you (given the waiver you have to sign before you board an aircraft over there stating you need to keep a distance from wildlife etc.). So memorable.

I would recommend 14 days as a minimum just to get a feel for it all. I didn’t appreciate how long the flight was, and the transit from the airports e.g. at San Cristobal, can also be quite long.

Definitely want to get back there one day.

[meta]

Many thanks. I think that’s not for next year then. I have 10 days free in January and was thinking, but I guess need to spend more time there by the sounds of it.

[Cat]

meta wrote:

Need @Cat to come back with her report on Equador and Galapagos. Hope she’s well as she’s not been here in a while.

Hi @meta, sorry I’ve been a bit rubbish of late (school has been difficult of late for various reasons). I’m well, and have made a substantial start on the trip report – I’ll try to finish it off before the end of the weekend!

[Cat]

Honestly, and I realise I’m going to be in the minority here, but I would say Costa Rica.

Don’t get me wrong (the Glasto Pretenders set might be getting to me) – the Galapagos Islands were incredible, and getting up close to the wildlife, which was *everywhere* was absolutely amazing, but for me, nothing beats the sheer craziness of the variety of wildlife I saw in Costa Rica.

I would go with Costa Rica, personally, and plan a stay at the Sirena Ranger station in the Corcovado for as long as possible. Also have a few nights in one of the ecolodges near Drake Bay. I found a fabulous place on the hillside above Drake Bay, with lots of wonderful trees down the slope from my private swimming pool. I saw all sorts (toucans, aracaris, spider monkeys) while lounging in the pool. It was just amazing.

It’s also worth combining Corcovado/Drake Bay with Manuel Antonio (if you can cope with the crowds) or Monteverde. For something more remote and less touristy try Puerto Viejo de Sarapiqui. All of the above are teeming with wildlife too.