Cachalote Explorer
A classic steel-hulled yacht with something almost nobody else has: real single berths, sold without a double supplement. Sixteen guests, eight cabins, four routes.
Single berths
Several cabins carry a single bed sold as a single. Solo travellers stop paying for two.
The salon
Seventeen by thirty-five feet of indoor space, which is a lot on an eighty-eight foot hull.
Gear included
Wetsuits and snorkel equipment are in the fare, not rented on the first morning.
Built for people travelling alone
Cachalote Explorer is a classic first class motor vessel with a steel hull: eighty-eight feet, sixteen guests, eight knots. Not the fastest or the newest boat in the fleet, and it does not pretend to be. The salon measures seventeen and a half by thirty-five feet, which is where you actually spend the hours between landings on a boat this size.
The cabin layout is the reason to look at her. Instead of eight identical doubles, the configurations vary: queens, doubles, and a number of single berths that are sold as singles. On a boat where the solo supplement is usually eighty per cent or more, that difference can be worth a thousand dollars a week. Wetsuits and snorkel gear are included, which is the other line that quietly changes the comparison.
At a glance
The eastern loop, day by day
Arrival, highlands and the research station
Met at Baltra, then straight up into the Santa Cruz highlands to find giant tortoises in the wild. The Charles Darwin Station in the afternoon: the breeding programme for tortoises and land iguanas, and the interpretation centre.
South Plaza and Santa Fe
Two uplifted islands separated by a channel, with tall Opuntia cactus, land and marine iguanas, and a sea lion bachelor colony on the cliffs. Santa Fe in the afternoon has its own endemic land iguana.
Witch Hill, El Junco and the Galapaguera
A volcanic cone above a white sand beach full of sea lions and boobies, then up to El Junco at seven hundred metres — the only freshwater lagoon in the archipelago — and the Galapaguera, where tortoises live in their own habitat.
Gardner Bay, the islets and Suarez Point
White sand and sea lion colonies, snorkeling off Gardner and Osborn islets with reef sharks and turtles, then Suarez Point: the waved albatross, Galapagos hawks, boobies and the blowhole.
Cormorant Point, Devil’s Crown and Post Office Bay
Two beaches of different colours and a lagoon with flamingos, then snorkeling inside a submerged volcano eroded into a crown. The afternoon is human history: the wooden mail barrel that has worked since the whalers.
Dragon Hill and Sullivan Bay
Flamingo lagoons and Palo Santo on the northwest of Santa Cruz, then Sullivan Bay: a hundred-year-old lava field with pahoehoe formations you can walk across.
El Barranco and Darwin Bay
Tower Island: a flooded caldera acting as a natural harbour. The short-eared owl hunts on the lava at El Barranco, and the cliffs at Darwin Bay hold thousands of frigatebirds and red-footed boobies.
Daphne Mayor and farewell
A circumnavigation of the tuff cone where Peter and Rosemary Grant spent twenty years watching Darwin’s finches change in real time, then the transfer to Baltra.
Landing sites are set by the National Park and can shift with conditions or park scheduling. The guide adjusts the day; the islands do not take requests.
Four ways to sail her
- Tower — 8 days, Wednesday to Wednesday. The route above: the Plazas, Santa Fe, San Cristobal, Espanola, Floreana, Santiago, Genovesa and Daphne.
- Fernandina — 8 days, Wednesday to Wednesday. The volcanic west: Chinese Hat, Rabida, Sierra Negra, Punta Moreno, Elizabeth Bay, Urbina Bay, Tagus Cove, Fernandina, Puerto Egas and Bartolome.
- Hood — 6 days, Friday to Wednesday. San Cristobal, Espanola, Floreana, Santiago and Genovesa, finishing at Daphne Mayor.
- Isabela — 6 days, Friday to Wednesday. Starts with a speedboat crossing to Puerto Villamil, then Punta Moreno, Elizabeth Bay, Urbina Bay, Tagus Cove, Fernandina, Santiago and Bartolome.
Tower and Fernandina divide the archipelago between them, so back to back they cover almost everything. If you only get one: Tower carries Genovesa and Espanola, the two islands a day tour cannot reach; Fernandina carries Sierra Negra and the westernmost island in the chain. The Isabela route begins with an afternoon speedboat from Santa Cruz to Puerto Villamil rather than boarding at Baltra — worth knowing when you plan the arrival day.
What the price covers
Included
- Accommodation on board
- All meals
- Every excursion on the itinerary
- Naturalist guides
- Wetsuits
- Snorkel equipment
Not included
- National Park entrance fee
- Migratory control card — USD 20
- Flights to and from the Galapagos
- Bottled and alcoholic drinks on board
- Travel and cancellation insurance
- Gratuities and personal expenses
The wetsuit being included matters more than it sounds on the western routes, where the Cromwell current keeps the water cold enough that most people give up snorkeling without one. Ask us for the current park fee when you write — it is paid in cash on arrival and it has changed recently.
Where you sleep
Eight cabins across two decks, and no two are quite the same. Two on the upper deck combine a queen with single berths; the six on the lower deck run from a queen on its own to pairs of singles. Cabins three and eight are two singles, which is what makes this boat work for people travelling alone or with a friend rather than a partner. Tell us who is travelling and we will tell you which cabins fit.
Meals on board
All meals are covered and served in the salon, which doubles as the briefing room and the place the group ends up after dinner. Bottled and alcoholic drinks are charged separately. Tell us about dietary needs before you sail rather than on the first evening.
Is this your boat?
Book it if
- You are travelling alone and refuse to pay a double supplement
- You are two friends who would rather have separate beds than a queen
- You want the wetsuit and snorkel gear inside the fare
- A classic first class yacht is enough boat — the islands are the point
Choose another cruise if
- You came to dive — this is a naturalist cruise, not a dive boat
- You want a balcony, a suite or a jacuzzi
- Eight knots feels slow — faster boats exist in this class
- You need a published price before you enquire
Also good for solo travellers: the Elite and the Ocean Spray, both with a single cabin. Want the longest route in the fleet? The Letty runs nine days. Came for the sharks instead? See our Galapagos diving cruises.
Ask us for a quote
Four routes run on the Cachalote Explorer, of six and eight days, and the rate depends on which berth you take. Tell us your dates and who is travelling, and we come back with what is open and the full cost with fees included.