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South America: Galápagos Islands, Ecuador
When researching the cheapest and best way to experience the Galapagos islands on a budget we promptly discovered that information wasn't aplenty; so here's everything you need to know to do the islands on a shoestring or under $1000 USD.
Firstly, booking flights is cheapest out of Quito, a lot of travel companies and websites will tell you otherwise however if you fly with Avianca like we did you can pick up return flights from Quito to Santa Cruz for under $350, we booked 2 days prior.
When your arrive in the islands, you will need to pay $110 to enter the park, this is a standard.
If you are staying for a week or longer and aren't doing an overpriced cruise or live-aboard, the cheapest option is to choose one island to set up base and then do day trips to the surrounding islands. We chose to stay on Santa Cruz, it's a good island for backpackers as the nightlife is fun and there's a lot more young travellers on a budget whereas other islands are more accommodating to wealthy families and honeymooners.
Some hostels can be upwards of $100 a night, and hotels are out of the question if you're on a budget. The cheapest way is to find a place to rent. We rented a 4 bedroom suite for $115 (each) a week. The benefit of this; we had a fully functional kitchen, air con, comfortable beds and hot showers for less than what you would pay for a hostel for a single night.
For our first day we went to explore the Charles Darwin museum, which is a fun and free activity. Santa Cruz is easy and cheap to travel around, do not pay anymore than a single US dollar to get anywhere less than 10 minutes away. Other free activities you can do include The Highlands, beach swims with sea lions and cruising the town. There's literally animals and sea life everywhere, you just need to be patient and explore the island.
Food is one of the only things you will quickly realise is more expensive to do yourself then to go out. The cheapest feed can be found on a street corner, you can get a $5 two course meal with a drink only walking distance from pretty much anywhere.
If you are an avid diver or you just want to get the most out of the surrounding islands, you can find the cheapest day tours and diving tours at Academy Bay, located along the main strip opposite the dock, no advance booking required. As we didn't plan for a long trip we booked 3 full days of tours;
Tour 1: Isla Isabela/snorkeling
Tour 2: North Seymour 2 tank dive
Tour 3: Gordon Rocks/ Bolotome 2 tank dive
At a cost of $160 per tour per person; this included transport, breakfast, lunch and English speaking instructors and tour guides. You can not find a cheaper price than this, believe me, we tried.
On your dives you can expect to see manta rays, sharks, sea lions, turtles, hammerheads, large tropical fish and vibrantly coloured coral. However, do not be disappointed or surprised if all you see is a few fish, there's a lot of variables to consider and in the Galapagos anything can happen.
Lastly if you're looking to experience the nightlife you can't go past Bongo, they play decent music and on Thursday the ladies get free drinks! Other than this, most places will do 2 x frozen cocktails for $10 or under you just need to look out for a cheap drink menu.
The Galapagos isn't something every backpacker plans on doing, however if you're smart about your money and your willing to do your research you can experience everything they have to offer for under $1000.
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