Galápagos ferries: getting between the islands

If you travel land-based in Galápagos, sooner or later you board a lancha, one of the public speedboats that connect the inhabited islands. They are fast, loud, and famously bumpy, and since August 2026 they cost tourists twice what they did in 2025. Here is how the network works, what the new fares are, and how to get from one island to another without losing a day.

The routes (and the one that does not exist)

Puerto Ayora on Santa Cruz is the hub of the whole network:

• Santa Cruz ↔ San Cristóbal
• Santa Cruz ↔ Isabela
• Santa Cruz ↔ Floreana

There is no direct San Cristóbal ↔ Isabela service. To connect them, you transfer in Santa Cruz the same day, taking a morning leg and an afternoon leg, and the whole crossing takes 5 to 6 hours of actual travel with a wait of several hours in Puerto Ayora in between. Plan that day as a travel day, not a touring day.

The ferries connect only the inhabited islands. Everything else in the archipelago requires a cruise or a day tour, which is the structural limit of land-based travel.

Schedules

The standard pattern is two departures per day on most routes, early morning and mid-afternoon. Typical published times:

Each leg takes 2 to 2.5 hours. Two cautions on those times: they shift with season and operator, so check schedules with your operator when booking, and the morning crossing is visibly calmer than the afternoon one, because the wind picks up later in the day. If you are prone to seasickness, this is the single most useful sentence on this page: take the morning boat, and take your medication half an hour before departure.

Prices: the August 2026 increase

This is where your 2025 notes go in the bin. Resolution MIT-SPTM-2026-0126-R, in force since 11 August 2026, set official fares as:

• Regular service: US $35 for residents, US $50 for tourists.
• Special service: US $50 for residents, US $65 for tourists.
• Half price (50%) for children under 12, students, people with disabilities and adults over 65.

Older guides quoting $30-35 per leg are describing the pre-August-2026 table, when tourists paid $30 regular / $40 special. Some ticket websites still show inconsistent prices ($35, $38, $52, $60 depending on the seller); the official reference is the ministry resolution, and what each operator actually charges at the dock in September 2026 is worth confirming at the pier, since sales pages and counters have not all synchronised. Bring cash either way, plus about $1 per ride for the water taxi that carries you from the dock to the boat (about $1.50 on Isabela).

Booking and boarding

• Buy tickets a few days ahead in the high season (June-September and December-January); boats cap around 20 to 40 passengers and days of peak demand can reshuffle passengers between vessels.
• Online sellers exist, but foreign cards sometimes fail; an operator or your hotel can book for you.
• Arrive an hour before departure (some operators say 30 minutes is enough; confirm with yours). Luggage is inspected by the biosecurity agency (ABG) before boarding: no food, plants or animals.
• Boarding points: the Gus Angermeyer pier in Puerto Ayora, the Puerto Villamil pier on Isabela, and the Hammerhead Shark pier in Puerto Baquerizo Moreno.

Luggage rules (the honest answer)

The clearest published figure (operator listings current as of August-September 2026) allows one large suitcase of up to 20 kg plus one backpack of up to 5 kg per passenger, with excess or oversized bags attracting a dock surcharge of $10-15 depending on size and weight. Some seller pages still quote 21 kg + 8 kg or 23 kg + a personal bag, and enforcement in practice is loose but occasional — soft duffels beat hard cases, and confirming with your operator before you pack remains the move.

Isabela’s arrival fee

When you step off the ferry on Isabela, you pay a local fee: $10 for foreigners, $6 for Ecuadorians. It is not charged on Santa Cruz or San Cristóbal. Budget it, carry small bills, and do not confuse it with the national park fee you paid on landing, which is a separate charge: see the entry fee guide for how the two differ.

Ferry or plane between islands?

Emetebe flies small planes between Baltra, San Cristóbal and Isabela. It saves time and the views are good, but capacity is tiny and fares per leg run well above the ferry. For one-way trips, most land travellers just take the ferry; for tight itineraries where a ferry day cannot be spared, ask us about flight availability. Either way, the ferry network’s limits are one of the reasons remote islands require a cruise: see cruise vs land-based for how that shapes the choice. And if you are still deciding which airport to arrive at, that decision lives in Baltra vs San Cristóbal.

Last verified: September 2026