Galápagos in December
December is the hinge of the Galápagos year. The dry season hands over to the warm, wet one somewhere in the middle of the month, the water warms week by week, and the wildlife switches sides: green turtles are mating in the shallows while the first giant tortoise hatchlings of the season break out of their eggs.
Weather in December
Days average around 27 °C, nights about 22 °C. The garúa is finished; skies clear, the sun gets serious again, and by late month the first proper rains of the warm season often arrive. Those first rains matter more than they sound: they green up the arid zone and trigger the land birds to start breeding.
Humidity climbs with the temperature. It is the beginning of the pattern that makes February and March the warmest months of the year.
The sea in December
The sea is calm, back to the November pattern and improving as the month goes on. Water reaches around 23 °C by operator averages, with satellite surface readings at Puerto Ayora averaging about 24.6 °C and still climbing into the new year. Snorkelers who found the dry season bracing can drop the wetsuit debate; many are comfortable without one by now, though the west side of the archipelago stays cooler.
Visibility continues the improvement that began in November. The warm Panama current, not the Humboldt, is setting the water’s character now.
Wildlife in December
December’s calendar is a handover:
- Green turtles are in courtship and mating in the calm shallows, the peak of their season.
- Giant tortoise eggs begin to hatch, a season that runs December through April. In the wild the tiny hatchlings dig out of the nest and start the long walk; in the breeding centers, the season’s cohort is easy to see.
- Waved albatross juveniles fledge and abandon Española; by month’s end the colony has emptied, and the birds stay at sea until spring.
- Marine iguanas on Española shift toward their breeding colors.
- With the first rains, Darwin’s finches and other land birds get restless and start to display.
Sea lion pups from the August–November births are by now semi-independent teenagers of the rookery, and the year’s youngest are finished being born.
Who December suits (and who it doesn’t)
Early December suits almost everyone: calm sea, warming water, wildlife in transition, and prices that haven’t yet caught the holiday wave. It is one of the smartest value windows in the calendar. Late December is a different animal: Christmas week is peak season, boats fill months ahead, and the park’s trails and the airports feel it.
Avoid late December if crowds or prices bother you; that is not negotiable, it is simply when everyone travels. And if you specifically want hatching tortoises, any December through April works.
Booking advice for December
Book early December months ahead for the best boats; for Christmas and New Year weeks, book the previous season or expect leftovers. The fixed arrival costs apply regardless of date: $200 park fee for foreign adults plus the $20 transit card, both laid out in our guide to entry fees.
January runs the warm season at full speed; see Galápagos in January. November sets the calm-water pattern December continues; read Galápagos in November. For the last of the cold water and the year’s quietest trails, Galápagos in October is the month before the turn.
Last verified: September 2026