TripAdvisor Galapagos

Galapagos Cruise: Anahi Catamaran

We did a 10-night tour on the first class Anahi and we thought it was a terrific boat.

It accommodates 16 passengers, in addition to the crew. We wanted to be in a smaller group and we believe this was definitely a good choice.

They offer four cruise itineraries, two 7-nights itineraries (A2 and B2, see the Anahi link below) and two 3-night itineraries (A1 and B1). We did the A1 and B1 itineraries, which did not overlap (be careful because some of them do), which seemed to be the best ones, and which were in any case wonderful.

The itinerary was carefully thought out and was wonderful. Every morning and afternoon we had a full schedule of one or two activities that were usually hikes or snorkeling, but that also included visits to nature centers and optional kayaking. Every evening before dinner we were briefed on the activities for the next day so that we could prepare ourselves mentally and bring proper clothes and footwear. We were able to visit some very remote locations including on Fernandina and the west side of Isabel. The only major islands we missed were Santa Fe and Genovesa; we definitely had the feeling that we saw almost everything there was to see in Galapagos. Long-distance traveling between islands was done mostly at night so as not to take time away from sightseeing during the day, but occasionally we traveled during the day to see whales and dolphins or when the schedule made this unavoidable.

The boat has been operating for many years and therefore it has the right to visit some select locations that we were told newer boats do not because access licenses are limited. There were several places we visited where we saw only two other boats and there was one place where we were the only boat, so this seems believable.

The food was very good and plentiful. We are adventurous about food, and unfortunately the food on any group tour is going to suffer from a lowest common denominator quality, but we were nevertheless happy. Every meal included meat and fish. All hot dishes were thoroughly cooked. There was always an excellent selection of salads, though some of them became repetitive, and occasionally there were local dishes served. A couple of times when the schedule and weather permitted we had a barbecue on the deck. We would have liked to eat more local dishes, particularly fresh seafood and cevices, and some rare or less cooked options, but tour operators have to be cautious because they can run into finicky passengers. A couple of times we got the other passengers together and had the captain buy for us gigantic lobsters at the markets on shore. Then the chef grilled them for us and we were out of our minds with happiness.

The layout of the boat is excellent. One of our favorite features was that the windows are fairly large and can be opened. We traveled in September, the coolest month, and always slept with the windows open. There are two suites which are huge and nice, but have the disadvantage that the windows open onto an upper walkway that is not heavily used, but still you do not have full privacy if you open the windows, and actually we’re not even sure that the windows in the suites could be opened at all. In the ordinary rooms the windows open directly onto the water, so they can be left open all night, when getting out of the shower, etc… without privacy concerns. Most other boats that we saw either had windows that didn’t open, or they opened onto a walkway so you wouldn’t have full privacy, or in some luxury boats they opened onto a balcony, but the balcony might not be fully private and even if it were you might not want one between your window and the water. It was great to wake up in the morning or even the middle of the night and just stick our heads or cameras out. Most boats seemed to have rooms that were accessed from outside by an outer walkway. Our rooms were accessed indoors by a central hallway, which was much better, imo.