Galapagos, June vs September
I know most do the Galapagos in the early part of the year. Due to time constraints, we can only visit during the June to September time frame. was wondering if anyone has gone during this time of the year and what the experience was.
Thanks in advance for your reply.
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We went in September 2021 and it was fine. It was part of the Tauck Peru and Galapagos tour. Here's our blog of the trip - https://www.mikeandjudytravel.com/2021-1Galapagos-01.htm
The Galapagos is on the equator so the weather is probalby the same all year long.
The major difference in the Galapagos is the water temperatures, not the air temperature (as Mike says it’s on the equator). At different times of the year the Galapagos are impacted by different currents that provide different water temperatures. I wanted them to be as warm as possible for the snorkeling. I don’t recall the exact details, but if that is an important consideration for you, then you might research water temperatures in the Galapagos - month by month.
As to water temps, the way the currents swirl around the islands, the temps can be quite a bit different from hour-to-hour, day-to-day, and island-to-island during any given period.
Like Smiling Sam, I researched water temperatures because we wanted to snorkel as much as possible. We went in May.
Here is one source I found on the web. We visited in March.
So did we.
We’ve been in March and December. The water near one particular island, I can’t recall which, in the December was freezing, even with a wet suit.
Given your time constraints, I'd choose June to minimize shrinkage.
I have done the Galapagos, albeit not via Tauck since the dates did not work, but via Celebrity on the Flora (very similar to the Silverseas ship). Beyond water conditions for snorkeling, there is seasonality to consider depending upon what you might see or want to see - mating and hatching take place during different times of the year, and also if I recall December to June is rainy season whereas September is a dry season. If that is important to you, do your research.
We, also, did the Galapagos on a Celebrity small ship the first 10 days of June. It was a great time to travel there as the weather was dry, temps were fabulous, and a lot of the leaves were off the shrubs & trees which made it easier to spot the small birds. Also, the blue-footed boobies are mating! The best time to observe this ritual dance is between June and August, which is typically their mating season. We were fortunate that we saw some of the babies in their nest too!