Tour Operator in Galapagos

Internships are possible with a local tour operator in the island of Santa Cruz to advise travellers, create itineraries and create content for their website. The office has five personnel working.

Project Details

The tour operator, based in Puerto Ayora on Santa Cruz, organizes day trips, accommodation and multi-day programs in the Galápagos Islands.

The founders and owners are a couple, the man comes from Galapagos and the woman from the United States, and living in Galapagos since 2008.

Individual programs can be compiled for tourists from around the world with activities such as beach holidays, game viewing and outdoor adventure in all the islands of the archipelago.

The small tour operator prefers to work with local restaurants, hotels and transport providers. There are three other employees in the office.

Your responsibilities include advising enquirers and customers, compiling travel histories, creating content for the website and social media, helping out with tours and travel services and communications and translations in your language.

Spanish is spoken at the office, but English is usually used to communicate with clients. The duration of stay is 1-6 months.

Info Box

Location: Santa Cruz Island, Galapagos
Availability: All year, Start date flexible
Minimum Duration: 1 Month

Maximum Duration: 6 Months
Language Requirements: Basic Spanish
Accommodation:
Hostel

Supervision Possible: Yes
Qualification Of Supervisor: Travel agent
Minimum Qualification Of Intern:
Relevant studies or experience
Further Contribution To Project: None

Volunteering Possible: No
Required Qualification For Volunteer: -
Further Contribution To Project: -
Expectations:
-

Accommodation

Accommodation in Galapagos

House in Puerto Baquerizo Moreno:

The house for interns and volunteers in Puerto Baquerizo Moreno on San Cristobal, is located two blocks from Boulevard and 2 minutes walk from the beach "Playa Man".

It has 5 dormitories with 2 sets of bunk beds. Each room has a private bathroom and air conditioning. There is hot water. The house has a fully equipped self-catering kitchen and a common room. Bed linen and towels are provided. A cleaner comes multiple times a week.

This accommodation is suitable for any project in the town of Puerto Baquerizo Moreno.

Accommodation in Project:

For projects on th either islands of Galápagos, accommodation will be provided there - e.g. at an organic farm. Please refer to the details of the project and photographs to know more.

Rate

Internships and Volunteering options differ in the way they are priced.

Rates for Internships

a) World Unite! Service-Paket

Mobile/Cell Phone Users: If you don't see the rates for your desired duration of stay, hide other (shorter) durations of stay.

		up to 90 Days	91-180 Days	6 Months or longer
	1 Person	800 EUR	1000 EUR	1200 EUR
	2-4 Persons (Rate per Person)	700 EUR	800 EUR	1000 EUR

Convert rates to USD, GBP, CAD, AUD and other currencies

The World Unite! Service Package includes:

Individual Consultation and Preparation prior to your arrival
Access to the World Unite! Online Resource Centre which has Preparation Materials including Intercultural Preparation, compiled particularly for your destination (PDFs, Videos)
Preparation Session via Skype, together with further participants
Application for the Registration in Quito if you want to stay for more than 90 days in Galapagos (takes around one week during which you have to stay in Quito prior to travelling to Galapagos)
Pick-up and Transfers from/to San Cristobal (SCY) or Balta/Seymore Airport (GPS) on arrival and departure
Personal support staff at your location and at our international office
Orientation and Introduction at your location
Accompanying you to your placement on your first day
Local SIM Card with 10 USD air time
Issuance of Confirmations/Certificates for your university, scholarship, insurance, etc. and filling out/signing Internship Contracts for your university
Costs for 10 seedlings of indigenous trees that we plant on the slopes of Kilimanjaro

The Rates do NOT include:

Accommodation and Meals (see below)
Travel to/from Galapagos (you book it on your own; we can assist you)
Migration Card and National Park fee (see below)
Insurance (Travel Health Insurance, Liability Insurance, Travel Cancellation insurance; you book it on your own, we can assist you)
Personal Expenses
Vaccinations
Local Transport (Estimated amounts see below)

b) Accommodation Costs

Mobile/Cell Phone Users: If you don't see the rates for your desired duration of stay, hide other (shorter) durations of stay.

All Rates in US-Dollar! Convert Currency		Short-time stay (1-31 Days)	Long-time stay (32-365 Days) (You pay proportionnaly per day)
House in Puerto Baquerizo Moreno
House Shared with other participants	Per Person (Dorm Room)	-	300-350 USD/Month

For incomplete months you will pay the exact amount proportionally per day.
In case of 3-4 person: Same rate as in case of 2 Persons. 5 or more persons: Contact us for group rates.

Rates for Volunteering

1 Week - 1270 EUR (incl. flights Quito-Galapagos-Quito)

Any additional week 180 EUR (max. 12 weeks)

The Rates for Volunteering include:

Flight from Quito to Galapagos and back
Accommodation in Galapagos (without meals)
Accommodation in Quito, if flight to Galapagos leaves on a Sunday instead of Saturday
Pick-up and Transfers from/to San Cristobal (SCY) or Balta/Seymore Airport (GPS), depending on location of your volunteering, on arrival and departure
Access to the World Unite! Online Resource Centre which has Preparation Materials including Intercultural Preparation, compiled particularly for your destination (PDFs, Videos)
Preparation Session via Skype, together with further participants
Individual Consultation and Preparation prior to your arrival
Accompanying you to your placement on your first day
Donation to your project

The Rate DON'T include

Meals (when volunteering on farms some agricultural produce is provided at no additional cost)
Travel to and from Ecuador (you book it on your own)
Migration Card and National Park Fees (see below)
Insurance (Travel Health Insurance, Liability Insurance, Travel Cancellation insurance; you book it on your own, we can assist you)
Personal Expenses
Vaccinations
Local Transport (Estimated amounts see below)
If you arrive at GYE (Guayaquil) instead of Quito, we can book you accommodation and a connecting flight for 75 USD
Arrival outside of regular office hours and public holidays + 25 USD
Major change after initial booking + 30 EUR

Overview of other costs:

Migration Card 10 USD
National Park Fee 100 USD
If meals are not included: around 100-200 EUR (120 USD)/Month (Estimate)
Small local expenses (Internet, Local transport): around 20-40 EUR (30-50 USD)/Month (Estimate)
Insurance 20-40 EUR(30-50 USD)/Month

How do I pay?

Once all your questions have been answered and you confirm that you want to participate, we will email you an invoice. You can pay it via bank transfer, credit card or via Paypal. You will pay a deposit of 200 EUR / 250 USD when the invoice is issued. One months prior to your arrival you will pay the remainder for your Service Package.

The payment modalities for rent and possible further costs (e.g. internship supervision fees, as stated in info box of the respective project description) depend on your host country and placement. We will inform you beforehand. In many cases these costs are paid on site, but for some countries and placements they need to be paid partially or fully in advance.

Extras

Other Projects That Might Interest You:

These projects are suggestions for alternatives that may interest you or those that could be chosen as COMBINATIONS. The combination of projects in different organizations is often possible and usually cheaper than two individual bookings. Please contact us to know more! Check out our other listings in the areas of "World Learner" and "Active Travel" at your travel destination to make your stay even more interesting.

Learning Spanish in Galapagos!

A basic knowledge of Spanish is required for projects in Galápagos. Before the start of your project, you can take lessons in Quito, Ecuador or in Puerto Baquerizo Moreno on San Cristobal Island, Galapagos. The lessons are for 20 hours per week.

Group Lessons and Accommodation in Student House:

EUR	Quito
1 Week	230
2 Weeks	440
3 Weeks	640
4 Weeks	840

Individual Lessons and Accommodation in Student House:

EUR	Quito	Galapagos
1 Week	280	495
2 Weeks	520	890
3 Weeks	740	1290
4 Weeks	970	1690

Check "Language Training Required" in the registration form, specifying your desired duration (minimum of 20 hours for one week).

Travel Health Insurance

We recommend the following travel insurance that is meant specifically for participants of internships, volunteering, language study, working holiday, and courses abroad. It is available for travelers of all nationalities and usable for all countries, except your home country. You can also add a journey liability insurance.

Just click on the link, fill in the form and you will get a confirmation email.

Galapagos

Santa Cruz

The Santa Cruz Island, after Isabela, is the second largest but most populated island of the Galapagos archipelago. On the 800 meter high volcanic island, there are several villages where farmers mainly live. The population is about 15,000 people. The capital of the island is Puerto Ayora and had 12,000 inhabitants, the largest city of the archipelago. There are several banks, schools, hotels, shops and entertainment. Tortuga Bay is one of the main attractions of the island for tourists. The airport of Santa Cruz is located on the adjoining northern tip of Baltra Island (Seymour Airport - GPS) with daily flights to Quito, Guayaquil and the neighboring island of San Cristobal). From Puerto Ayora there are ferries to the neighboring populated islands San Cristobal and Isabela. The airport can be reached by taking a bus from Puerto Ayora to Itabaca channel (only 400 meters wide), there is then a ferry and then you continue by bus to the airport.

In Santa Cruz, we have assignments on an organic farm in rural areas (farming, rural tourism) and Tourism Internships in the town of Puerto Ayora.

San Cristobal

The island of San Cristobal consists of 3-4 coalesced volcanoes with a height of up to 730 meters. On it, live about 10,000 people. Puerto Baquerizo Moreno, the capital of Galapagos, is located on the southwest tip of the island. The city has about 7000 inhabitants, the second largest city of the Galapagos Islands to Puerto Ayora and has an airport (SCY), which is connected to Quito, Guayaquil and the neighboring island of Santa Cruz. Fishing and tourism are the main activities of the inhabitants of the city.

On San Cristobal we offer internships (National Park Service), Spanish language classes in Puerto Baquerizo Moreno and placements on an organic farm in rural areas (farming, rural tourism).

Isabela

Isabela is the largest island and about four times as big as Santa Cruz. The island is particularly known for its animal life. It is less populated than Santa Cruz and San Cristobal; the largest village is called Puerto Villamil and is located on the southeastern tip, opposite of Santa Cruz. With about 2200 inhabitants, it is the third largest city in the Galapagos archipelago.

The temperatures of the coastal resorts on Galapagos remain throughout the year between 19 degrees minimum and 30 degrees maximum.

Isabela is a part of our 24-days Voluntourism program (the volunteering work is found on Santa Cruz and San Cristobal).

Getting There

Getting To Galapagos

For Internships, book your flights to Galápagos. For projects on the island of San Cristobal, you can fly to SCY (San Cristobal) and for Santa Cruz you can fly to GPS (Baltra/Seymore Airport).

For Volunteering, the flight from Quito to Galápagos is already included in the price, so you book your tickets to Quito (Mariscal Sucre International Airport, UIO). Your volunteering assignment starts on Saturdays in Quito.

Alternatively, if you find a much cheaper flight to Guayaquil (GYE), we can book a stay and a connecting flight from there to Galapagos (costs around 75 USD extra). Please note that if you arrive during holidays, a surcharge of 25 USD is applicable for working outside hours.

You will be picked up regardless of which airport you arrive at.