The Galápagos for travellers who don't swim

Two of the eight Galápagos days involve getting in the water. The other six do not, and they are not the lesser ones.

This question comes up more than you would think, and the usual answer — "there's plenty to do on land" — is too vague to act on. So here is the actual count, day by day.

In short

• Snorkelling appears on two island days of our fifteen-day Ecuador route
• The tortoises, the iguanas, the lava tunnels, the volcanoes and the beaches are all on land
• The trip is land-based — you sleep on the islands, not on a boat
• You will still be on boats between islands, which is a different question from swimming
• A maximum of 12 travellers, and nobody is counting who got in

Day seven — marine wildlife and clear water. After time among the frigatebirds on the rocky shores, the day continues in the water with mask and snorkel, exploring the seabed and the underwater life.

Day thirteen — the 180° marine voyage, the finale of the islands, which again includes snorkelling before the farewell dinner.

Those are the two. On both, the surface activity — the birds, the coastline, the boat itself — is real and worth being there for, and there is somewhere to be while others are in the water.

What we will not pretend is that you lose nothing. Galápagos snorkelling is genuinely extraordinary — sea lions come and look at you, and turtles pass underneath. If you are able to swim and are merely nervous, this is the trip to get over it on: the water is warm, clear and calm, and you are with a guide.

And this is the part that decides it. The Galápagos is famous for animals that do not run away, and most of them are on land.

Day six — first steps in the islands. Volcanic landscape meeting the ocean at San Cristóbal.

Day eight — the giant tortoises. The single most photographed encounter in the archipelago, entirely on foot.

Day nine — volcanic islets and marine life, seen from a boat.

Day ten — Isabela's volcanic landscapes, on land.

Day eleven — the lava tunnels and turquoise water, walked.

Day twelve — wild beaches, with sea lions and marine iguanas at close range on the sand.

Add the five Andean days before the islands — Quito, the Quilotoa crater, Cotopaxi, Otavalo — and the great majority of the trip has nothing to do with swimming.

Worth separating, because people who say "I don't swim" sometimes mean "I'm not comfortable on the water", and those need different answers.

You will be on boats. The islands are islands: day trips between them are by small boat, and there is a marine voyage on the last full day. That is unavoidable on any Galápagos trip, land-based or otherwise.

What you avoid by going land-based is sleeping on one. Our route puts you in hotels on the islands, so there is no cabin, no sailing at night, and — the part travellers notice most — no seasickness, which is the commonest complaint about the cruise format.

Getting in and out of small boats is the practical demand: a step down, sometimes onto a wet landing. If that is difficult, say so before you book.

Galápagos: cruise or land-based sets the two formats out in full.

Yes, if what you want is to stand a metre from a giant tortoise, a marine iguana or a sea lion that has no interest in moving. That is the Galápagos, and it happens on land.

Think harder if the underwater world is the specific reason you were going. Six good land days do not replace it, and we would rather say that than sell you the trip.

Tell your specialist before you book. Not because it changes anything about the itinerary, but because the guide knowing means the two water days are arranged around you rather than in spite of you.

The wider trip is set out in Ecuador for first-time South America travellers — fifteen days, seven full days in the islands, a maximum of 12 travellers, land-only, on guaranteed departures.