Active Ecuador: hiking volcanoes & diving in the Galapagos

Itinerary in brief: 

• 2 nights Quito
• 1 night Puembo
• 1 night Cotopaxi
• 1 night Banos
• 1 night Puembo
• 7 nights Galapagos dive cruise

Day 1: UK to Quito

Depart the UK from your chosen airport. You'll arrive in Quito later the same day, where you'll be met at the airport and driven to your hotel, checking in for two nights. 

Included: International flights, transfers, 4* hotel 

Day 2: Quito 

Spend the day exploring Quito - you'll be picked up by your guide to discover the highlights of the city centre. Stroll through Independence Square where can admire the statues and architecture before wandering through Old Town. Here you can gaze up at the Presidential Palace and the Jesuit church, where the gilded walls are carved from volcanic stone and covered in gold leaf. You'll explore the market, soaking up the everyday life of Quito and enjoying a spiritual cleansing by a local practitioner before arriving at El Panecillo, where the Winged Virgin of Quito statue overlooks the city and surrounding volcanoes. 

In the afternoon, you'll head out of the city to the Middle of the World, where you'll be able to stand on the Equator and learn about the history of longitude and latitude in South America. 

Included: Breakfast, touring, 4* hotel 

Day 3: Cuicocha Lake hike 

This morning you'll be picked up and driven to Cuicocha Lake, an incredible former volcanic cone to embark on the Cuicocha Lake hike around the rim. Soak up the epic views across the caldera as you walk, looking for wild orchids, the endemic pumamaqui tree and even quick-as-a-flash hummingbirds. 

Included: Breakfast, touring, 4* hotel 

Day 4: Cotopaxi National Park

Today you'll head south, admiring the central Ecuadorian Andes as you are driven to Cotopaxi National Park. Home to the highest active volcano in the world, you'll spend the morning exploring the highlands, gazing across the lagoon, learning about the surrounding volcanoes and birdwatching. You can spot Andean gulls and lapwings, and even the endangered giant condor flying overhead. 

Enjoy lunch at Tambopaxi, a working farm on a scenic prairie before driving along the sharp zigzags up the side of the volcano to a mountaineer's refuge, to admire the views from 4,600m. Descend back down before heading to your accommodation for the night, a 400 year old hacienda with a cosy atmosphere after a day of exploration!

Included: All meals, touring, Hacienda La Cienega

Day 5: Quilotoa Crater Lake 

After breakfast, you'll be driven to the very heart of the western Andes, towards the hidden treasure of Quilotoa. This water-filled volcano erupted 800 years ago for the final time and is now one of Ecuador's most beautiful lakes. Spend the morning hiking around the outer rim of the crater admiring the emerald-green water as you reach the summit. 

In the afternoon, you'll explore the nearby town of Tigua, famous for art. Themes of their work include work in the fields, local legends and cosmovision, where waterfalls, volcanoes and condors appear as living spirits. 

In the late afternoon, you'll be driven to Baños, checking in to your hotel for one night. 

Included: Breakfast, lunch, touring, 4* hotel 

Day 6: Baños cycling

Today, you'll head off to explore the epic route between two national parks, Sangay and the Llaganates Mountains. Cycle fifteen kilometres on your mountain bike with a guide, admiring the landscapes including waterfalls like the Pailón del Diablo with it's winding staircase carved into the rock. Feel the spray from the waterfall on your face - it's an incredible day soaking up the beauty of Ecuador! 

In the afternoon, you'll head back to Puembo on the outskirts of Quito, checking into your hotel for the night, ready to fly to the Galapagos Islands tomorrow. 

Included: Breakfast, touring, 4* hotel 

Day 7: Fly to the Galapagos Islands

Begin the day with the short flight out to the Galapagos Islands, where you'll be met and transferred to your dive boat, the Aqua Yacht. You'll head straight out to your first dive site in north east Baltra. It's the perfect spot for your check out dive (checking your equipment and ability) - with fascinating rock and lava formations and the chance to see white-tip reef sharks, rays and turtles. Sea lions will swim around you as get into the water and even hammerhead sharks can often be spotted nearby. After your first dive, settle into the boat and receive your briefing for the rest of the cruise. 

Included: Breakfast, internal flights, transfers, all meals, touring and dives in the Galapagos, cabin on board Aqua Yacht

Day 8: Galapagos dive cruise - Isabela

Days aboard the Aqua Yacht start early so you can make the most of each island. Wake-up is usually around 7am, followed by a delicious breakfast before heading out on the morning excursion. When you return, you’ll enjoy a snack, lunch and some downtime, depending on the schedule. As you dine, the yacht often moves toward the next site, where the afternoon activities take place. These typically wrap up before dinner, giving you time to relax and refresh. During dinner, the yacht sets sail again, ensuring you wake up to a completely new view each morning.

Today you'll visit Cape Marshall in the morning, enjoying drift diving along an almost vertical wall of volcanic rock. Look out for hammerhead, white-tipped and Galapagos sharks - you can even occasionally see whale sharks. Huge school of of barracudas and salema also make their home here. In the afternoon you'll visit Manta's City, a dive site famous for the manta rays that feed in the plankton-rich waters. In the evening, the yacht will begin overnight sail to the dive meccas of Wolf and Darwin. 

Included: All meals, touring and dives (3), cabin on board Aqua Yacht

Days 9 - 11: Galapagos dive cruise - Wolf & Darwin 

The next three days will be spent exploring the best dive sites in the Galapagos, centred on the islands of Darwin and Wolf. Due to the large number of dive sites available in Darwin and Wolf as well as the marked influence that
marine conditions can have on the area, the 4 daily dive sites will be chosen with these factors in mind. Depending on conditions, you will also have opportunities for night dives. 

Options for dive sites include Darwin’s Arch, a hotspot for large schools of scalloped hammerhead sharks and frequent encounters with whale sharks, particularly between June and November. Another site, Darwin’s Theatre, offers terraced vantage points above a deep wall where whale sharks, hammerheads, silky sharks, tunas, wahoos, and other pelagic species live. At El Arenal, a sandy slope in front of the arch, you can encounter hammerhead sharks, hawksbill turtles, garden eels, and starfish. 

From Wolf Island, you might visit Shark Bay, known for abundant shark activity and its cleaning stations, where hammerhead sharks, Galápagos sharks, Pacific green turtles and even playful fur seals may be seen. Another major site, El Derrumbe, offers dramatic cliff‑edge viewing points filled with Galápagos sharks, silky sharks, blacktip sharks, stingrays and schools of pelican barracuda, with occasional appearances from orcas or humpbacks in cold‑water months. 

Night dive options like The Secret Cave or El Fondeadero give you the opportunity to discover nocturnal species like cardinalfish, lobsters, moray eels and the endemic red‑lipped batfish.

Included: All meals, touring and dives (4 per day), cabin on board Aqua Yacht

Day 12: Galapagos dive cruise - Isabela & Fernandina

Having made the overnight sail back to the main Galapagos Islands, today you'll enjoy two dives near Isabela and Fernandina islands. In the morning you'll explore Punta Vicente Roca, a dark cave under a spectacular arch that offers calm waters to swim with penguins, pufferfish and seahorses. It's also a great spot to see sunfish! 

In the afternoon you'll visit Douglas Cape, where you'll find more penguins, as well as Galapagos cormorants and marine iguanas. Watch the iguanas swim between the rocks is incredible. 

Included: All meals, touring and dives (2), cabin on board Aqua Yacht

Day 13: Galapagos dive cruise - Santiago & Santa Cruz 

Today you'll enjoy your final two dives at Cousin Rock, a small volcanic pinnacle near Santiago. The island is home to blue-footed boobies, pelicans and Galapagos penguins, while divers can explore its colourful underwater walls and ridges below the water. 

In the afternoon, you'll head into the highlands of Santa Cruz to walk through a Giant Tortoise Reserve in the Scalesia forest, where wild Galapagos tortoises roam freely. Enjoy the lush vegetation, lava tunnels and a variety of endemic songbirds, making it one of the best places to experience the islands’ iconic wildlife in its natural environment. Enjoy your final dinner on board, chatting to your fellow divers about your week of diving in the extraordinary Galapagos Islands. 

Included: All meals, touring and dives (2), cabin on board Aqua Yacht

Day 14: Depart Galapagos Islands 

After breakfast, you'll disembark and head back to the airport, ready for your flight back to the UK via Quito. 

Included: Breakfast, transfers, internal and international flights

Day 15: Arrive UK