28 April 2007
Arrival Galapagos Islands
Isla San Cristobal
We arrived on Isla San Cristobal, Galapagos Island, on a beautiful Saturday afternoon after a passage of 6 days and 4 hours from mainland Ecuador. We had sailed almost the entire way, using the iron jenny for only 10 hours on our approach. As soon as the hook dropped, a Port Captain's boat swung up to us and shouted above the winds to us, asking, if we had come from Panama? We had not, sharing with them that we had arrived from Salinas, Ecuador. They informed us that the Port Captain's office was closed, but that we could check-in at the office on Monday.
Our next visitor was Fernando on water taxi, selling his services: tour, fuel, laundry, water and restaurant. From others, we were advised that he would do this and that his services would be a bit higher than others. Nice gentlemen but we did not need his services. The next day we visited his mother's restaurant, The Flamingo, on the waterfront/malecon that served a tasty fish, vegetable salad, rice, soup and watermelon lunch/almuerzo for $3/pp.
Then, Carmela, sister of Johnny Romero, arrived to welcome us and bring us an additional copy of our Cruising Permit. Coming to the Galapagos one has a choice of getting a cruising permit or not. All we can report is that with every cruiser the experience has been different and there are no clear regulations or consistency of pricing.
Cruising Permit Process: about 2 months before leaving the mainland, we corresponded by email with Johnny Romero (nautigal@interactive.net.ec) asking him to assist us in securing a Cruising Permit for the Galapagos Islands. We received a permit for 4 people, 30 days; to visit multiple islands for $260 usd or $65/pp. We plan on visiting four islands, but the permit did not state how many or which islands we could visit. The permit gives you this latitude as well as possibly more time and definitely more chance for renewal of your permit. We learned through the cruiser's information mill that other boats who sought permits from him were charged at different rates: one at $50/pp, $100/pp and another at $70/pp. We do not know why.
Romero sent us our permit electronically (email attachment), a week before our departure from the mainland. Others, who did not apply for their permits until the last minute, picked up their permit upon arrival in San Cristobal and paid for it upon arrival. All of these boats paid more than we did so there may be some cash advantage to applying ahead of time. One boat applied two months ahead of time and paid $50/pp. The downside of this is that you must put on your application form, your date of arrival and island of arrival. Since we could only guess this, we submitted an anticipated date of arrival. Alas, our boat woes and the lack of wind in our crossing delayed us from arriving on our anticipated date so we lost 8 days from our 30-day permit.
We provided Sr. Romero with an application form, digital copies of our passports, boat documentation, date of arrival; all sent as electronic attachments. Then the fees were sent to him from the Western Union office in El Paseo Mall, La Libertad, for about $13 usd. He told us that he does not process the form until he receives the money.
And he told us that all boats are now required to come to San Cristobal Island first, as this is the capital of the province. We think this is a fairly new rule as we hear that many cruising boats have gone elsewhere as their first port of call.
Arriving without a permit: We are told if you arrive without a permit, you are given ten days to visit and must stay at one island. No fees were mentioned. We've heard that at Isla San Cristobal, the Port Captain gives you a 10-day permit and that at Isla Isabela the Port Captain gives you a 10-day permit. If your initial check-in is at Isla Santa Cruz, you must stay anchored at that island, but you are allowed 10 days to hire other boats that will take you around the island or to other islands.
Several cruisers hire dive boats or go on four day touring trips as an alternative to buying a cruising permit.
Visiting the Port Captain's Office
On Monday, we went to the Port Captain's Office (at the end of the newly built Malecon) where Captain Pancho processed our papers for five people on a 60' steel boat, 15'beam, (tonnage 23 NRT) for a total of $147.37. The cost breakdown on our receipt was as follows:
Tonnage Fee: $56.75
Arrival Fee: $6.84
CanalAccess: $5.50
Anchorage Fee: $55.21
Radio Frequency Fee: $11.96
Contamination Fee: $7.64
Anchor Fee:$3.47
Cruisers on an International Zarpe are supposed to visit the Immigration Office (at the Police Station (Policia Nacional on Malecon at Ave. Espanola)). You will pay a $30 usd fee for both an entrada and salida, though they do not stamp your exit until you are ready to leave the island. Purely by neglect, we did not go to the Immigration Office, only realizing this after we were checked-in and were almost ready to leave the island. No one seemed to notice this misstep in the process.
National Park Fee: We were interested in seeing the wild tortoises at La Galpaguera and we wanted to snorkel at Leon Dormido (Kicker Rock) and Isla Lobos thereby requiring us to have a NP Permit. So, for us there was no hesitation to pay the $100/pp National Park Fee. Fortunately, Carmela Romera offered to help us with the process. She has a desk, at her family's groceries store (Don Victor's Tienda) where she is also an agent for FED EXPRESS. We filled out individual application forms, gave her copies of our passports and the funds for the fees. She then submitted our 5 packets to the Parque Nacional Galapagos Office and had us permits within a day. In fact, the applications were delivered to us and retrieved by water taxi courier. We happened to be strolling by the tienda when the permits were ready and she came out of the store and handed them to Anya and me. We were not charged for her assistance; perhaps it was included in the cost of our Cruising Permit? Others cruisers who were not
assisted by Carmela, applied directly to the Parque Nacional Galapagos, their office is on the north side of town and paid their fees at the Airport, on the south side of town.
Some cruisers have gone to the designated NP snorkeling spots without permits. Of course, anyone can find a panga to assist them and thereby avoid the permit fees and guides. There are not enough National Park funds for the regulators. And is that how we'd want the funds used? Alas, it is a matter of personal choice, as to whether you want to support the efforts of the Parque Nacional Galapagos or not. By the way, if you fly into the Galapagos, you are automatically assessed the fee.