A year round destination where each month brings its own special highlights
The Galapagos Islands are a year-round destination, making any month a great time to visit — but the best time for you depends entirely on the wildlife you want to see.
Unlike most destinations, the Galapagos Islands don’t follow the typical four-season calendar. Straddling the equator, the islands experience just two seasons: the warm season (December to May), when skies are sunnier and sea temperatures are more inviting for snorkelling, and the dry season (June to November), which brings cooler, misty conditions and some of the best wildlife spectacles of the year.
Each season — and each month within it — brings its own cast of wildlife highlights, from hatching sea turtles and courting frigatebirds to migrating whale sharks and penguin breeding colonies.
Use our detailed month-by-month guide below to find the best time to visit the Galapagos for the experiences that matter most to you, complete with wildlife highlights, land and sea temperatures, and rainfall statistics for every month of the year.
Company founder and Galapagos expert, Rachel is on hand to help you plan your trip of a lifetime!
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Galapagos is on the equator which means there isn’t a huge variation in the weather, but just in case it is helpful for you when deciding when is the best time to travel to Galapagos here is a table of the key climate indicators.
| JAN | FEB | MAR | APR | MAY | JUN | JUL | AUG | SEP | OCT | NOV | DEC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DAILY HIGH ºC (ºF) | 29 (85) | 29 (85) | 31 (87) | 31 (87) | 27 (81) | 26 (79) | 25 (77) | 24 (76) | 24 (76) | 25 (77) | 26 (78) | 26 (79) |
| DAILY LOW ºC (ºF) | 22 (71.6) | 24 (76) | 24 (76) | 24 (76) | 22 (71.6) | 21 (69.8) | 20 (68) | 19 (66.2) | 19 (66.2) | 20 (68) | 21 (69.8) | 22 (71.6) |
| SEA TEMP ºC (ºF) | 24 (75.2) | 25 (77) | 25 (77) | 25 (77) | 24 (75.2) | 23 (73.4) | 22 (71.6) | 21 (69.8) | 22 (71.6) | 22 (71.6) | 23 (73.4) | 23 (73.4) |
| RAINFALL MM (INCH) | 68.6 (2.7) | 91.4 (3.6) | 94 (3.7) | 71.1 (2.8) | 33 (1.3) | 22.9 (0.90) | 15.2 (0.60) | 5.1 (0.20) | 5.1 (0.20) | 5.1 (0.20) | 7.6 (0.30) | 30.5 (1.20) |
We listen to you. We take the time to understand what you want your Galapagos trip of a lifetime to be. We then we use our decades of experience and unrivalled network of local contacts and team of top guides to make it happen.
All our Galapagos wildlife holidays have a naturalist-led cruise at their heart. Because the islands are spread over more than 200 km, by visiting on board a live-aboard Galapagos wildlife cruise, this enables you to reach the most remote and pristine parts of the archipelago
Navigating mostly at night means you to spend the best parts of the day for wildlife watching with early morning and late afternoon land visits. Then in the middle of the day you can experience some of the amazing Galapagos wildlife below the water, with some of the best snorkelling in the world.
Want to chat through your plans face to face? Fill in our form and request a video chat and we’ll be in touch with the details.
