"It is the best sailing cruise that we have ever been on. The boat was great, the crew was magnificent and I cannot say enough about the food onboard. Swimming with the sea lions was one of the most unforgettable highlights of the Galapagos trip."

John Newman: London, England
Taken from galapagosexpeditions.com

Dear Maria Elena,

The trip to Galapagos and the week on the Alta was one of the highlights; we enjoyed every minute - just as you had promised before.

Finally we loved the boat, the food was excellent (except Nescafe instead of real coffee), the crew was nice and efficient and last not least, our guide was brilliant. We will remember Fabian Bucheli, whose knowledge of nature, animals and evolution seemed amazing to us and who sort of infected us with his passion and his enthusiasm, as the best guide, we had for very long time.

We will not hesitate to recommend him and the trip on the Alta to friends, who might be interested to come to Galapagos next winter.

Kind regards

Almut Amereller
Germany, December 2008

Hi Christian,

Just a quick note to say how much we enjoyed our Galapagos holiday and to thank you for all your assistance to make it all happen. It was an amazing experiience. The boat was great, the guides were great and the experience sublime.

Best regards,

David and Rupert
Australia, November 2008

Apr 11, 2008

I certainly agree with the Alta recommendation - a great boat. There is enough room for everyone to eat outside or inside and to fit into one Panga for transfer to the islands. There is no waiting for your turn to get to the island. Dont expect to see any sails on the boat though except in the brochure !

There were no facilities for scuba but there were several snorkeling and swimming sessions plus the chance to kayak. If you want to dive, you must go on a specialist dive boat or stay in Puerto Ayora after the cruise and arrange for day trips.

I don't think it makes much difference who you book with as long as they can be trusted to make the booking. The boats guide does everything including the airport pickups and those guides change weekly. You tend to get the better guides on the higher price boats like the Alta.

Taken from tripadvisor.com

Dec 20, 2005

Lucy, I recommend another ship. The reason is that I just got off of the Alta Dec 11, 2005 after 7 days. I thought the crew was terrific and our guide Julian very knowledgeable but you don't need a sailing vessel in the Galapagos. You will never sail. They put up the sails for a photo and that was that. My husband and I are sailors and knew this in advance but I selected her for the itinerary as other boats with that itinerary were not availalble the week we were traveling.

Taken from tripadvisor.com

Nov 03, 2005

Lucy - just returned from an eight night seven day trip on the Alta. Overall, a great boat and well worth the money. Alta is by far the prettiest boat we saw - the downside of this is that she's not the best in a swell (I had one memorable evening of throat clearing) but then again you'll be there in calmer seas. Cabins are small but nicely done and judging by our cruise you'll only spend time in there sleeping and getting ready for the day. We normally had three escursions, starting early and going walking followed by a snorkel, lunch, siesta and the another trip in the afternoon. Obviously, it's a personal thing but we were thrilled that we were on one of the small boats and not the huge Cameron Diaz III type things that hove into view every now and then. Indeed, much of our itinerary was based around avoiding the large scale invasions of some sites by the larger boats. Your guide is key. If you get Bolivar then you're laughing. Knowledgeable, courteous and a very funny man. There was some minor grumbling on our trip about the quantity and quality of food (mainly from two morbidly obese passengers) and to be fair it's not great, but perfectly ok. There's always biscuits and sweets left out should you get hungry as well as hot chocolate and fruit after trips. The only other thing I can tell you is that after a snorkelling session and the dash to the showers, hot water can run out. Wait ten mins and there'll be more! If you're not into snorkelling make sure you are by the time you get here - a key element of the trip. We swam with sea lions on three separate occasions and saw sharks, dozens of turtles etc.

Taken from tripadvisor.com