07 Jan 2020
I will start by saying that Isabela Island is beautiful. The Sierra Negra volcano tour is amazing. However, this tour is the most disorganized mess that I have ever been a part of. Had we not been diligent and overly inquisitive, it might have turned out very badly. First, the confirmation we received included a pick up at time at our hotel in Puerto Ayora. Nobody ever came to pick us up. So, after waiting 30 minutes and attempting to call the phone number given to us, which just went straight to a never ending music recording, we headed to the pier in Puerto Ayora to see if we could find the boat we were supposed to be on. There are numerous stands for the different boats. We were never given the name of the boat we were supposed to be on. So, we checked each stand until we found a list with our names on it. The person at the stand gave us our tickets and we got in line for the boat. The boat left about 15 minutes later. Had we waited for the person at our hotel, who I believe was never coming, we would've missed the trip entirely. This theme will continue. Upon arrival at Isabela, we found people waiting with another sign with our name on it. We got on their bus. They took us to "the Wetlands" that are advertised for the tour. It is simply the research station on Isabela. I believe you can walk through this area for free, and it is right next to town. This portion of the trip was very disappointing. After that, the guide on the bus took us to town for lunch. The lunch was included, much to our surprise, as that is not advertised for the trip. However, he took everyone but our family to one restaurant and then took us to a different one further down the street. He said he'd be back for us in 30 minutes. 20 minutes later a different person who we had never met came and said he would take us to our hotel. We hurried to finish our lunches and followed him to our hotel. We checked in. The hotel was very adequate, if not actually nice. No complaints, clean rooms, friendly staff, nice breakfast. However, the person who took us to the hotel immediately left with no further instructions. So, we headed back to town to find the guide from the wetlands area. That group was gone. Luckily, we saw him walking down the street and asked him who we were suppose to meet next. He acted as if he had never seen us before. After describing our situation to him, he said oh yeah, let me check. He got on his phone and walked completely out of sight for a while. We sat at a park in the town and waited for him to come back. When he did, he said that he was done with us and that our next guide would meet us at our hotel in 30 minutes, but that he was pretty sure we were free for the rest of the day. We headed back to our hotel and waited. An hour later, we assumed that nobody was probably coming and asked the front desk staff if they knew anything. They did not. They attempted to call all of the numbers that we had for BM Tours SA. They were all bogus. I emailed the address I had. That email is still unanswered. After determining that we were basically on our own, we told the front desk staff that our trip was to include a volcano tour the next day. They told us those tours usually leave around 7:30 AM. After wasting a couple hours chasing all this info down, we spent the rest of the day at the beach and exploring Puerto Villamil. If anyone had just told us that they would be back in the morning to get us for the tour, we would have enjoyed our afternoon much better. As it was, we still weren't positive that anyone would ever come back to get us. We got up early for breakfast, which was very good and started at 7AM, so that we would be ready just in case they came at 7:30. At 7:20, a guy comes in ready for us to get on a group tour bus. We quickly downed the rest of our coffees and loaded our stuff up while the guide scoffed at us for not being ready. I tried to explain to him that nobody ever told us when they were coming. Hd we not been diligent in trying to find out and taking a shot at the front desk staff being correct in their guess, we would've missed that bus as well. So, we get on the bus, pick up about 26 more people at various hotels and head to the volcano. They gave us a box lunch which consisted of an apple, a cheese croissant, and a tango (like an Ecuadorian moon pie), with a juice box for a drink. When we get to the volcano, we are told about the hike. It is a 16.5 KM hike up a hilly, rocky path which at the end is quite treacherous. There are no water or bathroom stops once the hike begins. This info is not in the tour description. We had a 5 year old with us. Several people had younger kids and there were several seniors who had an extremely difficult time completing the hike. All that said, the volcano is amazing. The last few KM are hiking down into the old lava flows with vents and craters. Amazing views and photos abound. We were very happy we completed the hike, but our 5 year old was miserable, and we had to carry her the last few miles of hilly, rocky terrain. The tour info says 3 hours. We started at 7AM and were dropped off at the port at 2:45PM. The boat left at 3PM. Much longer than 3 hours. Plus, had we left bags at the hotel or been even slightly later, we would've missed the boat back to Santa Cruz and had to spend another night on Isabela. It was cut pretty close, and there is no back up plan there. When the boats leave, they are gone. This isn't a huge port city. It's a rustic seaside village of less than 2000 people. We had no idea what the plans were, or if they would even take us back to the hotel. So, we had made that entire 16 KM hike with our backpacks in tow. Luckily, we had just all packed very lightly for an overnight stay. You can't leave your bags on the bus. We could've left them at the hotel. They would've dropped us off there instead of the port, but we would've then had to get our bags and find our own way to the pier in time for the boat. It would've been close, and an extra cost. We made it on to the boat back to Santa Cruz, got home safely, and immediately cancelled the other tour that we had booked with BM Tours for later in the week. After researching a bit, they have no presence in the Galapagos. They are based in Guayaquil and clearly subcontract to local tour groups. Save yourself the hassle and book with a Galapagos based tour company.
In conclusion, we loved Isabela. It is so rustic and quaint. The beach is beautiful with abundant marine iguanas and other wildlife. The volcano was amazing, but the hike is not adequately described. It is a long hike with treacherous portions. Pack plenty of water for the trip and maybe your own food, as the boxed lunch is less than mediocre. However, don't take more than you can comfortably carry, because there is nowhere to store anything. You will carry whatever you take. There is a shorter tour option that stops at a viewpoint over the caldera. That view is spectacular, but the last 4 KM of the hike was the most spectacular. If you do the shorter tour, which was not an option when booking this trip (you must stay with the guides in the park) you will miss some amazing views and pictures from the inside of the rim.
My advice, Isabela Island is absolutely worth the trip. Definitely go to the Sierra Negra Volcano, but pack and plan accordingly for a tough hike, and DO NOT use BM Tours SA. We could've very easily been left behind at several points along the way. Had that happened, we would've been stuck on our own. The tour company is completely unreachable at any of the numbers or emails that they gave us. The hotel staff even used a number that they had from the people who booked our stay, and that number was no good either. That is completely unacceptable.