“Poor Man’s Galapagos” Did Not Disappoint 

Ecuador may or may not be on everyone’s radar, but mention Galapagos Islands, and most people will know what you’re talking about. By all accounts, Galapagos is amazing – considered one of the planet’s foremost destinations for wildlife, it’s reportedly an unreal experience.  

I say ‘reportedly’, because even though we’ve been to Ecuador, we have, sadly, not been to Galapagos. I know: we were right there. It would’ve been so easy to “stop by”. Funny thing about how we travel – it’s definitely not a vacation, and not even really a ‘working vacation’ (there may or may not be a blog post coming soon about that very subject). We move every four weeks, but we’re still working, so our schedules are limited. And based on what we’ve heard from locals and tourists alike, the recommended time in Galapagos is at least a week, if not more.  

So, since the iconic archipelago isn’t an option (yet), we took advantage while staying in Manta and experienced a trip to Isla de la Plata, also referred to as Poor Man’s Galapagos. 

Isla de la Plata is a small island off central Ecuador’s coast, and is, as part of Parque Nacional Machalilla, a protected area. Fun fact according to a local guide: it’s named “Silver Island” because it turns out that sometimes, bird poop glows in the sunshine and moonlight and looks like silver, so that’s something you know now. The island is similar to Galapagos, though the variety of animals is not as extensive as its well-known counterpart.  

The island is known for its marine birds, including Blue-Footed Boobies, and the easiest way to access it is via organized tours.  

We were fortunate to visit when we did – from June to October, humpback whales migrate from Antarctica to the waters off the coast of Ecuador to breed. During this time, whales are everywhere. The day of our tour, we saw dozens of humpbacks, including babies, who are curious and love to play in the water near the boats.  

We booked a tour with Palosanto Travel and would highly recommend them. Getting to the island on a speed boat from Puerto Lopez takes about an hour, and the natural show on the way there was incredible – the captain stopped when whales were sighted and allowed us time to watch and take photos and videos. After arriving at the island, you’re treated to about 1-2 hours of hiking to see the wildlife on land.  

And when I say you see the wildlife, you see Boobies. Everywhere. They’re right next to the hiking paths, sitting, maybe standing, maybe trying to block your way across a wooden bridge like a little blue-footed flying troll. They’re all over, and they’re pretty cute (and also quite a bit bigger than I’d imagined). Our tour also included some snorkeling time in the water off the island. The most incredible part was listening underwater: if you swam away from the boats and noise of swimmers, you can hear the humpback calls under water. 

The whole experience was pretty unreal, and a great alternative option to the “real” Galapagos. It’s also significantly cheaper – beginning in July of 2024, the Galapagos entrance fee for tourists increased to $200 per person. And that’s just to get into the park. The average cost for a 5-day tour is estimated around $2,500 and up – a 5-day cruise can cost upwards of $3,000 pp and luxury options can top $5,000 each.  

Long story short: If you’re looking for Boobies and some humpback whales, this is a great option.