Aqua Mare: Galapagos Ultra-Luxury Yacht| Galapagos Cruise

Ultra-luxury in the Galápagos is less about marble lobbies or infinity pools and more about the space, service, and attention available to each guest. Aqua Mare makes that clear with 16 guests, 16 crew members, and two certified bilingual naturalist guides. That 1:1 crew-to-guest ratio creates a different pace of expedition travel. It’s slower and more relaxed, with a level of personal attention that larger vessels cannot easily match.

Butler Service

The 861-square-foot Owner’s Suite comes with dedicated butler service.

With a 1:1 crew-to-guest ratio across the vessel, attentive service extends throughout the yacht, even for guests without a dedicated butler.

Food and Beverage

The culinary programme is led by Peruvian chef Pedro Miguel Schiaffino, whose cooking draws on the Nikkei tradition, a blend of Japanese techniques with bold South American flavours. Ingredients are sourced from local Galápagos farmers, fishermen, and producers whenever possible. House wines and beers are included in the all-inclusive rate, while the Owner’s Suite also receives premium spirits. The wine list features a strong selection of Chilean wines and is curated separately from the standard inclusions.

Wellness and Deck Space

The vessel has a six-person outdoor jacuzzi on the sundeck, sunbeds, and a convertible outdoor workout area in the lower-deck “Beach Club” area. The panoramic lounge and sundeck also provide plenty of space to relax and socialize. For a 16-guest vessel, these areas offer more room and amenities than you might expect. After an excursion, guests can rinse their gear, change, and head to the jacuzzi without the longer wait or extra distance that’s often common on larger 100-passenger vessels.

Guide Ratio

Aqua Mare has one naturalist guide for every eight guests, with two guides for the full 16-passenger capacity. An AFAR review of an October 2024 voyage noted that this is roughly half the usual guide-to-guest ratio on comparable Galápagos expedition vessels. With fewer guests per guide, there is more time for field interpretation, species identification, and discussion after excursions.

Aqua Mare operates two year-round seven-night routes: East Galápagos and West Galápagos. Each trip lasts eight days, including the days guests board and leave the yacht. The two routes can also be taken back-to-back as a 15-day/14-night expedition. All itineraries are set by the Galápagos National Park Authority (GNPA), which assigns each permitted vessel a fixed route and schedule. No operator, regardless of price, has access to every site at any time.

East Galápagos (8 Days)

The East route departs from Baltra and visits Genovesa (El Barranco, Darwin Bay), Santiago (Sullivan Bay, Sombrero Chino), Bartolomé (Pinnacle Rock), Santa Cruz (Puerto Ayora, Charles Darwin Research Station, El Chato Ranch), Española (Punta Suárez), Santa Fe, and Plaza Sur. Guests disembark at Santa Cruz or Baltra.

West Galápagos (8 Days)

The West route embarks at Santa Cruz (Puerto Ayora, Manzanillo Ranch) and visits Floreana (Punta Cormorant, Post Office Bay, Baroness Lookout), Isabela (Punta Moreno, Urbina Bay), Fernandina (Punta Espinoza, Tagus Cove), Santiago (Puerto Egas, Playa Espumilla), Rábida, North Seymour (Mosquera), and Daphne. Guests disembark at Baltra.

The Galápagos National Park assigns visitor sites to specific vessels on specific days. The East and West labels refer to geography, not quality. Each route offers different wildlife encounters and landscapes. For guests with limited time, the East route visits a wider range of islands. The West route, meanwhile, spends more time around Isabela and Fernandina, the archipelago’s youngest and most volcanically active islands. Neither route is better than the other.