Tip Top II

Tip Top II Catamaran

Our M/C Tip Top II was built in 2008 and redesigned in 2015-2016 to offer the highest level of comfort and the best experience in the Islands.

Technical Information

Length: 104 feet
Beam: 40 feet
Draft: 5 feet
Cruising speed: 12 knots

Safety & Communications System:

(2) 24 mile range Furuno Navnet Radar/Chart Plotter
(2) Furuno-FCV620 Eco sounder, GPS, Furuno NX300 Navtex, Furuno SC-Satellite Fluxgate compass, Icom M802 HF-MF/DSC Radio
(2) Icom M506 VHF/DSC radios, ACR Epirb, ACR Sart
(2) ACR VHF bi directional rescue radios, Ritchie Magnetic Compass, hydraulic helm, barometer, clock, thermometer, helm indicator, searchlight, horn, fire & smoke detector system
(2) Viking inflatable life rafts for 25 passengers each one
(30) life jackets
Twin 17 feet Caribe Nautica Inflatable boats with 25 HP four stroke outboard motors for 12 passengers each one

All safety equipment complies with International Coast Guard regulations.

Mechanic Equipmment:

Twin Detroit Diesel MTU 350 HP main engines. Twin 60 KW John Deere/Marathon (M) electric generators. Water Separator, Raritan Marine Sanitation Device sewage treatment system. Westfalia Separator Mineral oil Systems. WMSQ-2500 Reverse Osmosis desalination system.

Capacity:

16 passengers

Cabins:

16 passengers accommodated in 10 cabins:

Each cabin has:

Private bathroom (toilet, shower, washbasin and vanity)
Locker and drawers
Hair dryer
Safety box
Air conditioned

Guest Accommodation:

Main Deck: (2)

cabins with one single lower berths – Cabins 1 & 2

Main Deck: (4)

cabins with two single lower berths – Cabins 3 to 6

Upper Deck: (2)

cabins with two single lower beds – Cabins 7 & 8

Upper Deck: (2)

Cabins with one king size berth – Cabins 9 & 10

Social Areas (main deck):

Bar or can sunbathe in the sundeck
Dinning room
Comfortable Lounge

Crew:

8 members:

Captain
Bilingual naturalist guide
Engineer
International cook
Barman & waitress
Two sailors

Video

Deck Plan

Include

Snorkel equipment
Kayaks
International and Ecuadorian food
Water
Coffee & Herbal tea
Personalized service
Air ticket

Itinerary

Summary

OPTION 1

No	Day	AM	PM
1	Friday	Baltra	Mosquera Islet
2	Saturday	Sullivan Bay (Santiago Island)	Rabida
3	Sunday	Espinoza Point	Elizabeth Bay
4	Monday	Urbina Bay	Tagus Cove
5	Tuesday	Egas Port	Bartolome
6	Wednesday	Chinese Hat	Dragon Hill
7	Thursday	Santa Cruz Highlands	Interpretation Center Fausto LLerena
8	Friday	North Seymour / Baltra

OPTION 2

No	Day	AM	PM
1	Friday	Baltra	Bachas Beach (Santa Cruz Island)
2	Saturday	Darwin Bay	Prince Phillip's Steps
3	Sunday	South Plaza	Santa Fe
4	Monday	Interpretation Center Jacinto Gordillo	B.Moreno Port/Cerro Brujo/Kicker Rock
5	Tuesday	Baroness Point View / Post Office	Asilo de la Paz / Commorant Point / Devil's Crown
6	Wednesday	Suarez Point	Gardner Islet / Osborn Islet / Gardner Bay
7	Thursday	Santa Cruz Highlands	Interpretation Center Fausto LLerena
8	Friday	Black Turtle Cove / Baltra

7 Nights/8 Days West Option1

Friday, Day 1

Flight from mainland Ecuador (Quito or Guayaquil) to Baltra, with AVIANCA Airlines; arriving at 09:20 a.m. approximately.Your guide will meet you at the arrivals gate, our crew will take care of your luggage.Your guide will conduct you to a bus and after a short 5-kilometer ride to the pier; you board the Yacht immediately. As the crew weighs anchor, we greet you with our first orientation and we offer a light snack. After lunch, you make an early wet landing on Mosquera Islet, a reef of rocks and coral (the result of an uprising) and a great white sand beach and tide pools. You observe colonies of sea lions, brown pelicans, blue-footed boobies and sally light-foot crabs, the contrast between these bright red crabs on top and blue on the bottom and the black lava is stunning. In the evening, we have an orientation about the Galapagos Islands in general: their origin and evolution. Welcome cocktail with the entire crew, and dinner.

Saturday, Day 2

After breakfast, we make a wet landing on Sullivan Bay, a perfect place to get a feel of the volcanic origin of the islands. Optional: time for those who would like to swim and/or snorkel. We return to the boat for a delicious lunch. After this, you make a wet landing on Rabida, to walk and observe marine iguanas and sea lions, pelicans, blue-footed boobies, masked boobies and brown pelicans. You make a little walk and you arrive at a small saltwater lagoon where you can see pink flamingos. Optional: time for those who would like to swim or snorkel. Return to the Yacht for dinner and our nightly orientation.

Sunday, Day 3

After breakfast, we make a dry landing on Punta Espinoza to observe and see a large colony of sea lions, marine iguanas and the flightless cormorants and clumps of lava cactus. You come aboard for lunch. In the afternoon, you make a panga ride around the islets of Elizabeth Bay to see marine iguanas, penguins, marine turtles, seabirds and shorebirds, herons and blue-footed boobies. Return to the Yacht for dinner and our nightly orientation.

Monday, Day 4

After breakfast, you make a wet landing on Urbina Bay to take a walk and observe a coral area, land iguanas, flightless cormorants and giant tortoises. Optional: time for those who would like to swim or snorkel. Return to the Yacht for lunch. In the afternoon, we make a panga ride on Tagus Cove, a cove between the shoulders of two volcanic craters, which protect it from the open sea; we observe penguins, marine iguanas, sea lions and a variety of birds including flightless cormorant and blue-footed boobies. Optional: time for those who would like to swim, snorkel and/ or kayak. Return to the Yacht for dinner and our nightly orientation

Tuesday, Day 5

After breakfast, you make a wet landing on James Bay (Puerto Egas), to walk and observe sponges, snails, hermit crabs, a variety of shorebirds, barnacles and the endemic four-eyedblenny, marine iguanas and sea lions. Optional: time for those who would like to swim or snorkel. You return to the boat for a delicious lunch. In the afternoon, you make a dry landing on Bartholomew Island, to hike to the summit; during the hike, you observe colonies of marine iguanas and lava lizards. On the summit, you see an impressive view of the surrounding islands, including the eroded tuff cone of Pinnacle Rock. You return to the yacht for a delicious dinner and our nightly orientation.

Wednesday, Day 6

After breakfast, you make a wet landing on Chinese Hat (Sombrero Chino), a small island off the coast of Santiago Island, you can observe on the rocky shoreline: Galapagos penguins, eagle rays, sea lions and marine iguanas. This is an excellent snorkeling site. Optional: time for those who would like to swim, snorkel and/ or kayak. You return to the boat for lunch. Later in the afternoon, you make a dry landing on Dragon Hill, where you can see land iguanas; you walk to a hypersaline lagoon (saltier than the ocean), where you can observe flamingos, common stilts, pintail ducks and other species of birds. Optional: time for those who would like to swim and/or snorkel. You return to the Yacht for dinner and our nightly orientation.

Thursday, Day 7

After breakfast, you will disembark to take the bus to the highlands of Santa Cruz Island for a visit to the native forests, Twin Craters, then, you will go to one of the ranches to see the giant tortoises in the wildlife. You will be delighted with the lunch in the ranch. After lunch, you will return to Puerto Ayora to start the visit to the Interpretation Center Fausto Llerena. You return to the Yacht for dinner and our nightly orientation

Friday, Day 8

After breakfast, you make an early dry landing for a walk along the coast and the interior of North Seymour Island, a low, flat island that was uplifted from the sea by underground seismic activity. You observe blue-footed boobies (they nest from May to November), marine iguanas, pelicans, frigate birds, shorebirds, sea lions and endemic Palo Santo. You return to the Yacht for disembarking on the pier at 09:00. Your guide accompanies you on the bus ride directly to the airport.

7 Nights/8 Days East Option2

Friday, Day 1

Flight from mainland Ecuador (Quito or Guayaquil) to Baltra, with AVIANCA Airlines; arriving at 09:20 a.m. approximately. Your guide will meet you at the arrivals gate, our crew will take care of your luggage. Your guide will conduct you to a bus and after a short 5-kilometer ride to the pier; you board the Yacht immediately. As the crew weighs anchor, we greet you with our first orientation and we offer a light snack. After navigating, we disembark on Playa Las Bachas, a place where you can appreciate a Flamingos lagoon. During all walks, your guide will be explaining details about the lives of the birds and animals. Optional: time for those who would like to swim and/or snorkel, in the evening you have an orientation about the Galapagos Islands in general: their origin and evolution. Welcome cocktail with the entire crew, and dinner.

Saturday, Day 2

After breakfast, you make a wet landing on Darwin Bay to walk and observe frigate birds, herons, mockingbirds, boobies, shorebirds, turtles, marine iguanas, etc. Optional: time for those who would like to swim, snorkel or kayak. You come on board for a delicious lunch. Later in the afternoon, you take a panga ride and you make a dry landing on Prince Phillips’s Steps (Barranco), you walk and observe the interesting lives of the birds here. Dinner on the Yacht, and then your orientation about conservation efforts made to protect the Islands.

Sunday, Day 3

After breakfast, you make a dry landing on the pier of the South Plaza, where you can enjoy the antics of the sea lions. A walk through a cactus forest allows us to observe land iguanas and many species of tropical birds. Return to the Yacht for lunch. Then, you make a wet landing on Santa Fe Island to visit the cactus forest and a colony of land iguana’s native from Santa Fe. Optional: time for those who would like to swim, snorkel and/or kayak. At the end of the afternoon, we return to the Yacht for dinner and our nightly orientation.

Monday, Day 4

After breakfast, you make a dry landing on San Cristobal port, after a short drive, you arrive at Jacinto Gordillo Interpretation Center where you learn about its reproductive process and the programs to maintain the species. You take the bus back to the port to visit the Interpretation Center of Human History of the Islands; this tour takes you through the geological and human history of the islands and its conservation. You come aboard for a delicious lunch. In the afternoon, your experienced Captain sails easily around Kicker Rock (Leon Dormido), a massive tuff-rock that juts abruptly almost 500 feet straight from the ocean. Kicker Rock serves as a nesting place for many seabirds. Optional: time for those who would like to swim and/ or snorkel. Then you make a wet landing on Cerro Brujo to walk on a white sand beach and observe sea lions, brown pelicans, marine iguanas and blue-footed boobies. Optional: time for those who would like to swim, snorkel and/ or Kayak. You return to the Yacht for dinner and our nightly orientation.

Tuesday, Day 5

After breakfast, you make a wet landing on Post Office Bay, a historic site that recalls the days of the whalers, who presumably placed a wooden barrel in the 18th century to use it as a post office. Then, you will continue to the Baroness Point view, named due to the presence of a particular character who lived on Floreana Island, it is the Baroness Eloisa von Wagner, you will enjoy of the beautiful landscape and the ruins of her house. Return to the Yacht for lunch. In the afternoon, you visit the Devil’s Crown, a submerged volcano, for snorkeling for those who wish it (this is one of the best snorkeling sites in the Islands), then you make a wet landing on Point Cormorant for a short walk to the Flamingo Lagoon of this island. You then continue the walk until we reach the beach called "La Picona" to see marine turtles and their spawning grounds. Optional: time for those who would like to swim and/or snorkel. You return to the Yacht for dinner and our nightly orientation.

Wednesday, Day 6

After breakfast, you make an early dry landing on Punta Suarez to walk along lava beds where you will observe unique colonies of marine birds, including Albatross (May - December). Return to the Yacht for lunch. In the afternoon, you make a wet landing in Gardner Bay for a walk on the beach and observe a colony of sea lions, which inhabit the beach in great quantity during the breeding season; this is also an important nesting area for sea turtles. Then we make a panga ride around the Osborn Islet and the islets of Gardner. Optional: time for those who would like to swim and/or snorkel. Return to the Yacht for dinner and our nightly orientation.

Thursday, Day 7

Friday, Day 8

After breakfast, you make a panga ride on Black Turtle Cove, series of mangrove-surrounded coves and islets; here you can observe white-tipped sharks, marine turtles, spotted eagle rays, and yellow cow-nosed rays. You return to the Yacht for disembarking on the pier at 09:00. Your guide accompanies you on the bus ride directly to the airport.

AVAILABILITY 2018

IN	OUT	ITINERARY
October
October/12/2018	October/19/2018	08 D - 07 N / FRIDAY - FRIDAY (OPTION 01 - WEST)
November
November/23/2018	November/30/2018	08 D - 07 N / FRIDAY - FRIDAY (OPTION 01 - WEST)
November/30/2018	December/07/2018	08 D - 07 N / FRIDAY - FRIDAY (OPTION 02 - EAST)
November/30/2018	December/03/2018	04 D - 03 N / FRIDAY - MONDAY
December
December/03/2018	December/07/2018	05 D - 04 N / MONDAY - FRIDAY
December/14/2018	December/21/2018	08 D - 07 N / FRIDAY - FRIDAY (OPTION 02 - EAST)
December/14/2018	December/17/2018	04 D - 03 N / FRIDAY - MONDAY
December/17/2018	December/21/2018	05 D - 04 N / MONDAY - FRIDAY
December/31/2018	January/04/2019	05 D - 04 N / MONDAY - FRIDAY (ROUTE EAST)

AVAILABILITY 2019

January
January/25/2019	February/01/2019	08 D - 07 N / FRIDAY - FRIDAY (OPTION 02 - ROUTE EAST)	Available
February
February/08/2019	February/15/2019	08 D - 07 N / FRIDAY - FRIDAY (OPTION 02 - ROUTE EAST)	Available
February/15/2019	February/22/2019	08 D - 07 N / FRIDAY - FRIDAY (OPTION 01 - ROUTE WEST)	Limited Availability
March
March/08/2019	March/11/2019	04 D - 03 N / FRIDAY - MONDAY (ROUTE EAST)	Available
March/15/2019	March/22/2019	08 D - 07 N / FRIDAY - FRIDAY (OPTION 01 - ROUTE WEST)	Limited Availability
March/29/2019	April/05/2019	08 D - 07 N / FRIDAY - FRIDAY (OPTION 01 - ROUTE WEST)	Available
April
April/19/2019	May/03/2019	15 D - 14 N / FRIDAY - FRIDAY (OPTION 02 - EAST + WEST)	Limited Availability
April/19/2019	April/26/2019	08 D - 07 N / FRIDAY - FRIDAY (OPTION 02 - ROUTE EAST)	Limited Availability
April/26/2019	May/03/2019	08 D - 07 N / FRIDAY - FRIDAY (OPTION 01 - ROUTE WEST)	Limited Availability
May
May/10/2019	May/17/2019	08 D - 07 N / FRIDAY - FRIDAY (OPTION 01 - ROUTE WEST)	Limited Availability

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THESE ITINERARIES ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT A PREVIOUS NOTICE, DUE OPERATIONAL REASONS, WEATHER CONDITIONS OR BY THE AUTHORITIES OF THE GALAPAGOS NATIONAL PARK.

Rolf Wittmer . Tip Top . Galapagos Cruises