Kimkim Trip Reviews for Galapagos Islands

Very pleased with how this trip turned out! It was worry free from one stop to the next with someone awaiting our arrival at every transition- this alone made it so easy to relax and enjoy each new adventure. The drivers and guides were top notch and a wealth of information. Paola arranged ideal accommodations and activities aT every destination. Our favorite was snorkling in the lava tunnels!

Hotel Reviews

Ikala Quito Hotel

Quito

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Super accommodating and friendly

Cleanliness & Comfort

Ikala Galapagos Hotel

Puerto Ayora

The front desk staff was soooo accommodating and friendly and helpful. The breakfast staff was so engaging and the food was wonderful. Location was also ideal and within walking distance to most everything in town.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

The staff here go out of there way to help and be sure your happy!

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Review

Snorkel at Los Túneles

Galapagos Islands

This is a must do. So many amazing creatures to see here and the landscape itself is so unique! Our guide and boat captain and crew were all amazing and helped make this a once in a lifetime experience!

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

When I started planning my husband and I ‘s trip to South America, I was looking at various destinations and was getting very overwhelmed. As a result,I decided to use a travel company and randomly found KimKim. I was connected to Paul. From the first conversation with Paul, he made me feel like he was there to plan a dream trip with my ideas, his input and he really worked to get to know what my husband and I wanted to do in Ecuador. Paul and I exchanged emails and even spoke on the phone planning the trip to Quito and the Galápagos Islands for about 4 weeks. From the day before we left for our trip, Paul was in daily contact with us and even when we flew home. Paul came personally to our hotel when American Airlines left our luggage in the USA and we worked with his contacts and American Airlines to get the luggage to our hotel quickly. Paul’s actions demonstrate first class service. The printout of our itinerary was very detailed with locations of places we would visit, hotels and the phone number of his team that would be part our trip. Using Paul as our travel planner was THE best money ever spent, because his involvement in our vacation journey made it the best trip for us and we have been to Asia, Africa and Europe. We are from the USA. Along with Paul, our guide in Quito was Cristobal. Cristobal is a very educated, kind person who took the extra time to teach us about the beauty of Ecuador and share his love for his country with us. We even feel like he is more than our guide but now we can call him our friend.. Some of experiences with Cristóbal involved learning about wildlife, flowers, plants and visiting the countryside and old town of Quito. Cristóbal went the extra mile by taking us to unique places like a small ice cream business where ice cream is made fresh with fruit as we were watching and taking us to the MegaMax to buy a suitcase. Cristóbal deserves the credit in making our trip in Quito so special and unique. The Galapagos Islands were beautiful and we loved the sea lions, other wildlife and our boutique hotels, but the trip would have been better if we had Cristóbal with us. Paul, and Cristóbal are definitely amazing gentlemen who care 💯 about giving first class service and we highly recommend them to other.

Hotel Reviews

Ikala Quito Hotel

Quito

I loved how we could open the windows and balcony door to let fresh air in. The room was very clean and modern. The staff was very welcoming and friendly. We stayed multiple days and enjoyed all of the them. Restaurants are in easy walking distance.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Casa Playa Mann

Puerto Baquerizo Moreno

The owner and family members made us feel very welcomed as if we were coming to visit their home. The breakfast was made to order and great. The layout of the hotel area was very relaxing . The public beach was very easy to walk to and also restaurants and shopping

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Las Ninfas

Puerto Ayora

We loved the tropical layout of the hotel grounds. We felt safe and welcomed by staff. The pool, hottub, bar and areas to sit outside were great. The bedding and towels were better than typical American hotel chains. The made to order eggs for breakfast were great. Our hotel room was very clean and had lots of storage space

Authenticity & Character

Location

Easy to walk to restaurants and shopping

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Highlands of Santa Cruz Island

Galapagos Islands

One of the best parts of our trip was visiting the Highlands of Santa Cruz Island. We had an impromptu excursion to a horse sanctuary run by our tour guide, which was amazing. We got to walk in the field with wild horses, even though it was a bit rainy. It was a unique and memorable experience that we really enjoyed, and a great alternative to more beach time.

Guided Hike to Tortuga Bay & Free Afternoon

Galapagos Islands

We did the guided hike to Tortuga Bay, but it was more challenging than expected. The walk to the ocean was over a mile and not flat, with ups and downs, which my husband found too strenuous to do again. After the walk, we had to go another 30 minutes down the beach to find a swimming area. The ocean was rough, and the swimming spot was just a lagoon with not many fish, so it was less impressive. We preferred an alternative excursion instead.

360° Tour

Isla San Cristóbal

We did the 360° Tour, but I chose to stay on the boat because the swimming part was quite far and physically demanding. My husband loved it and saw many interesting things underwater, and our guide filmed some great footage with a GoPro. I enjoyed the peace on the boat while he explored. It was a good experience, though I preferred to relax rather than swim far.

Snorkel at La Lobería

Galapagos Islands

My husband really enjoyed the snorkeling at La Lobería. He got to see a shark and some turtles, which was exciting. The snorkeling was more physically demanding than other places we've been, as you have to swim quite far, even with a life jacket. The water was warm and comfortable, contrary to what I expected about the Galapagos water being chilly. Overall, it was a memorable experience, especially with the underwater footage our guide captured.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Exceptional Service from Paul at KimKim Travel — A Truly First-Class Experience

As seasoned and discerning travelers, our expectations are high, and Paul at KimKim Travel exceeded them in every way. From the beginning, his communication was outstanding—prompt, consistent, and incredibly thorough. He anticipated needs before we even had to ask, including arranging a flight upgrade and providing detailed information to help us pack and prepare for three very different microclimates: Quito, Mashpi Lodge, and the Galápagos Islands.

Upon arrival to the Quito Airport, everything was seamless. Tony Sotomayor met us at the airport and orchestrated a flawless transition with luggage, customs, security, and access to the VIP Sala Lounge before our adventure began. Traveling with children can be challenging, but Paul thoughtfully arranged a private naturalist guide who met us at the Baltra airport and made the experience both effortless and enriching for our family.

The Galápagos portion aboard the Elite was nothing short of extraordinary. The crew was exceptionally accommodating to families with children and operated on our pace. Special recognition goes to Captain Marcelo for getting us safely to every destination, Roberto for delivering a true luxury experience as cruise director, Chef Angel and Bartender Romulo for keeping us wonderfully fed and refreshed, David for capturing incredible GoPro memories, Andreas for kayaking with our daughter Brynn, and of course our naturalist guide, Matthias the Magnificent, whose passion and expertise ensured we experienced every wildlife encounter the islands had to offer.

This journey was truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience—not only because of the incredible destinations and wildlife, but because of the remarkable people who made us feel at home every step of the way. We are forever grateful to Paul and the entire KimKim team for crafting such a seamless and unforgettable adventure.

Warmest regards,
Dr. Timothy, Joy & Brynn Davis

While the Galapagos is a beautiful destination, our experience booked through KimKim Agency was deeply disappointing due to poor coordination, significant communication breakdowns regarding dietary restrictions, and a total lack of preparation for the logistics involved. We provided detailed health and allergy requirements well in advance, yet they were repeatedly ignored.

Here is a breakdown of the issues we encountered:

Severe Dietary & Allergy Negligence
Hotel Ikala: The hotel staff did not know their own ingredients. Despite our severe dairy, egg, and nut allergies, we were given completely wrong information (such as claiming items were safe when they actually contained avellana [hazelnut] and milk). For a hotel of this tier, a severe lack of basic food hygiene is shocking and unsafe. Management needs to address this immediately. Given my family's severe dietary needs and allergy requirements, which were communicated well in advance, finding pests in our meals is a severe food safety and hygiene violation that is entirely unsafe.

Tour Boat Food: The food provided during the first two boat tours was mediocre at best—usually just a few random vegetables thrown into a tomato salsa. We would not recommend the Altamar for accommodating vegan/food allergies nor providing sufficient food. It is not too hard to make beans and rice and plantain patacones. The food on the second day was particularly bad. For a pre-planned itinerary, they should have provided substantial alternatives like beans or lentils. To make matters worse, snacks ran out entirely, leaving us with very few options during the long boat ride back, despite giving ample notice.

Casa o Puntia- Their staff was incredibly attentive and accommodating with our severe dietary requirements. On our first day, they made us delicious, safe avena and lentejas, and on the day we were leaving, they prepared patacones (plantains) and gave us fresh avocado, tomatoes, and basil.

Hygiene & Room Quality Issues
Hotel Ikala: We experienced a severe ant infestation. Ants were not only crawling in our room, but they were literally in our food—specifically in the patacones de papa and a large ant was found right in the salad.

Casa Opuntia (San Cristóbal): Upon check-in, our first room also had several ants. We requested a room change and were moved to a significantly smaller room that lacked a fan and a TV, having only an AC. This second room also had ants and was full of fruit fly-like bugs.

Logistics & Guiding Failures
The Inter-Island Speedboat: We were given absolutely no warning about the notoriously rough and dangerous speedboat ride from Santa Cruz to San Cristóbal. We received zero heads-up about the severe motion sickness it causes. On top of that, our driver was late getting us to the pier, adding unnecessary stress to the ordeal, we were not seated together. The severe crashing and cresting of the waves, felt like we were on a roller coaster and then thrashed to the ground- and we were flung on our seats and then back down. The vomit plastic bags handed out on the boats were not enough- and extremely short notice to prepare for such a tough journey that lasted over 2 hours.

Guide Language: The agency failed to instruct the guides to speak and conduct the tours/explanations in Spanish as preferred.

Guide Engagement:

Our guide Martin on our trip to Bartolomew was just okay and left some of the people in the group behind. The boat company Altamar - could have also made the experience better.

Once we arrived in San Cristóbal, our guide spent most of her time on her phone and lacked any genuine enthusiasm or interest in showing us around. We could have spent time exploring the Loberia but instead she was on the phone. The timings should have been better assessed by the guide, when we got to the Loberia- it was high tide and we could not snorkel/swim in the water. So we requested to go back to the Playa where we climbed to see the vista- but the guide left us and luckily for us the taxi driver came and picked us up after we were done.

I want to give a special shoutout to two of our guides who made the experience unforgettable. Our first guide, Reuben, on the Tortuga tour was truly one of the best—incredibly knowledgeable and engaging. He spoke to us in Spanish, was very patient, funny and was incredibly happy to answer our curious questions. And on our last guided tour, later in the trip, our guide at Española (with Sharksky) was also nice and went above and beyond by snorkeling right alongside everyone, excitedly showing us the school of dolphins as we approached the island, and later on making the entire group feel safe, comfortable, and confident in the water. Amazing guides make all the difference!

Conclusion: When you book through a specialized agency like KimKim, you pay for seamless logistics, vetted properties, and safety coordination—especially regarding life-threatening food allergies. Unfortunately, KimKim failed to pass vital information to their local partners, leaving us to navigate safety risks, bug infestations, and poor service on our own. I expected much better oversight for the price paid.

Hotel Reviews

Casa Opuntia Galapagos Hotel

Puerto Baquerizo Moreno

Upon check-in, our first room also had several ants. We requested a room change and were moved to a significantly smaller room that lacked a fan and a TV, having only an AC. This second room also had ants and was full of fruit fly-like bugs. While the room was very disappointing (and we mentioned this to the front desk), their incredible kitchen staff and outstanding hospitality deserves thanks. Traveling with severe dietary requirements can be incredibly stressful, but the team here went above and beyond to make us feel safe, welcome, and incredibly well-fed. On our very first day, they thoughtfully prepared a delicious meal of avena (oatmeal) and lentejas (lentils). And on the day we were leaving, they made us a fresh patacones (crispy plantains) topped with avocado, tomatoes, and basil.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

The ants and fruit fly like bugs in the rooms were not nice to deal with during our entire stay

Ikala Galapagos Hotel

Puerto Ayora

The hotel staff did not know their own ingredients. Despite our severe dairy, egg, and nut allergies, we were given completely wrong information (such as claiming items were safe when they actually contained avellana [hazelnut] and milk). On the one day we asked them for breakfast, we got ants in our patacones de patas and a big ant in our salad leaves that went with the patacones. That level of hygiene is unacceptable. For a hotel of this tier, a total lack of basic pest control and food hygiene is shocking. What makes this worse is that we had communicated severe dietary restrictions and allergy requirements well in advance. Serving food with insects in it is not just unhygienic; it is a serious health and safety hazard. The room was also infested with ants and had moths. They did not change our room the first night and the second night we had to tell them as there were thousands of ants in the room. We could not wait to be out of there.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Wyndham Quito Airport

Quito

A Truly Wonderful Experience Absolutely outstanding experience. The chef went above and beyond to accommodate our vegan dietary needs and carefully prepared special dishes to address my son’s multiple food allergies. A big shout out to Karla- Karla and her team were really the best and went out of their way to help us. The entire staff was wondeful, the hotel was clean and the beds comfortable. We cannot recommend this place highly enough. The entire staff was very friendly and helpful. Muchas Gracias!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Santa Cruz Highlands, Lava Tunels and Charles Darwin Research Station (if times allows)

Isla Santa Cruz

Our guide Reuben was very knowledgeable, super nice and took us around to explain everything. He spoke to us in our preferred language (Spanish) and he answered all our curious questions. He also made sure that our food catered to our allergies.

Quality of Experience

Food

The salad, juice, rice with vegetables were good and met our dietary requirements

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Shared Shuttle Transfer from Quito Airport to Nearby Hotel

Galapagos Islands

The person picking us up was not in the aiport so we had to look around for him and search by car as there were no instructions as to where to go. We did eventually find him and got on the shuttle.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Arrival in San Cristóbal – Interpretation Center & La Lobería (from Pier)

Isla San Cristóbal

The guide was not engaging, and always on her phone. Did not check her timings for the tides and we could not snorkel in the la Loberia when we got there. She was talking on the phone, texting or walking ahead or going away to the side to talk on the phone. It was not pleasant being with her.

Quality of Experience

The sights playa and the view point/nature was nice

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Guide Engagement and attentiveness

Transport

Española Island Day Tour (from San Cristóbal)

Isla San Cristóbal

Quality of Experience

The guide was patient and spent time explaining things and showing us the sights.

Food

The chef had prepared food but we did not eat it as we did not want to get sick on the boat

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Edwin and the boat staff were very helpful and fun to go with

Transport

Embarking on the North Seymour Yacht Adventure

Isla Santa Cruz

The guide was going ahead with a small group of people. Some of us were left behind and missed out on the things the guide explained and he did not repeat the same things when we were there.

Quality of Experience

For the price we paid the tour could have been better

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

They ran out of flippers of the correct size

Transport

Discovering Bartolome a full day yacht experience

Isla Santa Cruz

Our guide Martin was okay. He should have included the entire group when he was explaining things as some of the people were left behind. The crew of the Altamar also especially the Chef could have ensured we had beans and rice and adequate food as well (there were no snacks left). The flippers and snorkeling gear should have been tried either the day before or as soon as we got on the boat, instead of a few minutes before we were going to go snorkeling.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Transfer to the Airport for your domestic flight to the Galapagos Islands.

Quito

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

We were to have a private driver and private transfer upon our arrival at Lima to our "airport" hotel. We waited over 1/2 hour for a bus to show up. If we weren't pushed to the front of the bus boarding area by our 'driver', we may not have had seats. Almost a half hour of driving later we arrived at the hotel which was in an apparently abandoned area of the old airport; the hotel itself was behind very tall, locked gates. They could not find our reservation but luckily had available rooms.,,,,not a good start to our vacation.

Our return trip from Aguas Calientes/Machu Picchu to Cusco was to be via train. Instead, halfway back to Cusco, we had to transfer to a van for which we waited about 1/2 hour and rode another few hours without any restroom stop.

Our Cusco to Quito flight was to include only a stopover in Lima. Rather than the flights being booked as one reservation, we were booked on two separate reservations which meant we had to collect our bags from the carousel, recheck our bags and go through all security again.

All of the above could be chalked up to simple mistakes along the way.....we've traveled to 40 plus countries and are well aware not everything goes according to plan.

However, the trip to Palccoyo Rainbow Mountain was awful and dangerous. First, the driver showed up 1/2 hour late.
Approaching the van in the early morning darkness it was clear it was a beat up, poorly maintained van.
After searching for my seatbelt for many minutes, I asked the driver "Sexy Puma" where it was....he said 'oh it is missing, find another seat' which I did. From where I sat I could see the van's poor condition. There were knobs missing from the interior of sliding door. The sliding door could not be opened from the outside without opening the right side rider's door and reaching behind the rider's seat. All windows were filthy, including the windshield which was difficult to see through.... for the driver as well!
Rather than filling up with gas before picking up passengers, we stopped to get gas. Rather than getting out of the van to clean the windshield Sexy Puma sat in the driver's seat while an attendant filled the tank.
All along the radio is blasting from 4:30AM on, yet the heater was not....if it was even turned on....it was about 40-45 degrees fahrenheit. There was little if any suspension left to absorb the very rough ride. Kathie would have been in abject pain if she had come along on this trip.....I'm so glad she didn't.
I took a walk around the van at one of the stops and took pictures of missing body parts but most alarmingly bald and gouged tires! I also have pictures of the windows, windshield, missing parts etc.
Worse, the driver was passing every vehicle we came upon including passing a semi-truck on a blind, double lined S curve. If the semi driver hadn't slammed his brakes and partially pulled of the road, we would have been head on with oncoming traffic!!!
The van and the driver should be taken off the road!!!

I was not involved in the planning of the trip but felt that things could not have gone better. I am just beginning the travel portion of my life so I don’t have much to compare this trip to but I thoroughly enjoyed each and every hotel, meal and excursion we did. David set the standard for guides and it will be hard for any other guide to equal his efforts with our group. His communication and coordination of things with such a large group was fabulous. His love and knowledge of Ecuador shone through in everything we did.

David was amazing and explained everything and was very knowledgeable and informative. I would highly recommend him to everyone. Saul was an amazing guide in the rain forest. Everything in the Galapagos was also great.

Paul provided the best travel customer experience we’ve ever had!

From the start of travel planning he engaged. He provided a travel recommendations and responded to inquiries and suggestions immediately. Throughout the process he responded within minutes of questions being sent. This included multiple times of what we considered off hours on weekends and later than most of us work. He also called a couple of times to ensure we were on the same page. During the trip he asked how things were going and volunteered to travel (inconveniently across Quito to meet us). Kim Kim and Paul allowed us to create a photo album. Here we are nearly three months after the trip and he’s still been responsive to our questions and thank yous. We cannot recommend him enough!

The trip was amazing. My wife and I put it at the top of our list and we’ve traveled significantly. When we first looked at the itinerary we thought there might be too much snorkeling. I’m a scuba instructor and admittedly think snorkeling leaves something to be desired. To my amazement the snorkeling was better than many dives that I’ve done. Thank you for the humbling experience. We saw sharks, sea lions, sea horses, turtles, iguanas. Wonderful stuff. The birds, tortoises and SEALIONS were something else.

I loved that we asked for changes and Paul found options. Within the process we added a friend traveler and he was able to align our plans completely.

TOP NOTCH.

Paul - you truly are the best. Thank you!

Trip of a lifetime!
This was truly one of the best trips we’ve ever taken. Every part of the experience was thoughtfully planned and incredibly memorable. The itinerary was perfectly balanced and gave us the opportunity to experience all the key highlights of the islands while still feeling relaxed and enjoyable.

Paul made the entire trip completely stress-free. Every transfer, activity, and pickup was seamlessly coordinated, so we could simply enjoy the experience without worrying about logistics. His organization and attention to detail made a huge difference.

The wildlife experiences were absolutely unforgettable. Seeing so many animals in their natural habitat was incredible — especially the sea lions, which were amazing to watch up close. Each snorkeling excursion offered something unique, and we saw an incredible variety of marine life, including turtles, reef sharks, seahorses, penguins, and sea lions.

I honestly can’t say enough good things about this trip. It exceeded our expectations in every way, and Paul made the entire experience easy, smooth, and unforgettable. I would highly recommend working with Paul to plan your trip — you will be in excellent hands.

My guide was really Anthony. He planned a wonderful trip for me. I asked him a million questions, and he not only answered them, he even asked if I had any more questions. He was amazing. I never communicated with Maria Belen. Stalin was my guide in Ecuador, and he was great. There was one snag that you should address. No guide showed up to meet me at 6:15 in San Cristobal to take me to the pier. I needed help with my suitcases because of the steps in the hotel and down to the pier. I had no idea which pier to go to, but someone helped me. I also did not know which ferry was mine. I saw a woman sitting at the front of the correct pier. She looked official with a list of names. I checked with her and my name was there. She directed me where to go next. I don't know if who was supposed to be there, Lenin or a young man. I suggest that in the future you provide more details about the ferry rides and the company that is doing them.

I started planning my trip to Ecuador and Galapagos about 18 months before our travel date. I organized the trip for myself and 15 other people ended up coming too. I started with 4-5 different companies and ended up picking Alvaro at KimKim because he worked quickly, efficiently, and listened to what I wanted. I was extremely happy with the final itinerary and price.

There were a few tweaks that needed to be made, and once initial down payments were made, he didn’t respond as quickly as before. I was very worried, and others who had signed up were getting worried as well, but the trip was amazing.

Our guide throughout Ecuador was David. He was the best guide we could have asked for. He explained so much about his country, history, and culture. He was enthusiastic, passionate, and helpful. He made sure all activities were organized and enjoyable for all.

When we went to Mindo, two parts of the itinerary were left out, a coffee experience and ziplining. Alvaro made sure to add those items later in the itinerary.

Saul was an amazing guide in the Amazon rainforest. He was so knowledgeable about natural remedies and the forest. We all enjoyed the hiking, cave exploration, and indigenous experience.

We were sad to leave David, as he was not going with us to Galapagos, and we got a new guide. As wonderful as David was, our new guide was the opposite. Although she was very nice, this was her first tour ever, and it showed. She didn’t give us any information about the places we visited. Anytime I asked a question, she either didn’t know the answer or gave an incorrect answer. The group felt that she was just on vacation herself as she let the local guides do all of the work and just participated in the activities. We didn’t really need her on the trip at all since we had local guides. In addition, she was sick, and a few people on the trip also started to show symptoms of the cold that she had.

We went to Santa Cruz, Isabela, and San Cristobal and loved the islands. Our guide in San Cristobal even gave the group an autographed copy of his book! Thanks, Ian! I can’t wait to read it!

Overall, the trip was wonderful and everything went very smoothly. We did so many different activities and I appreciate the work Alvaro and David and the rest of the guides put in to make this a fabulous experience.

Overall our trip to the Galapagos was wonderful and we enjoyed ourselves very much.

Nature and highlights:
Amazing wildlife and we really appreciated the local knowledge and enthusiasm of the guides we had across the 4 islands we visited. This knowledge helped us see so much more than if we were on our own.

Hotels:
We enjoyed all of the hotels we stayed in and the responsiveness of the hosts. The Albemarle (Isabella island) was lovely but the very loud music next door until very late on a Friday night was unhelpful. I noticed this has been remarked upon in other reviews. Overall we enjoyed the hotels very much.

Guides:
We had superb guides in Alex, Ronnie, Daniella, and others whose names I have forgotten. All of the guides were absolutely excellent and were a major positive impact on our trip, except one - Gabriel on Isabella. Gabriel was a very nice guy and was trying to be helpful, however we had a communication problem in that neither of us could understand him very well. I appreciate that he has learned English but it wasn't good enough to be very useful. This was made worse by the fact that he was speaking very quickly and I suspect was a little stressed at the situation which became confusing.

As a result of our mis-communication we missed out part of our schedule and he changed it to a snorkel event at our extra cost without us knowing what was happening. We realised afterwards that we had missed the opportunity to see giant tortoises in the wild, which was very important to us (one of our highlights), so we separately hired bikes and completed the part that had been missed. The snorkel event that he took us on turned out to be very good, but we felt very confused as to what was happening. I reiterate that he was a very nice guy and was trying hard, but it was a language problem.

The snorkelling guide we had on our trip to Kicker Rock was really excellent.

Itinerary:
Overall, it was a really good and interesting itinerary. The one suggestion I would make would be to offer an alternative to the Sierra Negra volcano hike. For many tourists the heat, humidity and distance would be too much. We realised that we were not acclimatised enough for it and had to cancel it. We also heard of other tourists who turned back as it was too much.

There was some good variety in the itinerary and we felt like we had achieved a lot in our time there.

KimKim:
Maria Jose and the team at KimKim were very responsive and we were impressed with their support. It made a big difference to the trip to have everything so well organised. We were able to focus on the adventure rather than the administration, which was very much appreciated. We would happily recommend KimKim to other travellers.

I am incredibly impressed with the customer service provided by the team at KimKim! It was wonderful to not worry about ANYTHING - even all the taxis and boat trips were scheduled and paid for. We felt so taken care of and respected by everyone.

Veronica was our favorite guide. She was so knowledgeable and eager to answer our questions. One of my favorite moments was day one at Rancho Primicias - having lunch and watching the tortoises roam. I also loved our snorkeling and kayak experience at Concha Perla - we saw so much wildlife and had such a serene experience. The only struggle was that this guide did not speak any English on this tour - we of course understand that it is not something to expect, but all of our other guides did speak some English. The up side was I know a little Spanish so I was able to translate a bit for my mom and practice my own Spanish!!! :)

Fabricio was wonderful too - we loved our trip to North Seymour to see the frigates!!!

Overall, 100/10 experience and it was worth every penny. So happy and pleased with it all!!! Thank you!!

Hotel Reviews

Hotel La Laguna

Puerto Villamil

Our room overlooking the bay was incredible! We loved hearing the flamingoes from the balcony. The downside to this hotel was hearing street noise - there was a dog barking through the night on both nights we stayed there. I know this is not something that can be helped, though!

Authenticity & Character

Water on each floor, the open air concept, the breakfast on the third floor

Location

Right next to the bay with the flamingos and around the corner from wonderful shopping and food.

Staff

I cannot remember names, but all the staff at the front desk were wonderful! Two younger men.

Cleanliness & Comfort

The bed was great and we loved the room!

Hotel Fiesta

Puerto Ayora

Incredible location and beautiful pool! We loved Gabriel - he was so kind and helpful!

Authenticity & Character

The pool was very lagoon-like. So beautiful and relaxing!

Location

Staff

Gabriel - so kind and went out of his way to help us.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Review

Visit to the Charles Darwin Research Station

Puerto Ayora

This was the last stop of the day for us on day 1 and we had already had a full day (plus waking up at 5am for a flight), so we were a little too tired to enjoy it fully. We wished it would have been scheduled for a different day so we could have gone to the hotel to rest. But otherwise, we loved seeing the baby tortoises and Lonesome George!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

We booked a one-week trip to Ecuador for 2 people through Kimkim, including Quito, a guided city tour, and 3 days in the Galápagos — and the entire experience was fantastic from start to finish.

Our trip planner was Alvaro, and honestly, working with him was probably one of the best parts of the whole planning process. At the beginning, we only had a very rough idea of what we wanted to do. We were still unsure about the itinerary, duration, budget, and how to combine mainland Ecuador with the Galápagos. Based on that very vague starting point, Alvaro created an excellent first proposal with a concrete itinerary and transparent pricing, which immediately helped us visualize the trip.

What impressed us most was how easy and pleasant communication was. Every question and every requested change was answered incredibly quickly and always very professionally. For example, our first proposal was above our budget, and almost immediately Alvaro sent us an adapted version together with clear explanations of what had been changed and why. It never felt pushy — instead, it felt collaborative and genuinely personalized.

The payment process was also very straightforward and reassuring (30% deposit first, remaining balance later before the trip).

Another thing we really appreciated was that Alvaro kept checking in with us before the trip started, asking whether we still had questions and making sure we felt prepared. He also introduced us in advance to the local Ecuadorian partner responsible for the on-the-ground coordination (Sebastian from Responsible Travel South America).

This was honestly what made the whole experience feel so special: everything was incredibly easy and digital, but still deeply personal at the same time. Even though everything was organized online, we always felt like we had real people taking care of us.

I can 100% recommend Kimkim, and especially Alvaro, for anyone planning a trip to Ecuador.

Everything from start to finish was wonderful. Ariel helped us plan our trip and he was very responsive to our questions and requests! His communication with us throughout our trip was excellent. We began our trip in Quito. Our driver, Cristobal, was very helpful. He gave us suggestions for things to do in the city, and types of Ecuadorian foods to eat. More significantly, he walked us through the airport to get us to the Galapagos - customs, check in, and location of the security gate for our flight. Once in the Galapagos we had outstanding guides and Kimkim boots on the ground help. In San Cristobal, Ian made sure we were at the right places and on time. In Santa Cruz, Viviana gave us an outstanding Highland Tour. We’d highly recommend this tour as you can get up close to the giant tortoises in their natural environment. Scuba Iguana was an outstanding dive outfit. Our dive guides, Gabby and Kike, were awesome. We’ve dove in multiple places around the world and we’d say that Scuba Iguana was the best thus far - and we thought the others were good too! Staff is friendly and fun. They make a point of knowing your name, comfort level, and help every step of the way. We felt spoiled. While in Santa Cruz, my husband came down with a bad bacterial and viral infection that left him very dehydrated. We couldn’t have navigated this issue without the help of Kimkim boots on the ground. Many thanks to Diego, Veronica, and Tatiana for helping with Spanish translation, rearranging our stay, and ensuring we were well taken care of throughout a stressful situation. I will definitely work with Kimkim again on future trips.

Hotel Reviews

La Isla Hotel

Puerto Ayora

Clean and comfortable. Breakfast each morning was very good. Centrally located with many attractions within walking distance. Staff was very helpful and friendly. Loved the shower - it’s huge!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Galapagos Sunset Hotel

Puerto Baquerizo Moreno

Centrally located and close to many attractions

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

La Casona de La Ronda

Quito

Small boutique hotel with outstanding service. Clean and comfortable, friendly staff. We had a great breakfast at the hotel and dinners were wonderful too!

Authenticity & Character

Loved the architecture

Location

In the heart of the historic district and walking distance to many sights.

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Discover Isla Pinzón & Playa La Fé

Puerto Ayora

Scuba Diving - Another day to dive in Santa Cruz

Galapagos Islands

Scuba Diving - Another day to dive in Santa Cruz

Galapagos Islands

Hammerheads!!

Scuba Diving - Day Trip from Santa Cruz

Galapagos Islands

Scuba Iguana is a top notch dive outfit. Highly recommended!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Gabby and Kike were super! The captain of the boat, Enrique, was very good. Jose helped out with dive gear, snacks and lunch- outstanding.

Excursion to an uninhabited island

Galapagos Islands

Highlands of Santa Cruz Island

Galapagos Islands

Fun to see the giant tortoises in their natural environment.

Quality of Experience

Food

Outstanding!

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Viviana was very knowledgeable.

Transport

Snorkel at Kicker Rock (Leon Dormido)

Galapagos Islands

Quality of Experience

Certainly not the fault of the guides - visibility was not great. Make sure you don’t go when there’s a full moon. Apparently it impacts what you can see.

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

The entire vacation was very planned, ensuring that we covered all the sights at a decent pace. The local guides on each island were superb, helping us get the most of our trip. and giving us great insights That we had local support 24X7 was an added bonus! All in all, a great vacation and we look forward to our next vacation with Kimkim.

Perfect Trip Full Of Unforgettable Moments

Activity Reviews

Snorkel at Los Túneles

Galapagos Islands

Amazing snorkeling - we swam with sea turtles, sea lions, sharks and saw a sea horse!!! The sea lions were trying to play with us - so funny! We all had an amazing time and even my kids (11 & 13) were able to dive down and catch sharks in a sea tunnel! Amazing experience we’ll never forget

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Bay tour

Galapagos Islands

Amazing snorkeling - that was our favorite part of Galapagos throughout.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Excursion to an uninhabited island

Galapagos Islands

We had amazing snorkeling to start the trip - sharks, so many fish, turtles. The food was really good on the boat!!!

Quality of Experience

Mo

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Kayaking & Snorkeling at Las Tintoreras

Galapagos Islands

We saw so many amazing penguins and other animals! Spectacular kayaking. We don’t catch as many animals snorkeling but not a problem

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Transfer Baltra Airport - Puerto Ayora with visit to the highlands of Santa Cruz

Galapagos Islands

Quality of Experience

Food

Great meal with a spectacular view of the giant tortoises

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Ariel was amazing from the start and through out the trip. He was very responsive and helpful throughout every step of the trip. We were welcomed in the Galapagos by an amazing guide Vivianna. She was so knowledgable and helpful through out our whole stay. We had so many wonderful guides throughout the entire trip. Thank you to everyone who made this trip easy and exciting and unforgettable for our family of 5. Our hotels, drivers, boats, etc were all top notch. I cannot reccommend the entire team enough!

Hotel Reviews

Albemarle

Puerto Villamil

Great location and staff.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Ikala Galapagos Hotel

Puerto Ayora

Amazing location. Comfortable rooms. Great ambiance. GREAT breakfast. WONDERFUL staff

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Wyndham Quito Airport

Quito

Great staff. Great rooms. Top notch

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Visit to Garrapatero Beach

Galapagos Islands

Great way to end the trip, playing in some beautiful water

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Shared Trip to Flamingo Lagoon & Tortoise Breeding Center

Galapagos Islands

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Snorkel at Los Túneles

Galapagos Islands

Absolutely the highlight of our trip. Great guide. Great experience. Unique landscape and wildlife.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Kayaking & Snorkeling at Las Tintoreras

Galapagos Islands

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Bay tour

Galapagos Islands

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Excursion to an uninhabited island

Galapagos Islands

What a great experience for our family. We learned so much about the wildlife, as well as had a blast snorkling with some amazing creatures

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Visit to the Charles Darwin Research Station

Puerto Ayora

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Transfer to Quito Airport, Arrival to Galapagos & Highlands of Santa Cruz

Galapagos Islands

Vivianna our guide was absolutely amazing. She was knowledgable, kind, helpful. We learned so much and saw some incredible things.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Our trip to the Galapagos was very well planned. We enjoyed our few days on land ,interacting with the local culture.
Our cruise on the Treasure was fabulous. The Staff and Captain were excellent ,educational including a delicious variety of snacks,drinks and meals.

Thank you Paul

All was planned very well. We had a wonderful time in the Galapagos. They even planned a nice 50th Birthday dinner at a fancy restaurant including the cake in Santa Cruz, Galapagos. They accommodated when I had to cancel at the last minute an excursion due to my wife getting sick, and they were able to reschedule for the following day without to much hassle for me. Hotels were very nice as well as the private driver. They had somebody with us from the time we landed in Quito to the time we left Baltra back to Quito. I appreciate this attention to customer service. I would definitely travel with them again.