Kimkim Trip Reviews for Galapagos Islands

Lucia helped us out so much after we had some inconvenience getting into Ecuador, and had to change our flights and plans at such short notice.
The itinerary was amazing, with lots of snorkeling, and day trips, with some free time to explore and do more ourselves.
The only minor inconvenience was that when it said that breakfast was included we were not sure if it was in the hotel or on the tour. It was in the hotel so we missed breakfast our first day
All the guides in the Galapagos were very knowledgeable and helpful.

Activity Reviews

Welcome to Santa Cruz Island: Highlands & Charles Darwin Research Station

Puerto Ayora

Great way to get to know the Galapagos and the local wildlife

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Morning Bay Tour & Afternoon at leisure in Santa Cruz

Puerto Ayora

Great snorkeling, some great videos and pictures from this experience, and our guide knew the best places to see turtles and other fish. The hike and swim were also incredible

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Speedboat to Santa Cruz Island & Kayaking on Tortuga Bay

Galapagos Islands

Our guide Viviana was great but we couldn't see much on the kayaks as the water was quite cloudy and dirty. Tortuga bay is a must visit on Santa Cruz island though!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Excursion to Los Túneles

Galapagos Islands

Incredible snorkeling experiences, guide knew the best spots and was very accomodating to help get pictures and videos using the GoPro. Very knowledgeable on the local wildlife and surrounding area

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Discover Pinzon Island & La Fé

Puerto Ayora

First snorkel spot was very wavy and tough to see much. Second snorkel spot was so clear as we swam with sea lions, turtles, sharks and more! Definitely worth it for the second snorkel alone. Did some fishing (didn't catch anything unfortunately), got a lovely lunch on the boat, and enjoyed both la fe and pinzon

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Wildlife Tour on Isabela Island

Galapagos Islands

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Our trip turned out to be one of the best we’ve ever taken! The kimkim team switched team members mid planning but after a “get to know you” period all was good! Covid also played a major roll in getting this trip from planning to execution. So even though we had some hiccups, all turned out well.

Daniel Larrea, our travel planner, put together an amazing itinerary. Learning about my passion for art, he created an Art day for me. From touring museums to wandering through the street art fair, I saw amazing Ecuadorian art. Our guide, Daniel Silva, was engaging, honest and a joy to be around. He guided us for two days around Quito. From the Art day to the City walk day, our days were filled with stunning churches, an engaging cooking class and lots of knowledge about a city I knew little about. It was a wonderful experience.

Daniel Larrea also provided us with seamless transfers between airports and locations. Upon our arrival in Baltra, we expected a driver to our hotel. What we got was an incredible naturalist, Vivianna, who took us to a land tortoise preserve, giving us a first class tour and background of this incredible animal. Then we were taken to our hotel for the evening. The morning transfer from the hotel back to Baltra to meet the cruise team was seamless. My husband, who typically avoids tours and having people meet us at the airport and guide us to a our hotel, actually really saw the value and agrees this is the only way to travel from now on!

Thank you kimkim for making our trip to Ecuador and its natural wonders one for the ages!

A quick note that my family had an amazing trip to the Galapagos. A special thank you to Mathias who helped with the pre-planning, advance trip details and check-ins during the trip to make sure everything went smoothly.
We visited all three islands and had great excursions and experiences on all. Mathias planned just enough snorkeling, hiking and travel with down time to spend with the family. ALL of our guides were top notch and were prompt and very knowledgeable and engaging.
It is hard to pick favorites as we encountered something special everyday from swimming with playful sea lions to having an hour on our own private beach. Bartolome Island is a must and seeing and snorkeling with the penguins was an added bonus.
It was a once in a lifetime trip for my family and the service we received was A+ - thank you Mathias

Hotel Reviews

Albemarle

Puerto Villamil

Services were very good. Staff was very helpful. The hotel had a good courtyard for breakfast and leisure, and we enjoyed the rooftop for evening family social time.

Authenticity & Character

Location

right on the ocean

Staff

very helpful. We did our laundry on this portion of the trip with the hotel. Well done and very reasonable.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Acacia Galápagos Boutique Hotel

Puerto Ayora

Very comfortable rooms and beds. Breakfast was good and location close to but off the strip was ideal for my family.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Interpretation Center & Tijeretas Hill

Galapagos Islands

Enrique was a great guide. He got us all setup with our snorkel gear and wet suits. He gave us a good overview and let us view the interpretation center before going snorkeling. He was a great snorkeling guide. We went further into the cove with him and definitely saw more marine life. The sea lions were great, and this was the first place we swam with the turtles.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Fantastic!

Transport

Timely and comfortable

Snorkel at Kicker Rock (Leon Dormido)

Galapagos Islands

Great rip- we really enjoyed the beach stop and of course kicker rock. Snorkeling on the beach was fun and then seeing the hammerheads and marine life around kicker rock was amazing.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Guide was excellent, boat was very good. They spotted dolphins on the way out and engaged us with them.

Transport

Timely. Boat was comfortable.

Exploring Isabela Island by bike

Puerto Villamil

This was our relaxing day. Bike ride was fun and we stopped at different spots on the ride. We really enjoyed body surfing and swimming on the beautiful beach.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

picking up the bikes was easy with the service from Emilee

Snorkel at Los Túneles

Galapagos Islands

Maximo was excellent - the kids got to see a school of 20+ young sharks. The tunnels and landscape are amazing. We were treated to some great blue footed boobie dances on this trip.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Kayaking & Snorkeling at Las Tintoreras

Galapagos Islands

This was very close to the hotel and a shorter trip. We saw sea lions, many turtles and snorkeled over the sleeping sharks.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Excursion to an uninhabited island

Galapagos Islands

This was a very special day and trip. Roughly two hours to get to the island via boat but well worth the time. The hike tour was very information on the volcanic formation. And the view ..... WOW. The lunch was great and the snorkeling with the penguins was something everyone wanted to see.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Guides were very information, engaging.

Transport

Highlands of Santa Cruz Island

Galapagos Islands

This was a very relaxing day before we left the island. Our guide was simply fantastic! Seeing and learning about the tortoises were great.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Tamer created us a brilliant trip to the Galápagos Islands which turned out to be the most wonderful experience. Tamer was extremely helpful with all our requests and very quick at responding and assisted us beyond what was required! What we loved were the personal touches including greeting us as Quito airport and checking in with us whilst we were out there, not to mention my generous bday gift! All tours and pickups were smooth with no issues. We had lovely hotels with excellent views, friendly staff and were all clean. Acacia hotel was our personal favourite. All three islands were beautiful. We would highly recommend the Pinzon snorkelling tour, Kicker rock, the volcano Hike aswell as the trip to Espagnola! Memorable guides include Vivienne from Santa Cruz who took us on the highlands tours to see the amazing giant tortoises and Sol in San Cristobal. We will be forever grateful to Tamer for organising this trip for us who even went out of his way to help my husband plan something nice for my birthday. We would highly recommend!

Hotel Review

Acacia Galápagos Boutique Hotel

Puerto Ayora

Everything from cleanliness and service to breakfast was absolutely brilliant. We couldn't not fault this place!

Authenticity & Character

Lovely rooms with good decor

Location

Close proximity to restaurants, pier, shops.

Staff

Friendly and helpful

Cleanliness & Comfort

Sparkling clean

Activity Reviews

Welcome to Santa Cruz Island: Highlands & Charles Darwin Research Station

Puerto Ayora

Discover Pinzon Island & La Fé

Puerto Ayora

A successful trip! we saw so much- sea turtles, rays, sharks and played with sea lions. Boat was comfortable and food great too

Sierra Negra volcano - Speedboat to Santa Cruz

Galapagos Islands

The hike took us about 5 hours and was more challenging than expected but definitely rewarding with stunning views!

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

* It was a 'last minute' solo trip of high expectations - they have been meet in 99% .
1% missing for skipping few breakfasts ahead of several-hours long activities - overlooking timings of my breakfast VS my departure - accommodation places could have prepared take away breakfast.

* Quality level of the activities will depend on a random assignment of the available guide. I have had a luck to meet wonderful knowledgable Señor Wilson Rojas at San Cristóbal Island, who provided me with the knowledge for the whole trip in one go.

* Planning the trip conversation is very American-tourist oriented; you are flooded with overly merry and abundant in adjectives vocabulary, as if you haven't chosen the place yet and you need to be convinced (feels like advertising to sell) - unnecessary; you need to fish out from all the redundant content what actually is the essence that the place has to offer - bullet points KIKKIM Guys, no need to sell me, what I have chosen to buy already, lol.

* Reliable, fluid logistics, well-in-place communication and organisation (even though remote), all details, including most of petty expenses have been secured. Overall great experience with KIMKIM; and guides preparing my plan - Lucia and Dani - gracias!

Hotel Review

Hotel Deja Vu Galapagos

Pto. Ayora

Overpriced for the value ($140 per night is outrageous); * Choice of young travellers (16+); very noisy, as adolescences are fun (not rest) oriented * Room comfort is low (old furnitures, bed sheets, no aesthetics) * Insufficient internet - almost not working when hotel has 50% of residents in place * Far from the main street

Authenticity & Character

Furniture, bed sheets, overall aesthetics and integrity of the place - all seemed of random choice

Location

Nothing... building is built already :) ...bit far from the main street, unpleasant too come back to at night

Staff

Standard, polite, informative staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Not much comfort, noisy, practically no internet

Activity Review

Kicker Rock: A Snorkeling Adventure

Isla San Cristóbal

Very interesting deep water spot, lots of wildlife to observe, long satisfying activity, rest on serene scenic island in vicinity. Enjoyable boat facilities.

Quality of Experience

Uninhabited island visited after the snorkelling, where you can observe marine iguanas.

Food

Excellent diversity available for customers on any type of diet.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Standard

Transport

Great full-day-trip-equipped boat, unfortunately gasoline polluted water in a bathroom, they had it covered with extra water supply.

Linda, Sebastian, and Alejandro were all fantastic! Linda planned the perfect week for our family to enjoy activities and take in the beautiful country. We had so much fun and loved our accommodations and tours. Would absolutely recommend!

Hotel Review

Old Town Quito Suites

Centro Historico, Quito

Super comfortable, great rooms, and really nice kitchen set up.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Review

Quito Cooking Class

Galapagos Islands

This was so fun and engaging for our kids! It ended up being quite tasty, too. A real highlight!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

I had an INCREDIBLE trip to the Galapagos, with major MAJOR thanks to Daniel (and his colleague Alvaro). They took the time to understand me and what I wanted to do (they knew I liked to swim, wanted to see animals, and would be a solo traveler so would need support with logistics, etc) - and then organized an itinerary that solved for all of this. Daniel was always available to help me answer questions and ensure I was set for the next day, and really made me feel welcome. He even left a welcome package for me at the hotel the first night I arrived, with some gifts and a welcome message (and an incredible hand drawing he did himself). My final day I had a 6 hour layover in the airport, so Daniel and Alvaro actually came and picked me up and took me out to dinner as well. I even had an incident where clothes in my suitcase got wet in the rain one day in the Galapagos during transport, and a local person came and picked up my clothes, dried them, and brought them back the next morning. Overall the entire experience was so wonderful, hassle-free, and really nice - I always felt safe, taken care of, and relaxed when it came to thinking about the trip. I had a great time in both Puerto Ayora and Puerto Villamil (Isabel island was really amazing), and also on all the side trips where I benefitted from Daniel's recommendations (e.g., Bartolome Island). The best part is that Daniel made all of this happen on incredibly short notice - I asked to book the trip just one week before I traveled. I'm super SUPER grateful to Daniel, Alvaro, KimKim, and all of the local partner agencies, and I can't wait to meet Daniel and everyone again sometime in Ecuador. Thank you thank you :)

Hotel Review

La Casa de Marita

Puerto Villamil

Really loved this hotel. The staff were INCREDIBLY nice, the food at the restaurant was amazing, and the location right on the beach was perfect to take a swim any time of day. Perhaps the only downside was that the roof had a leak so on a rainy night I had to put a towel on the floor where the roof was leaking, but I think this will be fixed. Overall, really happy to have stayed here.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Review

Experience the Pristine Beauty of Galápagos Islands: Discovering an Uninhabited Island

Puerto Ayora

Day trip to Bartolome island was amazing, highly recommend!

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

We had the best trip to the Galapagos Islands with Jackeline's help! She helped us decide between a few types of trips and was always available to answer questions. We picked an 8-day cruise through the Galapagos and it was definitely a once in a lifetime experience. Jackeline called ahead to let the crew know it was a special trip for us. Our cabin on the boat was upgraded and the chef baked us a surprise cake (no easy task on a small yacht!). We realized we needed a covid test to re-enter the states and Jackeline had someone meet us at the airport to administer. It was so easy and seamless - we had results within one hour. I highly recommend Jackeline, KimKim and the Galapagos Islands for future travel!!

Planning my trip to Ecuador and the Galápagos Islands was a daunting task. Luckily I found kimkim and especially Mathias to guide me on a fantastic journey. Mathias worked closely with me to customize the perfect itinerary for all the things I wanted to do and see. Not only this, but Mathias gave me great advice ranging from packing lists to to restaurants to how to split up my time across locations. He also scheduled things like airport/hotel pickups, taxi boat fees and Covid testing which made my life so much simpler. It’s also great that kimkim has a chat tool that let us communicate throughout the whole process.

What put Mathias and this service beyond 5 stars is that after booking, the support didn’t stop. We had frequent communications each day of the trip, ensuring I had a good time on the excursion and was ready for the next day. And each event was top quality, often with private guides!

I was beyond impressed with Mathias and the kimkim service. I 100% recommend the use of the service for a complicated trip like Ecuador and the Galapagos.

Hotel Review

Tambopaxi Cotopaxi Lodge

Parque Nacional Cotopaxi

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Review

Kayaking & Snorkeling at Las Tintoreras

Galapagos Islands

So great to get some exercise in the kayak and explore where a boat cannot go. Swam with marine iguanas and sea lions, and saw penguins too!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Planning a visit to a “bucket list” location like the Galapagos can be daunting…especially if you are a working parent on a budget. Whereas many people will tell you that you need to go via a “got you covered, take you everywhere and serve your every need” cruise, that just wasn’t in our budget…and quite frankly, isn’t our style either. We’ve traveled to 5 continents and doing it on our own – getting local flavor – that’s the way we’ve planned all of our trips…But to do the Galapagos right, (in a pandemic!)..well, we were beyond thankful to have KimKim (and Daniel specifically) on our team.

Originally planned to go in December 2020, we needed to postpone during the pre-vaccination Covid days. So, we punted a year – and rejiggered our thoughts. We shared what our interests were…hiking, horseback riding, snorkeling...and a little down time. We shared our budget. We shared our needs and wants. And KimKim came up with several options for us to look through and decide between. Once we were a go, we felt great about our itinerary – and even got hotel confirmations to help us feel like we for sure had a place to go (something we worried about a little since we’d never done business with KimKim before.).

At the last minute – weeks before our trip – we asked to add a new option to our plan. Again, KimKim came through. In the end, we were able to explore four islands and had a really wonderful understanding of the geography, endemic animals, and saw every bird, reptile, amphibian, and mammal on our list more than once. We’re an active family – we were genuinely very happy with how busy our days were but that we also had evenings and sometimes afternoons to do a little swimming in the ocean and enjoy local flavors.

We had guides meet us at every point, helping us navigate tricky things like the boats between Santa Cruz and Isabela…if we needed dinner ideas or reservations, they were there. And if a guide was running behind, we had Daniel on WhatsApp always willing to check things out and ensure we had what we needed in real time. As we were there over the holidays, we also appreciated Daniel explaining local traditions to us so we weren’t operating as ugly tourists (and also knew to buy some grapes to bring in the new year!)

In short, we cannot recommend KimKim / Daniel highly enough.

This was Eileen’s dream trip. In March of 2020 we came one question away from booking our trip with another company when COVID-19 stopped the world.

At the beginning of June 2021 we started talking to KimKim and they connected us with Daniel Larrea, their Ecuadoran expert. They could not have found anyone better. Three different itineraries came to us in a couple of days. They were all good, but one was really on target for us. We asked, and Daniel answered a lot of questions over the next few months. A number of tweaks to the schedule were not a problem. We booked and waited for October.

At every step, Daniel was superb and a pleasure to speak with from the “middle of the world” as he likes to say. Responses to our questions came within hours.
They always contained an amazing level of detail, whether on hotels, guides, pickups, or transfers. Everything was well planned.

He even came to meet us at the hotel the day we landed!

We got home on November 4th and it could not have gone better. Everything Daniel arranged worked out like clockwork. The guide, David, in Quito was a true professional. He has an amazing level of knowledge on everything from history to the flora and fauna we saw along the way. After we expressed interest he rearranged the whole 5 day schedule so that we could participate in the Sunday Quito bike ride. The bonus to that was being able to hike at Cotopaxi on Monday with almost no one else there.

Once we transferred to the Galapagos, the ship the Integrity, was luxurious and beyond our expectations. The staff was outstanding. Having a stateroom with a kingsize bed, a private balcony, and only 16 other guests certainly helped add to the level of luxury and attention provided. 8 days flew by in a blur of hikes, snorkeling, kayaking led by the expert naturalists on board. All of the meals were delicious and varied and they accommodated a dietary restriction perfectly .

Another terrific choice by Daniel was our guide in Guayaquil. Francisco provided us with a wonderful city tour in the morning and early afternoon. He then came back to get us at the hotel at 11 PM to drive us to the airport and walk us through every aspect of airport check-in up until we said our goodbyes at the entrance to security.

We are happy to give top marks in every category for Daniel and all the folks he lined up to take care of us. The KimKim model of using local experts certainly worked for us and we wholeheartedly recommend the company and its chosen experts!

Peruvian Soul is amazing!! They crafted a truly unique dream vacation to Machu Picchu and the Galapagos. Nicholas and the entire team navigated the challenges of Covid in the most exceptional ways and took all the stress away to experience a dream vacation of a lifetime. Julio is a world class guide who lead our trip through Peru. We got to see the sunrise over the Temple of Sun near the solstice and we got to see the full effect and connect with the ancient Incas through this shared experience. The Galapagos was also amazing, and the team took care of the intricacies of traveling there so we could enjoy swimming with Penguins worry free! Truly remarkable, I highly recommend Peruvian Soul.

We had a wonderful trip to the Galapagos! the trip went smooth and we always had a guide to meet us at different islands upon arrival. Our guides were helpful and great at rectifying situations. For instance, my boyfriend and I were going to go on a snorkel/dive session. He was going to dive while I snorkeled, but we were going to be on the same boat. For some reason, I was instructed by one of the boat companies to go on a different boat. I assumed we were meeting together but thought it was odd. Our guide Darwin recognized this and called the guide on my boat and asked them to turn around so we could be on the same boat. Darwin was great at looking out for us! Our flight also got delayed and he was able to change his schedule so that we could walk around the island more instead of wait for several hours in the airport. Also, I had left my phone charger on a different Island and Karina, our guide from that Island, had it sent to Darwin! I figured it was gone forever! All in all, the Galapagos is a wonderful place and we would love to return!

Thank you Edwin for organizing the perfect experience in the Galapagos for us. Our guide Karla was the best! She was knowledgeable about all aspects of the island and very sensitive to our needs. We had a great time and would highly recommend Karla as a guide!

Hi Linda was the most wonderful source and seemed to tune in to our
particular needs.
The guides were wonderful. Christian did a great job in Quito with our
two excursions..even took Bob to a shop for him to buy a coat. Impressed with
his knowledge and driving in difficult conditions...rainstorms.
Carlos in Santa Cruz took us to a great beach where we were the only people for an hour or so and we loved that...great swimming.
The ships crews were just amazing...great food and terrific outings..was
impressed by all the activities that were offered.
We liked all the hotels especially liked our stay on Santa Cruz Island and woul
have stayed there for one more day and one less day in Quito.
I loved the atmosphere of the hotel in Quito, but it was very noisy ...with
dogs barking and the cars so sleeping for me was difficult.
Truly a wonderful trip for two seniors that suited us perfectly.
Well done Linda and her associates!
Pat and Bob Yaccato

I can’t remember all of the guides names but they were all very good. The entire trip was incredible.

My family just came back from our Christmas trip to Galapagos and it was wonderful. Since I booked the trip too late (even it was 6 months ahead), I couldn't find a cruise that would fit our schedules. So I turned to my old friend Kimkim. They once again did a good job arranging our 8 day trip among the three islands. The whole trip went smoothly and we were in good hands at each step, all the tours and guides we had were very good as well. We will never forget the experience of swimming with sea turtles, it was surreal. Thank our local specialist Edwin for being patient with my while designing the trip and also his speedy help during the trip. Especially thanks for our guide Nelly (The lady who lead our Tuneles tour on the Christmas day), she encouraged and helped me (since I had an injured arm) to complete the snorkeling which turned out to be the highlight of the trip.
If I have to say one thing to improve, it would be that the instruction should emphasize the entrance fees etc. can only be paid by cash.

I cannot say enough about Iveth and her team. They were absolutely phenomenal. Our trip to the Galapagos went off without a hitch. And given the fact that there was a countrywide shutdown of transportation and its providers, it was a miracle that none of our plans were changed. They were quick on their feet, responsive and- most of all- protective of us and of our experience. The tours that Iveth arranged in the islands were informative, fun and adventurous. A few times we had personal guides that provided one-on-one insight into the Galapagos and its amazing inhabitants. We saw every animal we wanted to see! The hotels that we stayed in were all good to great with hot showers and comfortable beds (true necessities after a day of exploring!).
Iveth was truly lovely and she made sure that we were taken care of every step of the way. She knows her territory and she loves her country and its people. Her enthusiasm shows through in her attention to detail and her ability to put the right guide with the right people. When we return to Ecuador, which we have promised Iveth we would, we will definitely use her services again.

Trip was wonderful overall, and Parque Hotel was exceptional. Receipt of itinerary details could have come earlier. Also, itinerary should include address and phone number of Hotel (some confusion since several hotels have similar names in Guayaquil). Katie was very pleasant and responsive .

We had a most memorable trip. From our conversations via message with Edwin, who answered all my queries, to Karla who met us at the airport and then guided us through her Galapagos. Her passion and knowledge for the Islands was evident and she was patient in explaining all the different flora and fauna. She was so accommodating with me when we had to do the 3x 3 hour boat trips as I can get sea sick and also helped out a complete stranger who was really sick on one of the trips. We enjoyed having our own free time and Karla’s suggestions for dinner.
I was great to have someone who spoke Spanish and knew the ways to get tickets, where o go and the best places to sit.
The different activities were good but I would suggest offering to be able to bike ride the wetlands on Isabela Island so that the wall of tears could be reached as well. Also just something a bit different as we enjoy bike riding. Or maybe offer it as something that could be done on the free afternoon.
Taking into account where we were, I felt the first stay on San Cristobel was just adequate. Santa Cruz’s Hotel was lovely but Isabela Island hostel was very basic. Our room was next to a generator that constantly went off. The ‘taxi driver’ was the son of the hotelier. He was not friendly, drove like he was on a car rally and totally did not understand his clients.
That was really the only down side to an otherwise memorable trip to the Galapagos!! Thanks kimkim

Ps- other that me losing my necklace that will hopefully be at one of the hotels!!
Raeanne and Colin McLean