Galapagos Islands Sharks Adventures
8 days | 4 Islands | 4 Biomes
August 2 0 2 6
1st TRIP - 9 to 16 of August
2nd TRIP - 23 to 30 of August
Day 1
First, arrive at José Joaquín de Olmedo Airport (GYE) in Guayaquil, Ecuador, South America. Here, our staff will greet and transfer you to your comfortable accommodation. Please, take your time to relax and settle down in your room.
Note: We recommend arriving in Guayaquil one (1) to two (2) days before this Biomas Adventure’s starting day.
We have a suggested (NOT INCLUDED) full-day adventure to the Tropical Dry Forests and Cocoa plantation experience.
Day 2
Today we departure to the Capital of the Enchanted Islands, San Cristobal Island.
After lunch, we’ll have our first Galapagos Adventure. We will hike to Tijeretas viewpoint and then jump into the Pacific Ocean for our first underwater experience.
For those who haven’t been in the ocean before, this would be great for a snorkeling briefing, as well as for those eager to explore the underwater world in the Galápagos.
During dinner, we’ll have our Meet & Greet session and go over the 8-day itinerary.
Day 3
Join us for an unforgettable full-day adventure to Kicker Rock Islet and other iconic destinations on San Cristóbal Island!
Kicker Rock is a dramatic rock formation that is renowned for its breathtaking landscapes and incredible biodiversity, making it one of the top snorkeling spots in the Galápagos.
You are about to immerse yourself in nutrient-rich waters, where you may encounter graceful sea turtles, majestic sharks (Hammerhead shark spot), and tropical fish schools.
Day 4
We’ll be heading to Sta. Cruz Island on a morning boat ride. For those willing to relax and swimming with juvenile Blacktip sharks, a nearby beach will be the next stop before having lunch. After our meal, we’ll enjoy the famous Academy Bay Tour in Santa Cruz Island.
This day we will meet our scientific shark host partners, who will explain every detail of the Bullhead Shark Conservation Project.
Day 5
We’ll be heading to Floreana Island on a morning boat ride. This will be a full-day adventure citizen science experience with our Bullhead Shark partners.
We’ll get ready to have our mission-driven snorkeling adventure to search and help researchers to spot Bullhead Sharks and to also understand their habitats.
Day 6
Today, we will start early morning. Bullhead sharks are more active during dawn and dusk, and we will jump into the water to search for more of these charismatic sharks early in the morning.
After lunch, we’ll be heading back to Santa Cruz Island on an afternoon boat ride.
Day 7
The last day will be our final connection with the Galapagos Pacific Ocean in Pinzon Island. This island will provide a mixture of drifting and chilling snorkeling, freediving, and swimming experiences with nice sandy bottoms.
Day 8
We’ll end our week of adventures visiting the living dinosaurs, the Galapagos Giant Tortoise in the highlands of Santa Cruz Island, and also visit “The Twins or Los Gemelos” a stunning pair of volcanic sinkholes nestled in the lush Scalesia Cloud Forest of the highlands.
You’ll fly back to mainland Ecuador. You’ll be taken to your accommodation.
As you set off on your next adventure, remember that while you may be leaving Ecuador, Ecuador will never leave you.
Who is this adventure for?
-
This adventure is great for anyone interested in sharks.
We have designed it in such a way that Galapagos nature will embrace your adventurer spirit.
-
This adventure is great for freestyle freedivers, who want to share their passion and skills in order to contribute to shark spotting and marine conservation.
-
We have designed this tour for mid-high level swimmers and people with knowledge of snorkeling in the ocean and seas.
No worries if you are begginer levl, we have other options for you and your group too. -
Photographers, Videographers, Adventure vloggers, science & travel journalists. All of you who need to share quality resonant stories.
What could be better than ecotourism, science, and the Galapagos?
What’s Included
All 7 hotel nights in Guayaquil and the Galápagos Islands (Look at the note).
Round-trip flight ticket from Guayaquil to the Galápagos Islands.
Breakfasts from Day 2 to 8.
Lunches from Day 2 to 7.
Welcome and farewell dinner in the Galápagos Islands.
Local guide experts, Concierge, and Tour Leader.
Snorkeling Gear for all water tours.
All land and sea transportation.
Not included:
Galapagos National Park Entrance Fee
Galapagos Migratory Control Card
Tips
Anything that has not been mentioned above.
Note: Accommodations are in twin-share rooms, but we can also arrange same-room family accommodations. If you want single or upgraded accommodation, don't hesitate to get in touch with us. This will incur an extra cost and is date-dependent.
Your Team Leaders
We’re biologists and ecologists, and we’re so excited to show you our home country and share with you our experiences as we learn from you in this Biomas Adventure!
-
Gianna Haro MPS. is a proud Galapagueña, from Santa Cruz Island. She is a Biologist with a master’s in Environmental Management from Cornell University, USA.
As a raised Galapagueña, she spent her childhood swimming in the ocean, collecting dead plants and insects, and inventing scientific names for them. This early curiosity led her to pursue a Biology degree at U. California Santa Barbara, shaping her career in community-based conservation and ecotourism.
With over seven years of experience, she has worked as a biologist, environmental educator, eco-entrepreneur, as the first Certified Ecuadorian Women Freediving Instructor and as a certified naturalist guide in the Galápagos and Alaska.
She has shared Galápagos and Alaska’s unique biodiversity to diverse audiences, including tourists, students, scientists, park rangers, and NGOs.
She is a NetGeo Field Educator and a member of the Island Education Network (IEN), where she is currently contributing to a book on island education worldwide.
After six years guiding for NatGeo-Lindblad Expeditions, Silversea Cruises and Swimtrek, Gianna wanted to enhance her career. She pursued her master’s at Cornell University and she is currently working in climate resilience, geographic information and water equity in New York State.
Despite living in the US for now, Galápagos keeps her eyes sparkling, as here is where her heat belongs. This is why she co-created Biomas Adventures with her husband Juan de Dios Morales.
Her favorite biome is the open ocean, which inspired her to develop educational programs like the National Environmental Education Plan for Sea Turtle Conservation with Wild Aid in Ecuador. Her passion for experiential learning led to the creation of "Galapa-Guess," a fun, interactive game about the Galápagos that she loves sharing during Biomas Adventures, along with a few dad jokes (watch out)!
Interesting fact:
She produced “Journey Back to Alcedo”, the first Galápagos documentary ever produced by a Galapagueña that highlights women in science and conservation.She is the second generation of a naturalist guide in Galápagos. Her dad, Roberto, was one of the first Ecuadorian Galápagos naturalist guides (1978) in a tourism market mainly led by English/German nationals.
-
Juan de Dios Morales MSc. is an ecologist with a master’s in Environment from the U. of Melbourne, Australia.
His career pathway has taken him to become a creative biodiversity conservationist, nature/travel photography awardee, ecotourism leader/guide, entrepreneur advocate, environmentally sustainable, and a eco-communicator.
His passion for culturally and naturally rich adventures has led him to visit earth’s most precious biomes. He is deeply connected to his home region of South America, with places such as the Galápagos National Park, the Uyuni Saltflats in Bolivia, and the Ecuadorian Amazon. He has traveled to all continents and enjoyed many outstanding Biomas Adventures, from scuba diving at the breathtaking great barrier reef and swimming with great white sharks in Australia, all the way up to hiking at the purified peaks of the Himalayas in Nepal, into the deepness of the Malaysian Borneo old grown forest searching for wild orangutans, to searching for whales and penguins in Antarctica. He has also visited different world-renowned national parks such as Komodo National Park in Indonesia and the Yala National Park in Sri Lanka, and mystical places like Myanmar where cultural heritage has ignited his desire for creating Biomas Adventures for everyone.
Him and his partner, Gianna, moved to the US to achieve a family goal, Gianna’s masters at Cornell University. With a customer service mindset, Juan de Dios has worked for Cornell at the lab of Ornithology and the Statler Hotel.
His favorite “bioma” (biome) is the tropical dry forests (TDFs) of Ecuador, where he has boosted his conservation and ecotourism career when he created the award- winning Wild GYE Initiative (WGI). With WGI he published two books and reached out to people to protect the TDF. This biome substantially contributes to endemic species of birds, reptiles, and plants in the region and due to the fast destruction, this biome is struggling to thrive.
Interesting fact: He comes from a legacy of traditionally rooted and globally-minded family that has worked in the travel and tourism industry for generations.
-
Maximilian Hirschfeld PhD. is a marine biologist and population geneticist whose career has been shaped by a deep fascination with the hidden lives of sharks and the evolutionary stories written across the world’s oceans. He holds a PhD in Marine Sciences from James Cook University, where he investigated how oceanic barriers and island landscapes shape genetic and biogeographic patterns in elasmobranchs—sharks, skates, and rays.
His research across the Indo-Pacific and the Galápagos revealed how physical isolation and species biology regulate genetic connectivity, especially in archipelagos and shallow-reef ecosystems. His findings have been published in leading scientific journals, shedding light on how marine species evolve and persist over millions of years.
Before his doctoral work, Maximilian completed a Master’s in Tropical Ecology at the Universidad San Francisco de Quito, conducting extensive research with the Galápagos National Park, followed by a Bachelor’s in Ecology and Biodiversity at the University of Salzburg. He has been part of international research groups across Australia, Ecuador, and Europe, contributing to conferences, scientific committees, and key marine conservation initiatives. With expertise spanning population genetics, conservation biology, marine protected areas, and science communication, he bridges research excellence with a passion for sharing the oceans’ most extraordinary stories.
Today, he brings that spirit of discovery to travelers—inviting them to dive into one of the most remarkable conservation adventures in the Archipelago: the search for the ancient Galapagos bullhead shark.
Interesting fact: He is an underwater photographer from Munich-Germany, who has been featured on German TV broadcasts and has published the first research about the Galapagos Bullhead Shark.