Galápagos.

The Galápagos is the exception on the charter map. A week here is an expedition rather than a coastal cruise, run on licensed vessels under national-park rules, with the wildlife and the landings, not the marinas, setting the shape of the days. The archipelago sits on the equator far off the coast of Ecuador, and the yacht is the platform for reaching islands that have no other access.

How a Galápagos charter works is unlike anywhere else we operate. The national park licenses the vessels and regulates the itineraries, so a route is set within the park framework rather than improvised day to day. Puerto Ayora on Santa Cruz and Puerto Baquerizo Moreno on San Cristóbal are the embarkation points, and the week runs from there across a permitted circuit of landings and anchorages.

What the advisor handles on a yacht charter in the Galápagos is the arranging, not the improvising. Vessel selection comes first, since the licensed fleet is finite and the right platform for the brief is the constraint that shapes everything after it. Permits and the park-approved itinerary follow, and the timing is set well ahead, the lead time is materially longer than a Mediterranean week. The advisor coordinates the licensed operator and the permitted routing directly.

The archipelago cruises year-round, across two windows with different characters. The cooler, drier months and the warmer, wetter months each carry their own marine-life activity, and neither closes the cruising. The choice between them is set against the brief and the availability of the licensed vessel, and arranged, like everything else here, well in advance.