"What an amazing family adventure! We just returned from 6 nights at Pikaia Lodge. First, the Lodge: spectacular! The level of service was amazing. The rooms are spacious and the pool and grounds are spectacular. The land tours and the navigations were planned so well and every day was a new adventure. Second, our guide: Duncan. Duncan was super accommodating, very knowledgeable and a fun guy to have as our family guide. He made our trip! Third, the logistics. We traveled with our grown daughters and their husbands and our 1 year old granddaughter. The Lodge made all transfers seamless and comfortable, and made traveling with an infant so easy. If you are a little intimidated about traveling to Ecuador (as we were), do not give it a second thought: contact Maybel Karola Galvez of zeros3traveladvisor. She will arrange your flights and transfers, personally guide you through the airports, and ensure that your travels throughout Ecuador are worry free (even with an infant!, all at a very reasonable cost. Finally a message to all the staff at Pikaia, Duncan, and Maybel: you made our Galapagos trip a once-in-a-lifetime experience. We cannot thank you enough for everything you did to make our vacation so much fun!"

"Outstanding hotel. The price includes small group daily excursions with their own yacht and guides (Mario was fantastic!). It’s a great alternative to the typical cruise programs, giving more flexibility on arrival/departure dates and the comfort of a real hotel room every night. Glad we stayed here!"

"We just stayed at Pikaia for 3 nights at the beginning of our Galapagos vacation. It is absolutely fabulous. The lodge is beautiful and the grounds are breathtaking. On our first full day, we went on their private yacht to visit North Seymour island as well as some snorkeling. The yacht was amazing, even though only a day trip, everyone has their own private room with full shower, which was great. The staff on the yacht, including the guide, was fantastic. The next day we had a land day visiting Tortuga Bay and some kayaking, again with a great guide. The entire staff at the lodge was great, everyone was so friendly and they could not do enough for us. And the food was simply outstanding, some of the best I’ve ever had at a hotel. While only there a short time, it was clear this place really stands out. We’ve been fortunate enough to stay at some great hotels around the world, and Pikaia is right up there with the best we’ve ever experienced. Thank you all for making our trip truly great."

"Our family of 4 (kids age 7 & 1) just returned from a wonderful week at Pikaia Lodge. The staff were extremely accommodating, gracious, and genuinely nice people. The location is picture perfect, peaceful and quaint. The rooms were comfortable and spacious - king bed, rollaway twin bed and crib fit with no issue in the standard king room. They stocked our room with supplies for the baby which was unexpected and so appreciated. We were celebrating both of my son's birthdays on this trip and they went above and beyond to make sure they felt special - for age 7 they surprised not only with a cake at the dinner but also a dessert on the boat where the whole staff came out and sang. His smile will forever be engraved in my heart. To top it off on this same day the wildlife was insane - within 30 minutes of snorkeling we saw the most colorful fish, white tip sharks, hammerheads, a very large manta ray, and group of seals (which I originally thought was my husband bumping into me). On the way back to the boat we saw whales breeching and dolphins jumping. To say it was magical is an understatement. The boat days include one snorkeling excursion and one land excursion unless you request otherwise - but we loved and preferred their recommendation. The afternoon of my son's birthday we stopped at an island that was covered with Blue Footed Boobies and their babies and/or eggs along with the Frigatebirds with the puffed red chest. A photographers dream and really one of those moments where you need to pinch yourself. Once back on the boat my husband and I had a glass of wine and then we all had a nap until we arrived back where you catch the bus. The boat is beyond comfortable with a hot tub, warm showers, great food, and many placed to curl up and watch nature or nap. I see a lot of comments regarding the length of the bus trip but personally I loved it. It allowed time to prep with your guide about what you plan to see / get out of the experience or debrief on the day. Speaking of which Pikaia only outsources to local guides who truly understand the culture and ecosystem. They are a wealth of knowledge who add to the overall experience. Our guide was Xavi and frankly he was the best. Outside of the expectation of knowledgable, timely and organized. He has a heart of gold, was an open book, and a top notch photographer. So grateful for the family photos he was able to capture. He also has two young kids which allowed for patience in dealing with mine as well as creative ways to entertain (i.e a counter on the day we went to see the tortoises). Frankly by the end of the week we were sad to say good bye. Back to the magical day, once back at the lodge my older son and I went for a hike around the property which again is absolutely stunning - especially with the sun set. We saw wild horses and wild tortoises and a whole slew of mandarine trees. Once back, the lodge surprised us with a fire pit and homemade marshmallows for my son to make s'mores. All before a fabulous dinner and a large homemade chocolate cake. For the sake of time I won't go into detail of all 6 days but this was an example of 1 and just how truly special this place is. One question you're probably asking yourself is how did you enjoy the boat days & snorkeling with a 1 year old? Easy! The hotel found us a wonderful babysitter, Angie, who was an absolute God send. She is actually a certified tour guide who also happens to be a mom and baby whisperer ; ) We had the choice of bringing both on the boat or Angie staying at the hotel with the baby. We chose the later, primarily because we felt our older one needed one on one time and considering the younger one had a blast with Angie we knew we made the right decision. That being said, on the land days we were easily able to bring him along with our hiking backpack. Tips / Feedback I would share: 1) This is not a children's hotel (nor would I want it to be) but they are super accommodating while making sure to maintain the peace of the other guests. For example - room service is always an option or they were fine with us using the baby camera since my little guy would fall asleep before dinner. 2) The pool is freezing - don't expect to use it or have that as an option 3) It rains A LOT in the highlands. I didn't realize until the end of the week that the weather in town is different then at the hotel. A cab is only $20 each way and on the half land days I wish the hotel would have provided that suggestion as an activity. I could only play so many rounds of Monopoly when hiking or biking outside wasn't as option. That being said without kids I wouldn't have cared as much as the spa is beautiful. 4) This is a bucketlist trip, and despite the high cost, is worth every penny! Don't think twice."

"We (family of 6) just returned home after a six night package stay at Pikaia. The process to get there isn’t simple but they seem to have it down to a science. We were met at the airport and then brought to the lounge until the driver met us. We then took a van to the ferry that brought us from Baltra Island to Santa Cruz. We were then met by one of the people from Pikaia. The drive from the ferry to the resort is 45 minutes. That means every time you leave the resort to go to the boat it’s 45 minutes there and then 45 minutes back. It was a lot of driving and by the time we were leaving we were ready to be done doing it twice a day. The resort is beautiful. You drive through these gates to this stunning resort on a cliff. We had 3 Terrace rooms and they were wonderful. We all had views of the ocean. The shower however in one of the rooms just didn’t want to work well the whole trip. They tried to fix it a few times but nothing seemed to work. That was a bit of an inconvenience especially with what you are paying for the room. Mario our guide for the whole trip was incredible. He went above and beyond to try and make our time there memorable. We saw everything!! Swam with sharks, sea turtles, sea lions, all sorts of tropical fish. Saw manta rays and orca whales from the boat. The Giant tortoises were incredible. The blue footed booby birds, land iguanas and cactus trees were so cool. The boat seems smaller than what you see in the picture and if you get sea sick it’s rough so bring medicine with you. As much as we loved going in the water from the boat we were all glad it was over because we all ended up seasick. The food both on the boat and at the resort was really good. Beautifully presented and the variety of plates and bowls they use are just gorgeous. Now for the reason I didn’t give it a 5. My son’s girlfriend needed a tampon and wasn’t with any of us to get one and instead of just giving her one they charged her $1. I know it’s only a $1 but it should’ve been something that was just given to her not charged. And on our last day we had a 1/2 day land tour to see the giant tortoises. On the way back we asked to go somewhere that we could buy a few souvenirs. Mario and the driver Luis, took us and the rest of the people we were with to the small town on our way back to the resort to do a little souvenir shopping. Turns out that wasn’t “included” in the 1/2 day even though we weren’t told anything about that then and they wanted to charge us $500 for going into town for 30 minutes after the fact. It eventually was worked out the hotel manager but it was right as we were getting ready to go so it felt “yucky” leaving as if they didn’t want us there anymore. All in all it was a trip we will never forget and the resort is low key and so are all of the people that work there."