2.19/5
73 reviews
Photo by Gabriel Aguirre via Unsplash

Galapagos Islands

To increase honesty, reviews are anonymous. You can only add one review per city or it replaces/edits your old one. Reviews with URLs or emails are removed. If you're writing about data being wrong, please don't do it here as it'll be removed here.

work

internet

The Galapagos Islands are a beautiful and memorable travel destination, ideal for nature lovers and independent travelers. Reviewers frequently highlighted the affordability of the experience, with one traveler managing a 14-day trip for $1500 through budget guesthouses and self-guided tours. Avoiding package tours was commonly suggested to save money and enjoy a more flexible visit. The islands are best suited for leisure rather than work.

A major drawback, consistently noted, is the extremely poor internet connection. Visitors and locals alike report that the internet is unreliable and in many cases unusable, making it a challenging location for digital nomads or anyone who needs to stay connected. Even people who live on the islands must catch up on basic internet tasks when they return to mainland Ecuador.

In summary, the Galapagos is a rewarding, low-cost destination for a vacation focused on nature and relaxation, but not suitable for those needing consistent online connectivity or planning to work remotely while there.

AI-generated summary of reviews

I live in Ecuador and I have been to the Galapagos a couple of times, but never for work because the internet simply doesn't work. In fact, I have a cousin who lives there and works for the Charles Darwin Station and whenever he visits us in Quito he catches up on social media… that's how bad the internet is over there.
It's a beautiful destination for fun, but not for remote workers (unless you can work offline while you are there).

2 years ago

I visited the galapagos on vacation (no work) and it was wonderful. Do not expect to work out there, really there is no usable wifi.
I was able to do 14 days on about 1500USD as a single traveler staying in guesthouses, taking a few tours and doing alot of self guided stuff. Highly suggest just going out there without a group package as you'll save some money and have a better experience.

3 years ago

✅ Very affordable

✅ Beautiful destination

✅ Affordable to live

✅ Pretty safe

✅ Fast internet

✅ Lots of fun stuff to do

✅ Warm now

✅ Warm all year round

✅ Good air quality on average

✅ Spacious and not crowded

✅ Very easy to make friends

✅ Freedom of speech

✅ Democratic

✅ Very friendly to LGBTQ+

✅ Not many people smoke tobacco

✅ (Medical) marijuana MAY be legal, unenforced or decriminalized (always double check this)

❌ Internet unreliable

❌ Not suitable for remote work

❌ Nomads.com members really didn't like going here

❌ Not many Nomads.com members go here

❌ Difficult to do business

❌ Quality of education is low

❌ Hospitals are bad

❌ Roads are very dangerous

❌ People don't speak English well

❌ Not safe for women

❌ Not family friendly

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Feels

77 25°
warm

82 28°
warm

77 25°
warm

75 24°
warm

73 23°
mild

72 22°
mild

70 21°
mild

72 22°
mild

73 23°
mild

Real

76 25°
warm

77 25°
warm

78 26°
warm

77 25°
warm

75 24°
warm

73 23°
mild

72 22°
mild

70 21°
mild

72 22°
mild

73 23°
mild

Humidity

nice
92%

nice
87%

nice
93%

nice
88%

nice
87%

nice
88%

nice
90%

nice
88%

nice
92%

Most common

☀️ Clear

☔️ Rain

☀️ Clear

Rain

dry
22mm

rainy
58mm

dry
44mm

dry
26mm

dry
6mm

dry
5mm

dry
3mm

dry
4mm

dry
5mm

dry
2mm

Cloud

pockets
37%

pockets
42%

pockets
33%

pockets
31%

pockets
28%

pockets
36%

pockets
37%

pockets
39%

pockets
41%

pockets
30%

pockets
45%

Sun

avoid sun
9 UVI

avoid sun
10 UVI

avoid sun
9 UVI

avoid sun
8 UVI

avoid sun
7 UVI

avoid sun
8 UVI

avoid sun
9 UVI

avoid sun
7 UVI

Remote workers

300 people

333 people

400 people

267 people

400 people

200 people

267 people

200 people

267 people

300 people

233 people

200 people

Green is good. Red is bad. Values shown are the medians of all daily highs in a month based on past few years, not necessarily current numbers. Remote worker count is estimated based on the total amount of trips logged by Nomads.com members.

If you'd like to filter destinations based on their climate, try Nomads.com's Climate Finder

Based on Galapagos Islands's cost of living, here's selected remote jobs that would cover your costs:

	3D Logo Designer @ Contra
	Tech Lead Data @ Zensurance
	Senior Software Engineer @ Emergent Software
	Senior Product Designer Europe @ Hostaway
	Full Stack Developer @ RainFocus
	Senior Experience Designer @ Age of Learning
	Head of Product Design @ Notabene
	Staff Full Stack Software Engineer @ Greenlight Financial Technology
	Web3 Digital Marketing Specialist @ Somnia
	Campaigns Director @ Indivisible
	Full Stack Developer Intern @ Portcast

Help pick the best photos for Galapagos Islands and improve this page's look by tappingclicking on them and the site saves your feedback Vote photos

272pts

141pts

106pts

82pts

63pts

61pts

58pts

55pts

54pts

53pts

52pts

51pts

12pts

8pts

7pts

199pts

131pts

96pts

68pts

62pts

60pts

58pts

57pts

55pts

54pts

53pts

52pts

51pts

11pts

7pts

147pts

107pts

85pts

64pts

62pts

60pts

58pts

55pts

54pts

53pts

52pts

51pts

21pts

10pts

7pts

Montanita

Ecuador

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🙂 Okay

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked great

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

🌦 Feels 30° 86° 26° 79° 🥵

✈️2h

$2,895 / mo

17 Mbps

Mancora

Peru

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

🌦 Feels 29° 84° 26° 78°

✈️2h

$2,257 / mo

12 Mbps

Guayaquil

Ecuador

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked very bad

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

🌧 Feels 36° 97° 29° 85° 🥵

✈️2h

$1,336 / mo

8 Mbps

Santa Teresa

Costa Rica

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🧐 Very expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked bad

👮 Safety bad

Tap to open

🌤 Feels 39° 102° 32° 89° 🥵

✈️2h

$4,188 / mo

14 Mbps

Tamarindo

Costa Rica

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🧐 Very expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked great

👮 Safety bad

Tap to open

🌤 Feels 38° 100° 33° 92° 🥵

✈️2h

$4,746 / mo

8 Mbps

Liberia

Costa Rica

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked great

👮 Safety bad

Tap to open

🌤 Feels 37° 99° 31° 87° 🥵

✈️2h

$2,186 / mo

7 Mbps

San José

Costa Rica

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🧐 Pricey

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked very bad

👮 Safety very bad

Tap to open

🌤 Feels 29° 84° 27° 81°

✈️2h

$3,018 / mo

8 Mbps

Intag Valley

Ecuador

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked very bad

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

🌧 Feels 10° 50° 10° 50°

✈️2h

$1,991 / mo

26 Mbps

Cuenca

Ecuador

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked great

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

🌧 Feels 15° 59° 15° 60° AQI 54 😷

✈️2h

$1,322 / mo

8 Mbps

San Juan del Sur

Nicaragua

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🙂 Okay

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked great

👮 Safety bad

Tap to open

🌤 Feels 38° 100° 31° 87° 🥵

✈️2h

$2,634 / mo

9 Mbps

Quito

Ecuador

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked very bad

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

🌧 Feels 16° 61° 16° 61° AQI 63 😷

✈️2h

$2,084 / mo

9 Mbps

Puerto Viejo

Costa Rica

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🧐 Pricey

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked great

👮 Safety bad

Tap to open

🌧 Feels 31° 88° 28° 82°

✈️2h

$3,408 / mo

8 Mbps

Quito

Ecuador

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked very bad

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

🌧 Feels 16° 61° 16° 61° AQI 63 😷

✈️2h

$2,084 / mo

🌇 Also went here40 people

Medellín

Colombia

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety very bad

Tap to open

🌧 Feels 20° 68° 20° 69° AQI 74 😷

✈️3h

$1,406 / mo

🌇 Also went here39 people

Lima

Peru

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked bad

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

🌥 Feels 22° 72° 22° 71° AQI 83 😷

✈️3h

$1,314 / mo

🌇 Also went here36 people

Mexico City

Mexico

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked good

👮 Safety bad

Tap to open

🌥 Feels 23° 73° 23° 74° AQI 139 😷

✈️3h

$1,874 / mo

🌇 Also went here31 people

Playa del Carmen

Mexico

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked bad

👮 Safety bad

Tap to open

☀️ Feels 30° 86° 28° 82°

✈️3h

$2,500 / mo

🌇 Also went here30 people

Cusco

Peru

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

🌦 Feels 13° 55° 13° 55°

✈️3h

$1,372 / mo

🌇 Also went here32 people

New York City, NY

United States

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😳 Extremely expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked good

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

☀️ Feels 14° 57° 14° 56°

✈️7h

$7,700 / mo

🌇 Also went here26 people

Buenos Aires

Argentina

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked bad

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

🌧 Feels 20° 68° 19° 66°

✈️7h

$1,589 / mo

🌇 Also went here34 people

Rio de Janeiro

Brazil

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked good

👮 Safety very bad

Tap to open

🌦 Feels 25° 77° 25° 77°

✈️8h

$2,210 / mo

🌇 Also went here29 people

Lisbon

Portugal

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🧐 Very expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked bad

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌧 Feels 16° 61° 16° 61° AQI 29

✈️13h

$4,019 / mo

🌇 Also went here32 people

London

United Kingdom

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😳 Extremely expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌦 Feels 14° 57° 14° 58° AQI 42

✈️14h

$5,922 / mo

🌇 Also went here40 people

Paris

France

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😳 Extremely expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked good

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

🌥 Feels 16° 61° 16° 61° AQI 55 😷

✈️14h

$5,366 / mo

🌇 Also went here30 people

Barcelona

Spain

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😳 Extremely expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked bad

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

☀️ Feels 18° 64° 18° 65° AQI 39

✈️14h

$5,242 / mo

🌇 Also went here30 people

Berlin

Germany

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🧐 Very expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌤 Feels 12° 54° 12° 54° AQI 87 😷

✈️15h

$4,160 / mo

🌇 Also went here28 people

Bangkok

Thailand

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌦 Feels 43° 109° 34° 94° 🥵 AQI 70 😷

✈️24h

$1,518 / mo

🌇 Also went here27 people

Members here right now

No members are here right now. If you are, add it as a trip and you'll show up here!

Members who have been here

Values shown are estimated visits by traveling remote workers based on the total amount of trips logged by Nomads.com members. Visits to a place are only counted once per year per user, even if they visit more in that year. Visits are also normalized by overall trips added per month on the site, so if site usage goes up or down it does not affect trends. Not all digital nomads are on Nomads.com, and not all Nomads.com members log their trips. So the data is only indicative.

The chart below shows visitors by nationality normalized for population size. This means we take all trips logged on Nomads.com, check which country of origin the user is from, then divide that total visit count by the country of origin's population. If we didn't, it'd just show the big countries like US, Brazil and India always on top. Instead, this shows which nationalities worldwide proportionally visit more or less, which is more useful.

⭐️ Total score	2.19/5 (Rank #725) 73 reviews
❤️ Liked by members	👍5 liked it 👎1 disliked it
👍 Quality of life score	Okay
👶 Family score	Bad
🎒 Community score	Okay
💵 Cost	😙 Affordable: $1,777 / mo
📡 Internet	🙂 Good: 17Mbps (avg)
😝 Fun	Good
⛅️ Temperature (now)	🥵 Hot: 26°C80°F (feels 29°C84°F)
💦 Humidity (now)	😊 Comfy: 81%
👌 Safety	Okay
🤮 Food safety*	Good
👮‍♀️ Lack of crime*	Okay
🤝 Lack of racism*	Okay
🎓 Education level*	Mediocre
⚡️ Power grid	Great
🌊 Vulnerability to climate change	Great
💰 Income level*	Very low: $499 / mo
🙊 English speaking*	Bad
🚶 Walkability	Okay
🚦 Traffic safety*	Bad
✈️ Airline scores*	Okay
🧳 Lost luggage*	Great
😄 Happiness*	Bad
🍸 Nightlife	Bad
📶 Free WiFi in city	Bad
🖥 Places to work from	Bad
❄️ A/C or heating	Okay
😁 Friendly to foreigners	Okay
🗯 Freedom of speech*	Good
👩 Female friendly	Bad
🌈 LGBTQ+ friendly	Great
🎅 Startup Score	Bad

🌍 Continent	Latin America
🚩 Country	Ecuador
🗓️ Average trip length	9 days
📡 Internet speed (avg)	17 Mbps
⛅️ Weather (now)	🌧 26°C 80°F + 😊 Comfy (81%) = feels 29°C 84°F
🔌 Power	115V 60Hz
🚑 Travel medical insurance	Safetywing
💸 Tipping	Yes, 12.50%
☕️ Best coffee place	Cafe Hernan
🚰 Tap water	🚫 No, not drinkable
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Population	6,700 people
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 GDP per capita*	$5,982 / year
👫 Gender ratio (nomads)	👨 59% 👱‍♀️ 41%
🏞 Foreign land ownership allowed	Yes
⛪️ Religious government	Ambiguous
🏠 Apartment listings	Airbnb
✈️ Best short-haul air carrier	LAN Ecuador
✈️ Best int'l air carrier	LAN Ecuador

💵 Cost of living for nomad	$1,777 / month
💵 Cost of living for expat	$1,682 / month
💵 Cost of living for family	$4,580 / month
💵 Cost of living for local	$1,309 / month
🏨 Hotel (median price)	$822 / month
🏡 Airbnb (median price)	$1,836 / month
🏠 1br studio rent in center	$1,410 / month
🏠 Median home price	$250,000
🏨 Hotel (median price)	$39 / night
🏠 Airbnb (median price)	$60 / night
🏢 Coworking hot desk	$250 / month
🍛 Dinner	$3
🥤 Coca-Cola (0.3L)	0
🍺 Beer in cafe (0.5L)	$1
☕️ Coffee in cafe	$1