This is quite a common question we have from our guests. Although snorkelling is quite an important part of the daily routine on board a cruise, with typically at least one snorkel activity offered on an average day you can still definitely enjoy a cruise without snorkelling. Most yachts do offer the option to kayak during snorkel visits which are an alternative, and if the snorkels are off a beach, you can simply stay on dry land and enjoy the scenery and setting on the island. If it is a deep sea snorkel, which involves a dingy ride you can just stay on board the yacht and soak up the beautiful scenery and enjoy the peace on board whilst the majority of the guests are off snorkelling.

From Rachel Dex, owner of Think Galapagos: Thanks for your question Denise. Typically you get to snorkel twice in a day most days, once after the morning land visit and again after lunch before your afternoon land visit. Most yachts have on board 3mm shorty wet suits that you can hire, for between $30 and $35 for the week and usually have a good range of sizes on board, however if you have an unusually small or large size, it is good to let the yacht know in advance so they can ensure they have a suitable wet suit for you on board. Usually a 3mm shorty would be fine, and especially for next May-June next year as due to the El Nino event that is taking place which means the water will be warmer than normal - typically it is around 23-24 degrees centigrade on average around the islands around May-June, but for 2016 it would be higher temperatures than this (exactly how much warmer is very hard to predict but at least 1 degree centigrade). However, that said, sometimes people do wear full wet suits, and certainly no harm in doing that if you do feel the cold and if you do want a full wetsuit you would need to take it with you as the yachts just rent shorty ones.