Galápagos entry fee and transit card: costs and arrival steps

How much is the Galápagos entry fee?

The standard Galápagos National Park entry fee is US$200 for a foreign adult who does not qualify for a reduced category. The tourist Transit Control Card, or TCT, is a separate US$20 charge. Together these are US$220 per standard adult, before flights, transfers, accommodation or tours.

The park collects its entry charge on arrival at Baltra or San Cristóbal. The TCT concerns permission to enter and leave the province; arrange it before the island flight and keep it available until departure. Paying one does not pay the other. Rates and official guidance below were checked on 24 October 2026.

Check the category before adding the TCT

These are park-entry amounts, not combined admission-and-card prices. The official tables use “over 12” and “under 12” wording; for a traveller aged exactly 12, confirm the applicable band with the park rather than assuming the cheaper one. The park also lists US$50 for qualifying foreign students enrolled in Ecuadorian educational institutions, and US$15 for Ecuadorians or Ecuador residents with a CONADIS disability card.

The CGREG table names Bolivia, Colombia and Peru under CAN, and Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay under Mercosur. Do not assume that a broader political membership list automatically changes the fee categories. Carry identification supporting the category you will claim.

Children under two are exempt from the park charge. That exemption does not by itself establish a TCT exemption. For infant card charges or a non-tourist immigration status, obtain a category-specific answer from CGREG. The budget examples on this site use standard foreign adults, not these special cases.

What you need before the mainland-to-island flight

CGREG’s tourist requirements list a valid identity document or passport, an outward and return air ticket between mainland Ecuador and Galápagos, payment of the TCT charge, and available tourist days. Its FAQ limits tourist stays to a total of 60 days in the year and says each trip requires a TCT payment. A short island trip does not remove the return-ticket requirement.

Keep accommodation names, travel dates, flight details and identification together so they agree with the information you enter. Ecuador’s international entry rules are a separate check: a Galápagos transit card is not an Ecuador visa. This guide covers the island formalities, not nationality-specific permission to enter Ecuador.

Use the official TCT service, then allow time for validation

CGREG’s current services portal links to “Compra tu TCT” for digital issue or purchase. Start from that official portal rather than an agency payment page that could add a service charge. Keep the issued card or digital record and any payment confirmation accessible offline. Entering details into a form is not the same as receiving a valid issued document.

Older CGREG FAQ instructions still describe pre-registration and agency-only advance processing. The current services portal advertises a citizen-facing digital service, so do not treat those older processing instructions as the only route. If digital issue fails, resolve the card with CGREG at the mainland airport before the island flight; do not leave it until you land.

Allow about three hours at the mainland departure airport as a practical planning buffer for card validation, biosecurity, airline check-in and security. This is not a guarantee that every international-to-domestic connection will fit, or an instruction to ignore an airline’s earlier deadline.

Biosecurity is a separate step from the card

Before airline check-in in Quito or Guayaquil, follow the ABG baggage-inspection process. The National Park’s arrival instructions also require inspection before travelling between inhabited islands. A paid TCT does not replace these controls.

ABG directs visitors to check its permitted-product list, allow baggage inspections and complete the goods declaration. Use the declaration link from ABG’s official page and declare what you carry accurately. Do not assume a sealed supermarket packet, fruit from a mainland hotel or muddy walking shoes can pass without scrutiny. Clean luggage and footwear before packing; leave unnecessary biological material behind.

On arrival at Baltra or San Cristóbal

Have your identification, TCT and park-entry payment ready for the arrival formalities, and cooperate with the biosecurity inspection. Galápagos Conservancy advises paying the park fee in cash; carrying the correct US-dollar amount avoids depending on card acceptance at the desk. Online payment of the TCT does not establish that the park accepts the same payment method.

Keep receipts where you can retrieve them. A park-entry payment is not a booking for every excursion, a ferry ticket or permission to enter any visitor site independently. Your authorised tour programme and the rules of each site still apply.

Check exclusions before paying a tour balance

Ask for park entry and the TCT as two explicit lines in the booking inclusions. A hotel or tour price can exclude both, even when it includes meals, guiding or transfers. For two standard foreign adults, those two government charges alone total US$440.

Use the cost guide to compare excursion-only packs with hotel-inclusive programmes without mistaking either headline price for the full holiday spend.

Match the paperwork to the correct airport

Your TCT and flight details should fit the route you have actually booked. Baltra is the arrival for Santa Cruz; San Cristóbal is the arrival for Puerto Baquerizo Moreno. A flight sold to “Galápagos” is not automatically an arrival at your hotel’s island. Settle the island airport and return arrangements before completing the travel record.