Swimming with wild sea lions in the Galápagos Islands

Let Erin and Phil book this same experience for you, personally! We started ABC Trips to offer our bespoke itineraries to those seeking authentic culture, epic landscapes, and uncompromising luxury. 👉🏼 https://abctrips.com We showed up in the Galápagos during pupping season, which means the beaches are absolutely littered with baby sea lions — and I need you to understand these things are so cute it's almost disorienting. Three-week-olds flopping on the rocks. A one-day-old still figuring out how legs work. It's a lot. But the Galápagos has this way of sucker-punching you with a metal fact right when you're at peak "aww." Like: when a mama sea lion goes out to feed, the other moms run a little daycare — but if she doesn't come back, they'll turn on her pup so it can't steal their milk. Nature's out here writing telenovelas. Also, moms dive 500 meters chasing fish in total darkness, reading the water with their whiskers, hauling back up so fast to dodge orcas and sharks that sometimes an eyeball literally bursts from the pressure. You'll spot one-eyed moms on the rocks. That's why. And then — while we're melting over the babies — a shark rolls in hunting one. A bull sea lion threw himself between the shark and the pup, barking his head off, and ran it off. First time we've ever watched a hunt go down that close in the wild. Wild-wild. Here's an HX thing worth flagging: every ship in the Galápagos is legally required to carry a licensed national-park ranger, and I'm convinced HX drew the all-star. Ours — Romero — is true Ecuadorian, schooled in the States, and honestly should have his own talk show. Man could explain a rock and make it riveting. When your guide is this good, an ordinary walk turns into the best nature doc you've ever half-paid-attention-to in school. We also did a deep-water snorkel — "deep" being a generous eight meters — and got swarmed by sea lions who wanted to play. One clipped Danny right in the chest. They were kissing underwater, spinning, zooming up to our masks. There is nothing like a wild animal choosing to hang out with you. This is where the Santa Cruz 2 earns her keep, by the way. She's small — maybe as few as 20 guests and never more than 90 — but that marine platform lets HX launch multiple Zodiacs with multiple guides at once. So you're not waiting in a line of 100 people but you’re also not worried about slipping off the back of one of the smaller boats in these islands. You're just… out there. That's the whole reason you pick a real expedition operation over a glorified yacht. HX runs three Galápagos routes, and which one you want comes down to which animals you're chasing. Tell us your list — get an incredible quote at abctrips.com. In video 3: iguanas that look like actual dragons, a colony of dethroned bachelor kings, and the saddest tortoise love story ever told. Follow so you don’t miss it. Browse our unheard of last-minute deals on vacations, resorts, and adventure cruises around the world: https://abctrips.com/