Pikaia Lodge
Santa Cruz highlands, Galápagos, Ecuador
Location
Santa Cruz highlands
Atop two craters in a private tortoise reserve in the Santa Cruz highlands, with ocean views on three sides.
Transfer
A Galápagos transfer
Via Baltra (GPS), reached from Quito (UIO) or Guayaquil (GYE).
Villas
14 keys
14 contemporary keys — 61-square-metre rooms and 74-square-metre suites, including a private-plunge-pool suite — with floor-to-ceiling windows.
Best For
Who it suits
Couples, families and active travellers wanting a land-based Galápagos.
Board Basis
Full board
3-, 4- and 7-night exploration programmes with meals, transfers and land-and-yacht excursions aboard the M/Y Pikaia I.
About the Resort
The Galápagos' most luxurious land lodge
Pikaia Lodge is the most luxurious land lodge in the Galápagos — a carbon-neutral, contemporary lodge built atop two craters in a private giant-tortoise reserve in the Santa Cruz highlands, with ocean views on three sides. Fourteen keys run 61-square-metre rooms and 74-square-metre suites, one with a private plunge pool, behind floor-to-ceiling glass. A crater-rim infinity pool, the Sumaq spa and the Evolution Restaurant with a walk-in wine cellar anchor the lodge; full-board exploration programmes include land and yacht excursions aboard its own 100-foot M/Y Pikaia I — a land-based alternative to a cruise.
Accommodation
Rooms & suites
14 contemporary keys with floor-to-ceiling windows.
Entry
Terrace Room
Sleeps two. Around 61 square metres with floor-to-ceiling windows and a terrace, over the reserve.
61 sqmTerrace
View
Ocean View Room
Sleeps two. Around 61 square metres with ocean views across the highlands.
61 sqmOcean view
Suite
Suite
Sleeps two. Around 74 square metres with a sitting area and craters or ocean views.
74 sqmSitting area
Top
Pool Suite
Sleeps two. Around 74 square metres with a private plunge pool, over the reserve.
Plunge poolTop suite
Food & Drink
Dining
Crater-edge dining and a wine cellar.
Signature
Evolution Restaurant
Crater-edge Peruvian and Ecuadorian, with a walk-in wine cellar.
Bar
DNA bar
After the day's exploration.
Full-board
Full board
Meals and excursions included.
Wellbeing
Sumaq Spa
The Sumaq spa, with a crater-rim infinity pool looking to the coast.
Sumaq Spa
Treatments at altitude.
A crater-rim infinity pool
Coast views.
Its own yacht
The M/Y Pikaia I.
Activities & Experiences
Signature Experiences
Tortoises, craters and the islands.
A tortoise reserve
Giant tortoises on site.
Its own yacht
Day trips by sea.
Crater hikes
In the highlands.
Island excursions
Land and sea.
The infinity pool
On the crater rim.
Getting There
Location & Transfers
By air
Via Baltra (GPS)
From Quito or Guayaquil.
In the highlands
Santa Cruz
Atop two craters.
Guest Reviews
What Our Clients Say
★★★★★
“The most extraordinary place I have ever stayed. Nothing prepares you for the depth of the silence, the beauty of the reef, or the sheer generosity of the experience.”
✓ Verified via feefo
★★★★★
“We’ve stayed here three times now. The house reef has no equal. The stargazing was, genuinely, one of the most moving experiences of my adult life.”
✓ Verified via feefo
★★★★★
“I had stayed at Four Seasons, One&Only and Velaa before visiting Pikaia Lodge. They are all magnificent. But this is different in a way that is hard to articulate.”
✓ Verified via feefo
Good to Know
Good to know
Board basis
- Full board, 3 to 7 nights.
Made for couples
- Families and active travellers.
Setting
- A private tortoise reserve.
Getting there
- Via Baltra, from the mainland.
Book This Property
Start Planning Your Pikaia Lodge Stay
Your HighStreet specialist will respond within 2 hours with a personalised quote and the best available rates — guaranteed.
1
Your holiday
2
Your details
3
Review
Step 1 of 2
Tell us about your stay
Dates, party size, villa preference and budget.
Destination
Dates & party
Date flexibility
Adults
2
Children
0
Budget & accommodation
Budget per person (flights + hotel)
£4,500
£500£50,000+
Villa preference
Flights
You Might Also Consider
Other Galápagos hotels you might consider
Galapagos
Finch Bay Galapagos Hotel
Finch Bay is the only beachfront hotel in the Galápagos — a National Geographic Unique Lodge on Santa Cruz, steps from Playa Los Alemanes across the bay from Puerto Ayora. Thirty-three neutral-palette rooms and suites include ocean-view Finch Bay Suites with hammock balconies and contemporary Evolution Suites. A beachside pool, a spa and an open-air restaurant sit by the sand, board runs flexibly from B&B to full-board, and the private Sea Lion Yacht handles day excursions. Carbon-neutral, it completes the Metropolitan Touring trio with Mashpi and Casa Gangotena.
Galapagos
Galapagos Safari Camp
Galapagos Safari Camp is the only luxury tented safari camp in the islands — a family-owned, African-inspired camp on a highland farm on the rim of an extinct volcano on Santa Cruz, bordering the National Park where giant tortoises wander the grounds. Nine canvas safari tents stand on decks with hammock balconies, teak furniture and park-and-ocean views, two of them Family Safari Tents, alongside a three-bedroom Family Suite. A small infinity pool sits under endemic trees, a panoramic lodge and a Kids Club anchor the camp, and all-inclusive tailor-made safaris range from snorkelling with sea lions to flamingo lagoons and the Darwin Station — the most family-friendly base in the Galápagos.
Galapagos
Scalesia Lodge
Scalesia Lodge is a safari-style tented eco-lodge in the cloud-forest highlands of remote Isabela, the Galápagos' largest island, on the slopes of the Sierra Negra volcano. Sixteen canvas tents on raised platforms run around 53 square metres each, with a 23-square-metre private deck and forest-and-Pacific views. A modern lodge plates gourmet home cooking, and all-inclusive programmes run guided excursions to Sierra Negra, the Tintoreras and the Los Túneles lava tunnels. It is the only highland lodge base on Isabela — glamping immersed in nature.