Vivencial Fishing with Galeodan - on “Leodan”

Besides Jardín de Helena and the Galeodan Suites, we also own and operate a Vivencial Fishing boat: Leodan.

Leodan is a 10m custom built fishing boat with twin 200HP outboard motors. outriggers, fighting chair and GPS/Fishfinder. We carry state of the art Shimano rods & reels for trolling, jigging & popping and top of the line equipment for big-game fly-fishing.

Four anglers is the normal maximum per boat, although we make exceptions for families. For groups of five anglers and up, we can provide additional boats.

But is it Legal?

Many people are under the impression that tourists cannot fish in the Galápagos Marine Reserve and for several years, that was true.

But now we have Vivencial Fishing which is a specially regulated form of recreational fishing for tourists developed specifically for sustainability and reduced environmental impact with the emphasis on local participation and benefit.

Vivencial Fishing encompasses the same techniques and offers the same level of excitement associated with Sport-Fishing but there are key differences and mainstream “Sport Fishing”, as such, is still not permitted.

Pesca Altura

People here generally characterize the fishing as either:

• Pesca Altura - Offshore fishing for marlin, or
• Pesca Chica - Inshore fishing for tuna, wahoo, grouper etc.

But that’s only a general guideline. Pesca Altura boats do inshore as well as offshore fishing - Often on the same excursion, depending on what’s biting.

The Pesca Altura boats are bigger, cost more to operate, travel further offshore, generally offer only full days and cost more to charter.

Pesca Chica

The Pesca Chica boats are smaller, less expensive to operate, tend to stay inshore, do half or 3/4 days and are correspondingly less expensive to charter.

You may be able to save money by going on an unlicensed boat but it’s entirely at your own risk. Vivencial Fishing boats meet stricter safety regulations (2 motors and extra safety equipment) and face more frequent inspection - Your venture on a “pirate” boat could be cut short by a visit from one of the Galápagos National Park patrol boats.