Follow Your Light in the Galapagos: A Yoga Retreat on Isla Santa Cruz

This yoga retreat on Isla Santa Cruz in the Galapagos, Ecuador, is a week of daily yoga, meditation and breathwork, set in a boutique hotel surrounded by forest and giant tortoises. It is led by Kacy Harnedy, a yoga and breathwork teacher, and is open to practitioners of every level who want to slow down, spend time in nature and turn toward self-inquiry.

The retreat is built around a simple idea: that seeing the natural world with wonder brings us back to beauty, kindness and compassion, and in turn back to ourselves. The week combines practice, ritual and time outdoors to support that reconnection with nature, with pachamama, and with yourself.

What to Expect

Each day includes meditation and yoga, drawing on flow yoga, yin and restorative practice, pranayama, breathwork and yoga nidra. Occasional sound baths and cacao ceremonies are woven through the week, and the retreat opens with a welcome ceremony where the group meets. Chanting, breath, movement and meditation are used together for grounded, steady healing.

Alongside the practice, there are seven excursions: a highlands tour, a visit to a tortoise ranch, three island hikes, three snorkel trips and a visit to the Charles Darwin Research Center. The retreat also includes cultural immersions, so the days balance stillness with time out on the island.

About Kacy Harnedy

Kacy Harnedy is a yoga and breathwork teacher who leads retreats and offers one-to-one work through Kacy's Sacred Space. She is devoted to guiding practitioners of all levels into self-inquiry, with an emphasis on personal empowerment and the strength to embrace emotional processing. Her aim is to bring the nature of yoga and plant medicine into every part of life, which she calls the true essence of Ahimsa. Her teaching is heavily rooted in pranayama and meditation, to help people find inner and outer peace. She has a deep reverence for yoga, meditation and herbalism, and has seen the shift that happens when people immerse themselves in intentional international travel. This retreat is part of her Follow Your Light series, held in destinations around the world.

The Setting

The retreat is held at an award-winning boutique hotel that aims to give an authentic, old-style Galapagos experience. It offers personal service, traditional home cooking, panoramic views from raised terraces, a swimming pool, a fitness studio and wifi. Guests have exclusive access to nature trails through twelve acres of private forest. Giant tortoises walk through the coffee plantations, birdsong fills the canopy, and in the evening you can sit out under the night sky and listen for owls and a chorus of frogs.

Two room types are offered: a single room with a private bathroom, or a shared room with a shared bathroom. The stay is seven nights.

Meals are vegetarian, with a focus on organic, plant-based food, along with waters, teas and local coffees. One or two meals are taken at a local restaurant.

To get here, fly into mainland Ecuador, through either Quito (UIO) or Guayaquil (GYE), then take the internal flight of about 1 hour 40 minutes to Baltra (GPS), which serves Santa Cruz. Avianca, LATAM and Ecuair operate daily flights to the Galapagos. Transfers to and from Baltra airport are included and guaranteed on any arrival or departure day.

Before You Go

All levels are welcome, and props are provided for the daily yoga and meditation sessions.

Included are seven nights of accommodation, three vegetarian meals a day, one or two restaurant meals, non-alcoholic drinks, the seven excursions, airport transfers, daily meditation and yoga, and a curated welcome gift.

Not included are flights, alcohol, additional meals out, additional excursions, travel insurance and tips. Two fees are paid in cash: an Ecuador migration fee on arrival in mainland Ecuador and a Galapagos National Park fee on arrival at Baltra. Bring both in cash.

Payments are non-refundable and non-transferrable, and no exceptions are made for weather, illness, injury or personal emergencies, so travel insurance is required. Please read the cancellation terms before booking.