Small boat cruises

You could not pay me enough money to get onto one of those mega cruise boats, with multi thousands of passengers. However it turns out that small boat cruises are one of the best ways to do a vacation. I define small as less than 40 passengers, and ideally less than 25. You are on a floating hotel with meals so the everyday hassles of moving each night are removed. A small boat can debark and embark very quickly and visit many smaller places (villages and wilderness) that a huge boat cannot. You make your own entertainment: They encourage very active days, dropping you off to hike, canoe, bike, walk, snorkel, or kayak in the morning; you return for lunch and then repeat in the afternoon. They avoid shopping ports. Of course, the per person rate is higher for a small vessel, but we’ve found the difference very much worthwhile, as these have become our favorite vacations. A few of the tours that are 5-7 days long that we are familiar with are below. 

Galapagos — The boats sail at night. Every morning you wake up to a brand new island with a brand new biome. Lots of snorkeling and hiking with naturalists. We used Happy Gringos. 

Inland Passageway, Alaska — Head north through the calm inland sea, visiting glacier strewn fjords, wildlife close up, and native American islands. Kayaking, too. We used Alaskan Dreams. 

Mekong River — Sail from Siem Reap (and its Angor Wat) in Cambodia, all the way downstream to Ho Chi Min City on the coast of south Vietnam, with bicycle excursions along the way. Mark used Aqua Expeditions.

Turquoise Coast, Turkey — Join a gulet sailboat long the southern Mediterranean coast of Turkey, stopping at ancient Greek ruins, Turkish villages and swimming coves. These cruises have become very popular with party versions for young adults. I don’t remember who we used but try, Sail and Stay.

Superficially, large cruise boats claim to follow similar routes, but trust me, small boat cruises are a different species well worth your time. — KK