Roads closed, power out, and a form to fill in: what the FCDO now says about Santa Cruz
What happened
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office updated its travel advice for Ecuador on 1 November 2026, adding information about heavy rain and flooding on Santa Cruz Island in the Galapagos. Santa Cruz is the most visited island in the archipelago and the base for most Galapagos trips. Heavy rain has caused flooding there, and the regional government, Gobierno Galapagos, declared an emergency on 31 October. The disruptions reported include road closures, power outages, and problems with travel to Baltra Airport - which is the main air gateway for the islands, reached from Santa Cruz by road and a short ferry crossing. The FCDO advises travellers to follow local authorities, avoid flooded areas, and confirm their arrangements directly with airlines or tour operators. Tourists on the island are encouraged to complete a form, in Spanish, setting out any urgent assistance needs and their travel plans. This sits alongside advice about mainland Ecuador that has been in place for some time and is unrelated to the weather. The FCDO advises against all but essential travel to the Coastal Region provinces of Esmeraldas, Manabí, Santa Elena, Guayas, El Oro, Los Ríos and Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas - with airside transit at Guayaquil Airport excluded from that advice. It also advises against travel within 20km of the Ecuador-Colombia border, except for specific areas of Carchi province: the El Ángel Ecological Reserve, the Rumichaca border crossing, Tulcán, and the Pan-American Highway. A 60-day state of emergency was declared from 15 September for security reasons, covering eight provinces - Guayas, Manabí, Santa Elena, Los Ríos, El Oro, Pichincha, Esmeraldas and Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas - plus the cantons of La Maná, Las Naves and Camilo Ponce Enriquez. Travellers should expect a greater police and military presence.
Why this matters
A Galapagos trip is, for many people, the expensive one. It is booked months ahead, often as part of a longer South America itinerary, and it usually involves a cruise or lodge with its own schedule. That makes disruption there more consequential than a delayed flight elsewhere. If the road to Baltra Airport is affected, people miss connections that were timed to meet a boat. If power is out, hotels, communications and refrigeration are affected. An island does not have the slack a mainland city does. The second reason this matters is the insurance question, and it is the single most expensive thing to get wrong on any trip. The FCDO states plainly that travelling against its advice may invalidate your travel insurance. That applies to the mainland coastal provinces and the border zone, where the advice is against all but essential travel. It is not a vague warning: insurers routinely decline claims on exactly this basis, and 'I did not know' is not a defence. The Galapagos flooding advice is different in kind. It is information and precaution, not an advisory against travel. So it does not, by itself, affect insurance validity. But it is the sort of situation where having read the advice and acted sensibly matters if you later need to claim for cancellation or curtailment. The third point is simpler. The suggestion that tourists complete a form stating their assistance needs and travel plans is how local authorities find people in an emergency. It takes a few minutes and it is the difference between being a name on a list and being nobody's responsibility.
What the evidence actually says
Read travel advice precisely. The different categories mean different things and the wording is deliberate. 'Advise against all but essential travel' is the second-strongest level. It is a strong warning with insurance consequences. It applies here to seven coastal provinces and to the border zone - not to the Galapagos, and not to Quito. The Galapagos flooding entry is informational. It tells you what is happening and what to do about it. There is no advisory against travelling to the islands. One detail in the current advice needs care. On curfews, the page states that curfew hours of midnight to 5am applied in El Oro, Guayas, Los Ríos and Manabí from 17 to 30 September. Those dates have passed, and the page does not say whether the curfew remains in force. The FCDO's own instruction is to check local authorities and local media. Anyone relying on this should not assume the curfew has ended, and should not assume it continues - the honest position is that the published advice does not currently resolve it. Similarly, the 60-day state of emergency declared from 15 September would, on its face, run to around mid-November. States of emergency in Ecuador are frequently extended. Do not plan on it lapsing. On the flooding itself, the FCDO page reports road closures, power outages and disruption to Baltra Airport travel, and an emergency declared on 31 October. It does not give the extent of flooding, the number of people affected, how long disruption is expected to last, or whether flights have been cancelled. Those are the questions only your airline and tour operator can answer, which is exactly why the advice points you to them. Finally, travel advice changes. This reflects the page as it stood on 3 November 2026, updated 1 November. Check it again before you travel rather than relying on any article.
Practical advice
**Check the live page before you go.** GOV.UK travel advice for Ecuador is updated as things change, and the version you read a month ago is not the version that applies. **Sign up for email alerts.** GOV.UK will email you when the advice for a country you have selected changes. It is free and it is the easiest way not to be caught out. **Contact your airline and tour operator directly.** They are the only people who can tell you whether your specific flight, ferry or cruise is running. Do this before travelling to the airport, not on arrival. **If you are on Santa Cruz, complete the local form.** It is in Spanish, and a phone translation app will get you through it. State your assistance needs and travel plans. **Avoid flooded areas, including on foot.** Floodwater hides broken surfaces and open drains, carries contamination, and moves faster than it looks. This is where most flood injuries happen. **Plan for power cuts.** Charge devices when power is available, carry a power bank, keep some cash in case card systems are down, and have offline copies of your bookings, passport and insurance documents. **Check your insurance against the FCDO advice, province by province.** If any part of your itinerary goes into the seven coastal provinces or within 20km of the Colombian border, your cover may not apply. Confirm it in writing with your insurer before you travel. **Take medicines in your hand luggage, with a copy of your prescription.** If you are disrupted or delayed on an island, replacing a prescription medicine is not straightforward. Carry enough for several extra days, in original packaging, plus a written list of what you take and the doses. **Keep receipts for anything you have to spend.** Unplanned accommodation, transport and meals are often claimable if you have the paperwork.
What to know
The FCDO updated its Ecuador travel advice on 1 November 2026 to add information about heavy rain and flooding on Santa Cruz Island in the Galapagos. Gobierno Galapagos declared an emergency on 31 October. Reported disruption includes road closures, power outages and problems with travel to Baltra Airport. The advice is to follow local authorities, avoid flooded areas and confirm arrangements with airlines and tour operators. Tourists on the island are encouraged to complete a Spanish-language form giving their assistance needs and travel plans - worth doing. This is informational advice, not an advisory against travelling to the Galapagos. Separately, the FCDO does advise against all but essential travel to seven mainland coastal provinces and to within 20km of the Colombia border, with specific exceptions. Travelling against that advice may invalidate your travel insurance. A 60-day state of emergency declared from 15 September covers eight provinces and three cantons. On curfews, the published page refers to hours that applied from 17 to 30 September and does not say whether they still apply - check local authorities and media rather than assuming either way. The advice does not say how long the flooding disruption will last. Only your airline and operator can tell you about your own booking. Practical essentials: check the live advice, sign up for GOV.UK email alerts, carry extra prescription medicine in hand luggage with a copy of your prescription, keep offline copies of documents, carry some cash, and confirm insurance cover in writing if any part of your route touches an advisory area. Sources: GOV.UK (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office), 'Ecuador travel advice', updated 1 November 2026, https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/ecuador; GOV.UK, 'Foreign travel advice' and email alerts, https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice; NHS, 'Travel vaccinations and health advice', https://www.nhs.uk/vaccinations/travel-vaccinations/ This article is for general information and does not replace advice from a doctor, pharmacist or other qualified healthcare professional, nor official travel advice. Always check GOV.UK travel advice and speak to your insurer before travelling.
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