A Cruise to the Galapagos Islands by Celebrity. The Galápagos Islands are a volcanic archipelago in the Pacific Ocean. It's considered one of the world's foremost destinations for wildlife viewing. It is a province of Ecuador and lies about 1,000 kilometers off its coast. Its isolated terrain shelters a diversity of plant and animal species, many of which are found nowhere else. Charles Darwin visited Galápagos in 1835, and his observation of the islands' species later inspired his theory of evolution.