Galapagos Cruises

On arrival on BALTRA ISLAND meet the guides and cross the Itabaca Channel on a 5-minute ferry ride to SANTA CRUZ ISLAND. Here a vehicle will be waiting to take you on a tour of the highlands.

Visit Los Gemelos (The Twins), two sinkholes surrounded by endemic scalesia forest where vermilion flycatchers, short-eared owls and finches can be seen. Continue to Rancho Manzanillo or one of the other private farms in the area to look for giant tortoises in the wild and have lunch. Then descend to the town of Puerto Ayora, watching as the scenery gradually changes as you wind your way down through all seven vegetation zones found in Galapagos.

Visit the Charles Darwin Research Centre on the edge of the town of Puerto Ayora, SANTA CRUZ ISLAND. See all three tortoise corrals and the breeding centre with new hatchlings and miniature tortoises not yet ready to be repatriated. Scientists from all over the globe work at the station and conduct biological research from anatomy to zoology. Stop at Van Straelen Hall where there are exhibits and a short video presentation. Visitors can see the tortoise and land iguana corrals. Puerto Ayora is the social heart of the islands with the largest population of 24,000 inhabitants. Time permitting there may be an opportunity to do some shopping, and for those desperate to re-connect with the outside world internet is available in the town. Board the Cachalote Explorer in the late afternoon.

In the morning visit PLAZAS ISLANDS, two very small islands that were uplifted from the sea and separated by a channel. Only SOUTH PLAZAS ISLAND has a visitor site - the whole island is like a massive tilted plate with one side dipping into the water and the other raised into the air to form a cliff edge. It has tall, tree-like opuntia cactus and the ground is covered with sesuvium (a succulent plant). The main attractions here are land iguanas, sea lions including a bachelor colony, swallow tailed gulls, red-billed tropicbirds and Audubon’s shearwaters.

After lunch navigate to the small island of SANTA FE. The visitor site is located on the north-eastern side of the island and here there is a well-protected cove with a white sandy beach and shallow turquoise waters which makes a perfect location for snorkelling, swimming and kayaking. There are plenty of sea lions here which make the time in the water very interesting. On the small land trail, the main feature is the unique giant prickly pear cactus.

The land iguanas here are much lighter coloured than those elsewhere and are endemic to the island. You might see them feeding on fallen pads from the cacti. Galapagos mockingbird, magnificent frigatebird, brown pelican and several species of Darwin’s finch are common sights on the island.

Today explore SAN CRISTOBAL ISLAND, the easternmost island of the Galapagos archipelago and one of the oldest. Visit Cerro Brujo (Witch’s Hill), a volcanic cone that overlooks a beautiful white sandy beach which has plenty of sea lions, pelicans, blue-footed boobies, waders and marine iguanas. Here there will be an opportunity to snorkel and kayak.

In the afternoon visit El Junco Lagoon. El Junco is the only large freshwater lake in the archipelago and here frigatebirds can be seen swooping to drink from the lake.

Spend the day exploring ESPAÑOLA ISLAND. The long white coral beach at Gardner Bay is frequented by sea lions and the endemic long-billed (or Hood) mockingbird, and colourful lava lizards. Here there will be an opportunity to snorkel and kayak.

Punta Suarez is one of the most interesting visitor sites in all of the Galapagos. The landing point is covered with sea lions and their young, and thousands of marine iguanas bask on the rocks. The marine iguanas here are unique, displaying copper red patches and keeping some red all year around. This is the only island where you find waved albatross and there is a large breeding colony of them here during the mating season (April to December). The island has a large blowhole around which hundreds of marine iguanas congregate. There are blue-footed and masked boobies nesting here, oystercatchers and swallow-tailed gulls.

Spend the day exploring FLOREANA ISLAND. Floreana has had a colourful history: Pirates, whalers, convicts, and a small band of somewhat peculiar colonists—a Baroness among them—who chose a Robinson Crusoe existence that ended in mystery and death. In the morning visit Punta Cormorant which offers two highly contrasting beaches; a green-olivine beach and an iron-red beach. Between the two beaches is a salt lagoon frequented by flamingoes, pintails, stilts and other wading birds. There will be an opportunity to snorkel here.

Enjoy snorkelling at Devil's Crown, which is home to a myriad of marine species including a variety of corals, pencil sea urchin, wrasses, angelfish and amberjacks - making for some of the best snorkelling in the Galapagos.

Finish at Post Office Bay, where in 1793 British whalers set up a barrel as the island‘s Post Office, to send letters home on passing ships. The tradition continues to this day, simply by dropping a post card into the barrel without a stamp. There will be an opportunity to snorkel here.

Morning visit to Cerro Dragon, SANTA CRUZ ISLAND, named for the large number of land iguanas that frequent the area, and an important nesting site for iguanas reintroduced by the Charles Darwin Research Centre. A short walk from the beach leads to a hypersalinic lagoon that is frequented by pink flamingos, common stilts, pintail ducks and other species of birds. From here, pass through a forest of the endemic scalesia tree. There are only 400 specimens of the scalesia tree left in the world. Past the forest, hike up Dragon Hill for impressive views of the bay. There will be an opportunity to snorkel from the beach.

In the afternoon visit Sullivan Bay, SANTIAGO ISLAND, one of the most outstanding volcanic sites in the Galapagos. In the nearly 100 years since the Sullivan Bay lava flow, only a few plants such as mollugo and lava cacti have managed to take root in this harsh environment. Oystercatchers can be seen fishing for crabs and molluscs in the tide pools of Sullivan Bay. After exploring the lava flow, there is swimming and snorkelling with playful sea lions off two small coralline beaches.

Spend the entire day on GENOVESA ISLAND, considered to be one of the most spectacular Islands in Galapagos for bird species.

In the morning have a dry landing at Prince Philip’s Steps. Red-footed boobies nest here in Palo Santo trees and Nazca (formerly masked) boobies nest near the trail. In an open lava field, you find storm petrels in large numbers. If you are lucky, you will see the elusive short-eared owl. Look for the beautiful red-billed tropicbird usually found in the crevices along the shoreline. There will be an opportunity for snorkelling.

In the afternoon have a wet landing on Darwin Bay, a coral sand beach where swallow-tailed and lava gulls gather near the tide pools. Enter a forest of opuntia cactus and mangroves where colonies of great frigate birds nest. The males inflate their red-throated pouches to attract females as they fly overhead. The trail leads through a rich inter tidal zone where you find a wide diversity of wildlife. After the walk, you can swim and snorkel from the beach with sea lions in these northern warmer waters.

Visit Black Turtle Cove, SANTA CRUZ ISLAND. No landing is allowed, but during a dinghy ride in this sheltered lagoon young white-tipped reef sharks are often seen, as well as schools of spotted eagle rays or golden rays.

Then return to BALTRA in time for the flight back to the Ecuadorian mainland.