Day Tour to uninhabited Island from Santa Cruz

Santa Cruz, Ecuador

OT
Optional Tours
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112 reviews
Duration: 1 day
Group size: 1 - 999
Day Tour to uninhabited Island from Santa Cruz
Santa Cruz, Ecuador

Optional Tours
  • Facebook verified
  • LinkedIn verified
112 reviews

Duration: 1 day
Group size: 1 - 999

About this trip

 

The destination of the day tour booked will depend on the availability of boats and destinations on the day of travelling. All day tour boats are regulated by the Galapagos National Park and are assigned a destination per day of the week.

The destinations are:

LEAVING FROM ITABACA CANAL: take into account that this includes a landtransport from the hotel to the canal of 45 minutes there and 45 minutes back, before starting on the boats

Plazas

Your first stop will be a refreshing one; you will be snorkeling at Punta Carrion where you will see colorful fish and sea turtles. Afterwards you continue to Plazas. There are actually two islands, Plaza Norte and Plaza Sur. Only Plaza Sur, the southern bigger island is visited by tourists. This island has a lot to offer. The flora and fauna will astonish you. This island is mostly known for the many land iguanas that live on it. When you are a little further from the coast, it looks like you’ve walked into the movie “Jurassic Park”, because you will be eye to eye with beautiful green, yellow and orange land iguanas. This is all surrounded by beaches, beautiful cacti and in the background the blue ocean. At the coast the male sea lions live in peace. The militant lifestyle is only maintainable for males who are in their prime. The elders spend their last days in colonies, of which one can be found at Plaza Sur. It is sensational to see how the sea lions and iguanas mix. They play together as real pals. This island also offers a lot to bird lovers and a so called “birdwatchers paradise” can be found; a steep cliff with swallow tailed gulls, masked boobies, blue-footed boobies, tropical red bill birds, frigates, pelicans and Audubon’s. The gulls, partners forever, are always here cuddling or nesting.

North Seymour

North Seymour is located north of the island Baltra. The island has a surface area of only 1.9 square kilometres and is almost totally flat. At this island there are the breeding colonies of the frigates, the blue-footed boobies and the swallow tailed gull. To impress the female frigates, the male blows up his red throat bag. To attract more attention they fly around in the surroundings of the female. You can imagine that this is not too easy with a blown-up throat bag, because they lose their balance quicker. It is interesting to watch. Afterwards you will navigate towards the beach of Bachas. Here you can relax at the beach and follow the trails of the nesting sea turtles and snorkel a bit and swim at the beach. There is also a trail leading to a flamingo pool where there might be flamingos, on the way you see the shipwreck of Bachas.

Bartolomé

This is a day tour and breakfast (in most cases), lunch and snorkeling equipment are included.

Bartolomé is a bit further away than other islands, therefore you start early today. The first stop will be a refreshing one. At Sullivan Bay you snorkel from the boat or relax at the beach. Here you can find, from December until April, green sea turtles that come ashore to lie in the sun. This is special because in other places the turtles only come ashore at night to lay eggs. During the day they are staying in the safe water. Snorkeling is almost a must here. With a little luck you will see the “Moorish Idol”; this is the most beautiful fish from the Galapagos. Afterwards you continue to Bartolome. The island has a surface area of only 1.2 square kilometers and the highest point of the island is at 114 meters. You can reach this point by taking a path through an almost surrealistic landscape and past recent signs of volcano eruptions. You will visit the highest point of the island with a spectacular view over the lava in different colors, the many volcanoes and the deep blue see as well as the famous “Pinnacle Rock”.

LEAVING FROM THE HARBOUR OF PUERTO AYORA: this is only a maximum of 5 from the accommodation.

Santa Fe

The beauty of this Island is best appreciated from the trail which climbs the fault cliff overlooking the southern half of the bay. This plateau is also the best place to find the large land iguanas (Conolophus Pallidus) that are endemic to Santa Fe Island. The Santa Fe land iguana lives nowhere else in the world and, in fact, on no other Galapagos Island. A sub-species of the famous endemic Galapagos land iguana, the Santa Fe variety is yellowish-green in color and can grow to over one meter in length. At the beach of Santa Fe you can observe a sea lion colony and in the bay there are often rays, white tip sharks and sea turtles. At the rocky side of the bay you will snorkel with colorful fish.

Group – Minimum 2 passengers

What’s included

  • Activities
    Activities as described in day tour (depends of the destination)
  • Bilingual guide
  • Lunch
  • Snorkeling equipment
  • Transport

What’s not included

  • Tips & Personal expenses

Available Packages

Trip Price
$308

Your Organizer


OT
Optional Tours
112 reviews
Welcome to Encounter Latin America. Our passionate team with 7 local regional offices in Latin America stretch across the continent and give us the perfect base to offer your travelers an unrivaled experience. Living and breathing travel in Latin America for over 20 years, we’ve discovered incredible places, met amazing people and learned all the quirks and customs of this corner of our planet. We love to share our passion and the knowledge we’ve gained, with you and your clients. With a wide selection of bed & breakfasts, small posadas, unique boutique hotels and world class luxurious lodging; you and your clients are able to design an authentic experience that meets both their comfort level, budget, and expectations. We carefully help design and refine all of your trips to bring authentic experiences to your customers, at the best possible prices. With six on-the-ground offices across Latin America, and a dedicated team of passionate travel experts, your adventures are in safe hands!

Reviews

We had a great time and really enjoyed all of the hotels and tours we had booked
By Adam S for Adam's Adventure to Patagonia on Mar 23, 2024
Wonderful experience, the guides were fantastic . Great choice of excursions and highly adaptable to our wishes.
By David M for David's Adventure to Argentina & Brazil on Jan 27, 2024
Bester Fahrer, den wir während unseres Aufenthalts in Ecuador hatten! Wegen der guten Englischkenntnisse des Fahrers haben wir sehr viel über das Land gelernt. Alles hat wunderbar geklappt und wir haben uns auf der Fahrt nach Guayaquill sehr sicher gefühlt.
By Clara S for Additional Service 07 on Oct 06, 2023
Andres is an exceptional guide who is very friendly, knowledgeable and his English is perfect! We had a great time with him in the surroundings of Cuenca.
By William B for Additional Service 07 on Oct 01, 2023
It was a very good and nice tour. The falls are so impressive and you get very close. Gustavo was a very friendly, relaxed guide who gave us a lot of attention and information. The boattrip was amazing, beautiful and spectaculair! We certainly wouldn't want to have missed this. The jungle tour with the 4 wheel drive however was not what we expected. It was not more then a bus drive in an open bus to get to the boat. We did not get a chance to see the surroundings or any anima at all (we Nederland made a stop).
By Patrick M for Argentinien Falls & Great Adventure Excursions on Oct 03, 2022
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