- SAN CRISTOBAL

- LA LOBERIA BEACH

- WELCOME YOGA WITH SUNSET AT LOBERIA (30-40 MINUTES). 

Our Galapagos adventure begins with an approximately 2 hours flight from Quito to San Cristobal Island.   

Once we are on the island, we will take you to the hotel for a quick change of clothes, refresh up, and off to our first adventure.  We walk towards a local restaurant to enjoy a tasty lunch…of course seafood, fish is on the menu.  

This is the time your local naturalist guide from Galapagos National Park will give you an introduction to the islands, the activities, and what to expect during your tour.   After lunch,   we visit a local dive shop in town to try the gear you will be using in the next few days.  This is a wetsuit, mask, and fins.  Once we do the equipment fitting, we drive for approx 5 minutes to the entrance of La Loberia beach.  

To reach the beach, we will go through a path for approx 800 meters.  This path is on the south end of the island, receiving the swells and winds from the south. 

If we are lucky along the trail we will be able to admire marine iguanas crossing by, some frigate birds in the sky, and beautiful colorful morning glory seaweed… Be prepared to listen to the guide about all the knowledge they provide as well as make sure you ask the guide all the questions we are sure you have. Finally, we reach the Loberia beach, which has a sea lion colony.  This is the perfect opportunity to go snorkel.  We provide all assistance, equipment, floating devices required for everybody to go inside the ocean in a safe way.  Some days when there is a swell you may find waves, but usually, it is pretty simple to go in and out of the water.   Once inside, depending on the luck you have you may find some playful sea lions swimming around you, a marine tortoise swimming by, or simply colorful tropical fish.

Whatever you see, it is a great first snorkel and welcoming to the island.  Around sunset, we start going back to the entrance to drive back to town.   Depending on how the group feels we do our first yoga session at the beach OR we do it at the hotel. 

Dinner is on your own but we will point out some cozy local restaurants in town.  

- MORNING CENTRO CRIAZNA Y PUERTO CHINO

- LUNCH AT OTOY

- YOGA IN THE MORNING AFTER BREAKFAST

After breakfast, we will take local transportation to drive for approx 30 minutes across the highlands.  We will reach an altitude of 700 meters, observing the changes in vegetation and weather.  Our first stop is the Junco lagoon on top of an extinct crater.  We will go up the hill all the way to the crater.  Once on top we will look for frigate birds nesting on the banks of the crater.  Continue or drive to the other side of the island until we arrive at the giant tortoise breeding center, which is a semi-natural environment that hosts approx 100 turtles in different stages.  

Along the path, you will observe, smell typical flora from the island, which is the food for the turtles.  These giant reptiles are the architects of the islands, as they eat the vegetation, move around the islands and then defecate the seeds miles away, reproducing the natural vegetation of each island. This is a great opportunity to make great pictures of the famous tortoises.  If time allows it, we will visit Puerto Chino beach, which is a beautiful turquoise water beach at the end of a dry forest hike.  It is a good opportunity to go into the water to swim a little or enjoy the beach. 

For lunch, we will visit an organic farm restaurant, which harvests most of its own fruit and vegetables.  The fish is a good option as well as tropical juices.  The restaurant overlooks the ocean from a hill.  After a tasty lunch, we drive back to town.  

The afternoon will be arranged yoga activities with your teacher/mentor.

 - KAYAK FROM PLAYA DEL ORO

- YOGA IN THE AFTERNOON 

- FREE TIME FOR DINNER 

After a healthy breakfast, we walk toward “Playa de Oro” beach, to go into our kayaks.  Each ocean kayak holds 2 people.  Depending on your needs we will have enough staff to make sure you are safe and comfortable in each kayak.  Off we go along the shore. 

We will first practice on Playa de Oro bay, moving along the boats. Then we continue to reach Playa Man beach. Here we will have some time to observe colonies of sea lions.  We will continue along the reef in the search of blue-footed boobies resting on the rocks. As we cross Punta Carola beach, we will reach a location where usually pelicans nest.  

Since we are in kayaks, we can get very close to the rocks, observing blue-footed boobies, pelicans, tailed herons among others. Finally, we reach Tijeretas bay, where we observe on the distance frigates nesting on the hill. During most of the kayak, some curious sea lions sometimes reach us, as well as marine tortoises spot their head out of the water.  Return to Playa de Oro.  

Lunch will be served at a local tasty restaurant.

Afternoon you will arrange with you yoga mentor.

 - KICKER ROCK (snorkel)

- SUNSET YOGA OPTIONAL

- FREE DINNER TIME

Today we will enjoy one of the Galapagos highlights.  After breakfast, we will go to the peer to go into our boat.  We will get out of the bay area, working our way north towards Kicker Rock which is a rock formation or an eroded cone of volcanic tuff.  

Kicker Rock is also a refuge for many seabirds like blue-footed boobies and phaetons, as well as for sea lions. The waters around the rock are home to numerous species of fish, sea turtles, rays, and hammerhead sharks. It reaches a maximum of 114 meters in height. 

After the snorkel at Kicker Rock, we will have lunch on board and end the tour with a visit to a calm beach on the island, surrounded by clear water and mangroves. 

Order of visits can change according to the license of the National Park.  At mid-afternoon, we return to town.  Rest of the afternoon on your own.  We meet again for dinner.

Notes: The boat we use is very cozy, comfortable.  We provide juice, coffee, tea on board.   Captain and crew are very helpful. The boat has a capacity of 12 people max.  Access to and from water is simple, as the boat has platforms on each side of the stern. Assistance is provided for this activity as well as floating devices.

Visit to  San Cristobal Interpretation Center to learn a bit about its history, present, and challenges for the future. We will also go for a short hike through dry forest towards  Tijeretas viewpoint to admire the island from the top.  SNORKEL is possible to do at TIJERATAS and/or PUNTA CAROLA. 

Afternoon session with your yoga mentor.

 - ESPAÑOLA ISLAND 

- CLOSING MEDITATION and farewell dinner.

Today we experience another perk of the Galapagos.  We will meet at peer at 7.30am to travel for approx 2 hours until we reach Española island. 

The endemic green-reddish marine Iguanas and the Galápagos Sea Lions welcome you already at the small stone pier, constructed for a dry landing with the zodiac. 

The hiking trail is 1.6km long and shows you many endemic species as e.g. the Española Mockingbird, or the Galápagos Hawk. Different kinds of finches and blue-footed boobies can be also spotted.  

If the trip happens between April to December chance is we may see the nesting of waved Albatros. We will also visit the “El Soplador”, a 25m water fountain produced by ocean waves hitting with great pressure the cracks in the island’s cliff, spouting up through a lava tunnel.

After lunch, we navigate to “Bajo Gardner” for  snorkeling.. It’s just a small protuberance which is the starting point for the dives.  The site offers a lot of activity in general, so make sure you have your go-pro charged for amazing captures. 

Return to San Cristobal around 17.00 pm for a well-deserved rest and closing yoga meditation :)

 Depending on the time of your flight, usually after breakfast you have some hours for last minute shopping.  Then at mid morning we transfer you to the airport to take your  flight back to Guayaquil or Quito depending which city you are flying back home.   We include accomodation in Quito or Guayaquil  near the airport for this night as well.   Transfer out to airport at Quito or Guayaquil according to your itineary.  End of services