Travel time: A 40 minute bus ride will take you across the island to the Baltra channel where you will embark onto a passenger boat with toilet and plenty of room to relax for the 2 hour journey to Bartolome.
The tour
The tour begins with a hot breakfast aboard (for 6am departures only) the boat during the journey to the island, with a short introduction and tour brief from the National Parks accredited guide, speaking English and Spanish. Once arrived at the island you will disembark and take a short 40 minute walk up to the 114m summit of the island, where dramatic views make it a fantastic spot for group photos. The trail leads through a wild and unearthly moon looking lava landscape along a wooden boardwalk built to protect visitors and the erosion of the trail. A hot lunch and refreshments are provided back on the boat, before you have the opportunity to go to the other visitor site on the island. A small sandy cove from where you can snorkel and try to keep up with the speedy Galapagos penguins. Numerous varieties of colourful reef fish, green sea turtles and various rays are also often spotted around this snorkel site. The best way to photograph the penguins however, is during the panga (small boat) ride that takes you close to the rocks and around Pinnacle Rock. It is possible to get within 3 or 4 meters of the birds whilst they look on seemingly uninterested in our fascination with them.
A light snack is provided on the return trip to the Baltra Channel where the bus will transport you back to your hotel.
Return: Approx 5pm
Includes: breakfast (on 6am departures only), lunch, water, snorkelling equipment (mask, snorkel and fins) wetsuits available at an extra charge.
Academy Bay Diving is a family owned and run business dedicated to providing our customers with an amazing and safe dive experience in the Wonderful Galapagos Marine Reserve.
The guys at academy really looked after us for the 8 days diving we done based from Santa Cruz As we visited numerous sites with amazing sea life. the crew on board were very knowledgeable , informative and super helpful too. There was good vibes on board , and the lunch was tasty too. Very professional and safe operation too. We will be back no doubt Thanks again from all the Nauti Diver crew in dublin Ireland 🇮🇪 cheers Ziggy 🤙
I had a great time. The equipment was in good condition and our guides were very motivated. Also this is not mass tourism like for example in Thailand. We were nine people plus two guides and there were no other boats at the same spot.
Also the sea life is amazing there. We saw tons of white tips, black tips, some Galapagos sharks, lots of rays and a sea turtle. On my second dive trip I finally saw the hammer heads and some sea lions as well.
Even if there are only two dives per trip and the costs are about twice the price you pay normally in the rest of the world it is definitely worth it!
We had a great time with academybay diving. The service was uncomplicated and they responded fast to our questions. It was also possible to add on an extra tour. The accomodation in the tourist category was in nice hotels with comfy rooms. Academy Bay diving have really good instructors and crew personal. Thanks for the great time!
Amazing diving experience. The diving itself is just mindblowing, but that was expected. The team of Academy Bay went instead beyond expectations. They are excellent and extremely competent, they took care of everything with great detail and made all the trips more special and relaxed. They even managed to make quite easy (thanks to how they organised it and how they prepared us) the more difficult drift dives with strong currents. Highly recommended (especially compared with some other dive centres on the other main islands).
The three trips we booked with Academy Bay Diving were excellent. Except for a minor glitch regarding meeting time/location on the 2nd day trip (Academy Bay resolved to my satisfaction) ... the guides were excellent as were the crew. Very knowledgeable and accommodating. Lunch served on board each boat was some of the best food we had while visiting Galapagos! Thanks for the wonderful experience!
acabamos de regresar de Galápagos conde realizamos seis increíbles días de buceos... por lejos los mejores en 20 años. Tanto por los hermosos lugares y fauna de la isla y alrededores, por sus equipos de primera calidad y sobre todo por sus guías y todo el personal del centro. Es increíble como aman su isla y como transmiten todo lo que saben de su fauna e historia.
gracias Alex, Jimmy y Santiago