PRINCIPAL ISLANDS

Baltra - South Seymour
This is the entry to the islands where we find the main airport of the Galapagos Islands. It is also a military base of the Ecuadorian Government.

The Bachas Beaches - Santa Cruz (Indefatigable Island)
These two-small beaches are found on the east of Santa Cruz Island. Their sand is made of decomposed coral, making it white and soft, and turning it into a favorite nesting site for sea turtles. Behind one of the beaches there is a small brackish water lagoon, where one may occasionally observe flamingos and other coastal birds, such as black-necked stilts and whimbrels. The other beach is longer, but it has two old barges that were abandoned during the Second World War, when the USA used Baltra Island as a strategical point to protect the Panama Channel.

Genovesa (Tower Island)

The boats anchor in the interior bay of an old imploded volcano.

This is the only island where the red footed boobies are nesting in the salt bushes. On the two different walks on Darwin Bay and Prince Phillip's Step are possible top observe as well masked boobies, frigate birds, feeding wandering tattlers, turnstones, whimbrels, lava gulls, night herons. Flying around the cliffs you may see swallow-tailed gulls, storm petrels, Auburn's shearwater and the gracious tropic birds

On the beach we find sea lions, fur seals and marine iguanas, the mockingbird and the Galapagos dove.

Bartholomew Island (Sullivan Island)
A small barren island located in Sullivan bay of James Island. It has two visitors' sites. From one of them, it is possible to climb to the summit of the Island, where visitors can observe a variety of volcanic formations, spatter and tuff cones, lava flows and lava tubes. The moonlike-landscape provides the most scenic panorama in the archipelago.

The main attraction is a small colony of Galapagos penguins found in the coves next to the Pinnacle Rock, which dominates Bartholomew's landscape.

On the other site, the visitor may swim and snorkel from a beautiful beach. Multi-colored fish and penguins may be seen occasionally at the base of the tall Pinnacle rock, which dominates Bartholomew's landscape.

Sullivan Bay - Santiago (James Island)
This visitor site provides a unique opportunity to view a approximately 100 - years old lava flow. The East Side of James Island is known to have barren volcanic landscapes, dominated by black pahoehoe (ropy) lava flows of very young age. On the surface of the lava it is possible to observe some tree molds that were carried down by the flow of the fresh lava. It is also interesting to see how some Mollogo plants are starting to colonize the small lava fissures.

Santa Cruz (Indefatigable Island)
Charles Darwin Research Center:

Although the great majority of visitors come here to observe and appreciate natural wonders, it is also interesting to learn how the protection and conservation of the islands is realized. Some of the principal attractions are: the National Park Information Center, the Van Staelen Exhibition Hall, the Breeding and Rearing center for young tortoises and the famous Lonesome George (tortoise from Pinta island).

Highlands: The trail to the Highlands leaves from Bellavista and passes through the agricultural zone, near the national Park boundary, the Miconia Zone. On a clear day-(unpredictable) this area offers a beautiful scenery of rolling hills and extinct volcanic cones covered with grass and lush greenery throughout the year. We have the possibility to observe the giant land tortoises in their natural habitat.

Floreana (Charles Island)
Post Office Bay: Historically, this site is the location of a wooden barrel, placed there in the 18th century by the crew of a whaling ship. Since that time, it has been used by mariners and tourists as a post office. The idea is to carry letters or postcards to their destination by hand. Apart from being the post office Barrel, the site was the landing place for some of the first colonist.

Devil's Crown volcanic cone: This islet consists of an eroded volcanic crater that owes its present form to the strong wave action. The interior is excellent for snorkeling and the exterior is considered to be one of the prime areas for scuba diving, especially when the current is strong. It is very important to note that only competent divers should dive in these conditions.

Punta Cormorant
A short walk from the green olive coloured beach brings us to a brackish lagoon with the biggest population of flamingos in the Archipelago. Following the trail we arrive on a white beach on the Eastern side of the Island, where we can see rays, turtles and sharks in the shallow water. From December to March sea turtles nest on this beach.

Española (Hood Island)
Punta Suarez: This rocky point of land sustains one of the most impressive and varied colonies of sea birds on the Galapagos. Along its southern shore, high cliffs rise up from the sea offering the visitors a spectacular view of soaring birds and of the blowhole, where water spouts up to 50-75 feet into the air according to the intensity of the surf. Being an "outpost" island, Hood has a high percentage of endemic fauna and species that have developed in the archipelago their own characteristics that makes them unique in the world.

This is the only nesting place of the Waved Albatross. But You may see as well

Mockingbirds, Blue-footed and Masked Boobies, Darwin Finches, Galapagos Doves and Hawks, red and green Marine Iguanas, Sea lions and fur Seals.

Bahia Garden: Located on the northeastern coast of Hood, Gardener Bay provides an excellent beach for relaxing, swimming and observing sea lions.

Santa Fe Island ( Barrington Island)
The small bay on Barrington's northeast coast is an extremely picturesque anchorage. There are two different trails on this site. One leads to a scenic viewpoint on top of a cliff where it is possible to find land iguanas, endemic to the island. The other trail is a short circular trail near the beach where you can see land iguanas, early in the morning or in the afternoon when the sun is low. A particular attraction is the unusually tall forest of prickly cacti.

Plazas Island
There are two small islets that were uplifted a short distance from the east cost of Santa Cruz. The unusual vegetation and location of the island create an interesting landscape with the enchanting fauna and flora of the Galapagos despite its small size, some of the most interesting and outstanding species of the archipelago live here. It is possible to guarantee the observation of land iguanas that are often in the shade of a cactus. Nesting on the rugged southern cliffs, there are usually swallow-tailed gulls, which can be seen along with various other sea birds. The protected rocky seashore is a prime habitat for a large colony of noisy sea lions. There we can also we can see yellow-tailed mullets, Audubon's shearwater, red-billed tropic-birds, frigate-birds gliding past the cliff, as well as brown pelicans near the boats.

North Seymour
This island is located to the north of Baltra. It is a flat and low-lying island, formed as a result of an uplift of a submarine lava formation. The vegetation is mainly low and bushy, and there lives the largest colony of magnificent frigate birds of the Galapagos. There is also a large population of blue foot boobies nesting from May to November and along the coastline resides a colony of playful sea lions.

San Cristobal (Chatham Island)
Puerto Baquerizo Moreno, located on the west side of the island is home to the capital and administrative center of the Galapagos Islands. Here we find also an interesting Galapagos National Park Visitor Center.