Santa Cruz

Our home island. Puerto Ayora is the archipelago's liveliest town and the departure point for most boat day trips. Highlands, lava tunnels, giant tortoises and Tortuga Bay are all within reach of a morning.

Day tours on Santa Cruz

Highlands, lava tunnels, beaches and giant tortoises, all within reach of Puerto Ayora.

The white sand and mangroves of Tortuga Bay, with marine iguanas on the beach
Day tour

From $140 per person

Santa Cruz
  • Half day

A 50-minute walk from Puerto Ayora through native vegetation brings you to Tortuga Bay's white sand and clear water. Kayak the calm side at Playa Mansa and snorkel straight off the beach.

A giant tortoise in the green highlands of Santa Cruz
Day tour

From $165 per person

Santa Cruz

An afternoon in the green interior of Santa Cruz: the two collapsed craters at Los Gemelos, a walk inside a lava tunnel, and giant tortoises in the open on a highland ranch.

Cyclists on the road out to El Garrapatero
Day tour

From $295 per person

Santa Cruz

Ride down from Cerro Mesa to El Garrapatero beach, about 19 km from Puerto Ayora, with time to snorkel. Finish at a trapiche to see how sugar cane spirit and coffee are made by hand.

Boat day trips from Puerto Ayora

Full-day navigations to the uninhabited islands. All of them leave from and return to Santa Cruz.

Bartolome seen from the summit trail, with both beaches and Pinnacle Rock
Boat trip

From $395 per person

Bartolome
  • Full day

A full-day boat trip to Bartolome, the volcanic island behind the Pinnacle Rock skyline, with a climb to the viewpoint and, conditions allowing, snorkeling. The day ends among the lava formations of Sullivan Bay.

A blue-footed booby brooding an egg on the ground
Boat trip

From $348 per person

North Seymour
  • Full day

North Seymour packs land iguanas, frigatebirds and blue-footed boobies into 1.9 square kilometres. After lunch on board you snorkel at Playa Bachas or Mosquera Islet, whichever the sea allows.

Two sea lions on the rocks at Santa Fe Island
Boat trip

From $250 per person

Santa Fe
  • Full day

Two snorkel sessions in the clear water off Santa Fe, with sea lions, turtles and tropical fish, then lunch on board and, if the sea allows, a stop at Playa Escondida.

A Galapagos sea lion swimming beside snorkellers
Boat trip

From $270 per person

Pinzon
  • Full day

A day around Pinzon Island and La Fe Islet: a landing among marine iguanas and boobies, a circuit of Roca Sin Nombre, snorkeling with reef sharks and rays, and optional recreational fishing.

Flamingos feeding in a shallow lagoon on Floreana
Boat trip

From $245 per person

Floreana
  • Full day

Floreana carries the islands' human history. You visit Asilo de la Paz, the Pirates' Cave and the tortoise breeding centre, then the sea lions of Playa Loberia and a black-sand beach.

Close portrait of a Galapagos land iguana
Boat trip

From $300 per person

South Plaza
  • Full day

A small island with an outsized cast: land iguanas under the prickly pear, seabirds along the cliff edge and a sea lion colony at the dock. The afternoon is snorkeling at Punta Carrion.

A Galapagos penguin standing on the volcanic rock
Boat trip

From $210 per person

Isabela
  • Full day

A long day and a 2.5-hour crossing to Puerto Villamil: the Arnaldo Tupiza tortoise breeding centre, the flamingo lagoons, and 45 minutes of snorkeling in the channels of Tintoreras Islet.

Extra fees paid on the day

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Jacqueline Ojeda and Jorge Jaramillo of Pristine Galapagos