Galapagos Vacations in Style Southern Islands liveaboard trip

Arrival from Mainland, your friendly guides will be expecting you outside customs to begin your wonderful Galapagos adventure.

Santa Cruz Island: El Chato Reserve

Our first visit is to “El Chato” Reserve, divided into two areas: Caseta and Chato. The trail begins at Santa Rosa from Puerto Ayora, with the Caseta route being the more challenging. The reserve allows visitors to observe giant tortoises in semi-wild during the dry season and is also a good place to spot Darwin’s finches, yellow warblers, Short-eared Owls, paint-billed crakes and Galapagos rails.

Dragon Hill

Situated on Santa Cruz Island, is one of the newest visitor sites accessible to tourists in the Galapagos Archipelago. One of the lengthier Galapagos walking trails will lead visitors along a beach and up a trail to the lagoon lookout where you will spot bright Flamingos, Land Iguanas (nesting site) and Pintail Ducks.

Bachas Beach

Located on the north shore of Santa Cruz, Las Bachas is a picturesque swimming beach. One of the few remnants of the U.S. World War II presence in the Galapagos, a floating pier, can be seen here. You may see flamingos, Sally Lightfoot crabs, hermit crabs, black necked stilts, and whimbrels. Sea turtles also nest off the beach.

Post Office Bay

In the 18th century whalers passing through the islands placed a wooden barrel on Floreana Island for use as an unofficial mail box. The tradition continues today as visitors leave addressed postcards in the barrel and sort through left mail to deliver at home.

Cormorant Point

This site hosts a beautiful flamingo lagoon where other birds such as white-cheeked pintails  and common stilts can also be seen. The beaches on this island are quite unique: the “Green Beach” named for its greenish color, which comes from a high percentage of olivine crystals in the sand, and the “Four Sand Beach” composed mainly of white coral.

Suarez Point

The area is great for spotting Blue-footed & Nazca boobies, Hood Mockingbirds and Tropic-birds and, of course, Waved-Albatrosses. A beautiful site on the ocean front from where the majestic albatrosses use the cliff as a launching pad. The famous attraction is the magnificent blowhole, spurting water high into the air. This site presents wonderful photograph opportunities.

Gardner Bay

Gardner Bay, on the eastern side of the island, is the breeding site of nearly all of the world´s 12,000 pairs of waved albatrosses. It has an ample white sandy beach with a myriad of sea lions, perfect for relaxing. Its rocky shores make this site a great place for diving and snorkeling.

The Interpretation Center was opened in 1998 as a phase of the project “Interpretation and Environment Education Project.” Visitors enjoy expositions on natural history, human history, and conservation. The conservation efforts represent the movement to protect the wildlife and natural environment through means of population and tourist control. The Interpretation Center has an outdoor stadium, audio-visual equipment, and meeting rooms.

After the morning excursion you will be taken to the airport for your flight to the mainland.