For our two weeks on the Galapagos we spent six days doing a cruise around Isabella Island, which you can read about here, and the rest split between the other two main islands – Santa Cruz and San Cristobal. This page is about the time we spent on the most populous of the Galapagos Islands, Santa Cruz.
Contents
El Chato Giant Tortoise Reserve and Lava Tunnel
Taking an evening stroll at the port
Visiting the Charles Darwin Research Station
How to get there
Odds are that if you’re visiting Santa Cruz then you’ll be staying at the only town, Puerto Ayora. How to get there depends on how you got to the island in the first place. We actually arrived twice; the first time was when we first flew to the Galapagos and landed at the airport on Baltra, which is a small island just off the north coast of Santa Cruz. The second time we entered was when we had finished the cruise and were dropped off, again at the airport. So we actually made the same trip to Puerto Ayora twice. To do so, you first need to get the shuttle bus at the airport. You can buy the ticket at the kiosk right next to where the bus departs from. This shuttle bus takes you to the dock where there will be a water taxi to transfer you across to Santa Cruz Island. This requires a separate payment so make sure you have some coins handy. Also make sure your bags don’t have anything loose that might fall out, as the bags are put on top of the boat. Once you dock on the other side of the channel, you have a choice. You can either wait until the bus has enough passengers to go (this needs another ticket) or you can get a taxi. If you have enough people to fill a taxi then it might be worth the extra expense to not have to hang around. Otherwise, the bus is a lot cheaper and is probably worth it. That is what we did and it takes you all the way across the island to the centre of Puerto Ayora.
The other way of getting to Puerto Ayora is by ferry. This is only an option if you are arriving from one of the other islands. The port is right in the middle of the small town so once you have disembarked, you are basically on the main street!
Things to do on Santa Cruz
Whilst there are a range of day trips you can take from the port (more on that further on) don’t forget to also take some time to sample what the island itself has to offer. Here are some of the things that we tried:
El Chato Giant Tortoise Reserve and Lava Tunnel
The first activity we did on Santa Cruz was to visit a giant tortoise reserve. This is different to the breeding facility next to the Darwin Centre on the outskirts of Puerto Ayora, which we didn’t visit. El Chato Reserve is a bit further up the island and is a protected area where the tortoises are free to roam. When you arrive a guide will take you around and give you some information about the area and the tortoises themselves. It was really cool to be able to stroll around and see the huge creatures just going about their own business, eating or relaxing in the pools. Obviously you shouldn’t even try to touch them but you can still be pretty close and certainly close enough to watch them in detail. When you are finished, the reserve also has a restaurant if you wish to eat. We had some fish and it was really good.
Not far from the main entrance it is also possible to enter one of the lava tunnels that are dotted about the island. It was interesting to walk through but just be aware that if you want to go through the whole tunnel you will need to crawl for a small portion (or just return the way you came). It is only a short walk but if you reach the other exit, you should see a shed close by. We were told to quietly approach and through a hole in the side there were a couple of barn owls resting in the gloom. Obviously they aren’t always there but it’s definitely worth a look to see if you’re in luck.
Relaxing at Tortuga Bay
Rated in the top ten most beautiful beaches in the world on Trip Advisor, Tortuga Bay is certainly worth a look. As well as being a great place to go in its own right, it is one of the free activities that you can do to help balance your budget.
To get there, you need to walk to the south-western tip of Puerto Ayora, which isn’t far from the port. It’s really easy to find using the Maps.me app. After a little walk up a hill you’ll reach the ranger station where you’ll need to sign in, so have a picture of your passport available just in case they want to look. From here it’s an undulating paved way that carries on for another 30 – 45 minutes. It’s not the most interesting of paths as you can generally just see the trees that line either side, but there’ll be some lizards and birds to keep you company and you’ll have to dodge the locals who use it as a jogging route. Once you get to the beach, however, it’ll have all been worth it. Pristine pale sand stretches out in a majestic curve, contrasting with the blue sea lapping up against it. As you walk along you’ll probably spot some marine iguanas and pelicans enjoying the beach as well. We were also lucky enough to sea some turtles swimming in the shallows from our position on the sand. Unfortunately, due to the strong currents, you are unable to swim on this beach but you just have to keep walking to be able to go for a dip.
Once you get to the end of the beach you’ll see a small path that leads through the trees to the next bay. Here is Playa Mansa. Whilst not as beautiful as Tortuga Bay, it is still a nice beach and you are able to swim in the sheltered waters. At the far end of the beach, next to the mangroves, there is a place where you can rent kayaks or paddle boards if you wish. Also at this point, you can wade into the shallows and if you look right next to where the mangroves are you’ll come across white-tipped reef sharks. These sharks aren’t normally dangerous to humans and it was so surreal to just be standing with the water up to my waist and yet to be looking down at a dozen sharks just a couple of metres away. It was just another amazing example of how humans and animals peacefully co-exist in the Galapagos.
To get back it is sometimes possible go get a water-taxi from the area in between the two beaches, but we just went back the way we came. It is definitely worth spending a few hours or half a day here.
Taking a Bahia Tour
The day we were getting an afternoon ferry to Isabella to join up with the cruise we also did the Bahia Tour in the morning, This had been organised in conjunction with our cruise, so whilst we had a nice time, it would have been cheaper and better if we had visited the main points of the tour independently using water taxis. But it at least saved us the hassle of organising it.
The first point was to take the boat to Punta Estrada. Here we could see some wildlife on the rocks, such as crabs, herons and our first blue-footed booby. We then docked and walked past El Canal del Amor (the channel of love), which had beautiful turquoise waters, on our way to Canal de las Tintoreras. This was a small sheltered inlet that had a few white-tipped reef sharks resting in the shallow water. As we continued walking, we passed by cacti that looked like trees. Intrigued we asked the guide and apparently once the cacti reach a certain age (about 100 years old) they start getting bark around the central stem, a bit like a tree. We kept on walking to Playa de los Perros, so called because it is sometimes frequented by a large number of ‘dog-crabs’ – I have no idea what type of crabs these really are. It was a nice beach with a few marine iguanas on it but we soon had to leave to continue with the tour.
After snorkelling for a bit from the boat, there were no wetsuits and the water was really cold, we docked at the start of the trail to Las Greitas. This is the main attraction of the tour and you walk for 10 – 15 minutes, past some salt flats, until you can see the massive crevice in the rocks. Las Greitas is an inland break in the volcanic rocks that has filled with water, where you can swim and snorkel. It was nice but quite full of people. Looking back it would have been better to take a water-taxi so that we would be there at a quieter time. It would also mean that we could take our time and be able to relax at the spot.
After quickly getting an ice-cream at the stall by the salt flats, it was time to head back. The tour was nice enough but I’m not sure it is really worth it when you can get to Las Greitas yourself independently. This would be cheaper and allow you to be much more flexible, rather than have the feeling of being rushed.
Taking an evening stroll at the port
During the day the port is a busy place with boats coming and leaving in a perpetual cycle. These include tour boats, water-taxis and local fishing boats. As such, entry is restricted. During the evening, however, it is a place transformed. It is calm and quiet, with no restrictions to wandering the boards. In addition, colourful lights illuminate the waters below. So as well as the sea lions that were resting on the benches, we saw turtles and small sharks swimming in the illuminated water. Whilst you may only spend ten minutes here, it’s definitely worth doing if you’re staying in the town.
Visiting the Charles Darwin Research Station
So, we’re not entirely sure that we didn’t miss something here. All of the blogs that we read beforehand mentioned this place as somewhere you should definitely visit. And yet we don’t really get it. It seemed to be just a small museum with a couple of exhibits and a multitude of boards giving some brief information about current conservation projects. It took us about ten minutes to look at everything there and I’m afraid we weren’t impressed. Maybe that was because we didn’t link the trip with the tortoise breeding centre, which is next door but costs and we had already been to the reserve on the island. Or maybe one of the other buildings in the vicinity was also meant for the public. Or maybe it just wasn’t what we were expecting after it was hyped up in other blogs. But it’s free and not too far from the main street, so even if you end up agreeing with us, you won’t have lost anything.
Day Trips from Santa Cruz
There are a whole host of tours that you can do from the port at Puerto Ayora and a whole host of travel agencies advertising them along the main street. But given that we didn’t have so much time just on Santa Cruz, we limited ourselves to one trip…
Snorkelling at Pinzon
The small island of Pinzon sits in-between the main islands of Santa Cruz and Isabella and the reason we chose to go there was due to recommendations we’d had about how amazing the snorkelling and diving were at this point.
After departing fairly early in the morning, our first stop was to a bay on the west coast of Santa Cruz. Here we spent a while snorkelling and there were a load of fish along with a few turtles. But the visibility wasn’t great.
Afterwards, we headed to Pinzon. Given the distance involved it takes quite a while to get there but we eventually saw the cliffs rising out of the ocean. I’m not sure if you can land anywhere on Pinzon, but that was not why we were there. So after getting changed back into the wetsuits and fins we were ready for the main attraction. And it certainly didn’t disappoint. Not two minutes after getting in the water we were lucky enough to have a huge manta ray swimming below us. They’re such amazing creatures and don’t quite seem from this world. Whilst this was obviously the highlight of the trip, the rest of the snorkelling was still really good. The water was crystal clear and was easily the best visibility we had during our trip to the Galapagos. As we went along the cliffs to a shallower area, we encountered a whole host of white-tipped reef sharks, along with playful sea lions and majestic sea turtles. The beautiful weather and conditions combined to make this a really nice trip and we still would have thought so even if we hadn’t spotted the manta ray.
After having a freshly prepared fish dinner on board the boat, it was time to head back to Puerto Ayora. It had been a long day with lots of time just on the boat but we thoroughly enjoyed it.
Thoughts on Santa Cruz
If you’re visiting the Galapagos it’s more than likely you’ll be spending some time on Santa Cruz anyway but if you’re not sure about going we definitely think you should. There are loads of interesting things to do; there are some nice bars and restaurants in the town; and because it is in the middle of the three main islands, it is an important transport hub for island hopping. In fact the last thing we did on Santa Cruz was board the ferry to get to San Cristobal. So please click here if you wish to read about our experiences on that island.
Brit and Czech Abroad 