Galapagos: Isabela II | 5 days Northern

Visit Santa Cruz Island from Baltra Airport

After arriving at Baltra Airport, we’ll take a scenic drive to the Itabaca Channel for a ferry to Santa Cruz Island. Following a 30-minute bus ride, we’ll explore the island’s lush highlands to appreciate its unique ecosystems and enjoy a tasty lunch at a local restaurant.

Exploring the Highlands of Santa Cruz Island

After lunch, we will visit a nearby reserve known for observing giant tortoises in their natural habitat. The reserve also has lava tunnels to explore. Then, we will transfer to Puerto Ayora to board the Isabela II for more adventures.

Discover Puerto Egas on Santiago Island

After landing on the black sandy beach, we marvel at encounters with land iguanas and birds near tuff-stone layers, rugged rocks, and lava formations. Marine iguanas eat algae during low tide, while fur seals rest in the shade.

Explore Chinese Hat Islet

This young islet features a 1,312 ft (400 m) trail starting at a crescent-shaped, white sandy beach. It’s perfect for swimming and snorkeling and offers encounters with white-tipped reef sharks and Galapagos penguins.

Experience Prince Phillip’s Steps on Genovesa Island

Start your day with a scenic panga ride along the cliffs of “Bird Island,” also known as Genovesa. Then descend a wooden staircase to a plateau and observe colonies of Nazca boobies, red-footed boobies, frigatebirds, and storm petrels. Keep an eye out for the short-eared owl. You can also take a longer panga ride along the cliffs or enjoy snorkeling and kayaking, weather permitting.

Explore Darwin Bay on Genovesa Island

After a satisfying lunch, we reach the pristine white sands of Darwin Bay. Here, you can observe many bird species, including frigatebirds, red-footed and Nazca boobies, gulls, herons, finches, and mockingbirds.

Santa Fe Island

We take the dinghy over to this idyllic sandy-white beach populated by colonies of sea lions. Galapagos hawks are often easily observed, perched atop salt bushes. The Santa Fe land iguana may be spotted during our exploration. Following the walk, we can snorkel and swim along a natural wave barrier or ride the glass-bottom boat.

South Plaza Island

Following lunch and a rest, we disembark (dry landing) in this channel, whose turquoise waters contrast brilliantly with the white sand and black lava of the shoreline. Beyond, a carpet of scarlet sesuvium succulents serves as groundcover for a grove of luminescent green prickly-pear cactus. Yellow-grey land iguanas sit beneath these, waiting patiently for pears to drop. Along the coastline we find sea lion colonies, while frigates, swallow-tailed gulls and shearwaters glide, playing with the thermals.

Our voyage culminates at Baltra Island, where we proceed to the airport for our return flight to the mainland.