Galapagos Islands

WESTERN ISLANDS

BARTOLOME
  • One of the most popular islands.
  • Point of Interest: Pinnacle Rock and the sweeping panoramic views of Sullivan Bay from a nearby hilltop.
  • Beautiful white beaches and great places for snorkeling.
  • Animals: Penguins, turtles (Jan-Mar), lava lizards, and white stripped reef sharks.

SANTIAGO

  • Famous for its seaward caves which shelter Galapagos fur-seals, its dramatic coastline and its lava flows are polished by the sea.
  • Point of Interest: Puerto Egas, the only settlement.
  • Great place for snorkeling.

RABIDA

  • A small but beautiful island.
  • Its shores have a stunning contrast between the red-tinted sand of its beaches and the vivid green of its mangroves.
  • Many people's favorite snorkeling site.
  • Animals: Sea-lions, blue footed boobies, pelicans.

ISABELA

  • Largest island in the archipelago (sea-horse shape).
  • You could find several volcanoes rearing up from the ocean.
  • Point of Interest: the old buccaneer and whalers' cove of Tagus Cove.
  • The visitor center at Puerto Villamil houses a tortoise rearing project.
  • Animals: Giant tortoises, penguins, large marine iguanas, flamingos, and flightless cormorants

FERNANDINA

  • Here you can observe the lava flows from recent eruptions. (last May 2005)
  • Animals: flightless cormorant and the biggest marine iguanas.

EASTERN ISLANDS

NORTH SEYMOUR

  • It is the bird kingdom.
  • Visitors path takes you right past them, where every square inch of land and trees are inhabited by parents and chicks or courting couples.
  • Animals: Frigate birds, blue-footed boobies, marine iguanas, sea lions.

SANTA CRUZ

  • Most populous island in the archipelago.
  • Charles Darwin Research Center at Puerto Ayora.
  • Highlands with endemic vegetation.
  • Points of Interest: Tortuga Bay and Bachas beaches, sightseeing points for Black Turtle and Dragon Hill, and lava tubes.
  • Animals: large colonies of Giant Galapagos tortoises, which can be visited in the wild.

SANTA FE

  • The flattest island of the archipelago.
  • Good view of the giant Opuntia (or Prickly Pear) forest.
  • Animals: Galapagos hawks, various species of finches, sea-lions, turtles, and endemic sub-species of land iguanas.

SAN CRISTOBAL

  • The island’s main town Puerto Baquerizo Moreno is the administrative capital of Galapagos.
  • Points of Interest: Pitt Point, the haunting Kicker Point, the Junco lagoon.
  • Great place for snorkeling.
  • Animals: three types of boobies (blue-, and red-footed, masked), giant tortoises.

FLOREANA

  • One of the most famous islands due to the mysterious murders that took place there in 1930s.
  • Post Office with its famous post barrel.
  • Floreana includes many species of endemic vegetation such as the only flowering mangroves in the world.
  • Great place for snorkeling.
  • Animals: flamingos, sea lions.

ESPAÑOLA

  • Stunning landscape include white-sand beaches and rocky outcrops.
  • Points of Interest: Blow-hole and Suarez Point.
  • Animals: colonies of waved albatross, largest colony of blue-footed boobies in the Galapagos, masked boobies, marine iguanas cactus finch, marine bird life and Galapagos doves.

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