TRANSFER IN  VISIT EL CHATO RESERVE & BREEDING CENTER AT RESEARCH CHARLES DARWIN STATION

Will meet you at the Baltra airport, our Naturalist Guide will be waiting for you, then you take a bus from the airport to the Itabaca Canal which is located in the south part of the island for around 15 minutes, during the bus ride you can admire the beautiful landscape and a wonderful view of the turquoise color of the water when you are descending from the cliff to the edge of the sea, where we take a speed boat to cross to the North site of Santa Cruz island, here we can see some Blue Footed Boobies Diving, Galapagos Sea Lions resting on the buoy marks, some Pelicans diving and some more sea birds.

Once we are in the Santa Cruz island our transportation is waiting for us, we drive to Puerto Ayora where you can see how the weather conditions and vegetation change just in few minutes, you will pass from the very dry zone to the humid zone in just about 20 minutes, our first stop is going to be at the Chato Reserve where is the home of the Giant Tortoises, we walk on the farm to admire this amazing creatures which are considering the biggest on Earth, we also walk throughout the lava tunel, we finish our visit into an area where empty shells are where our guide will explain how this tortoises evolved and get this enormus size, we have lunch in the ranch, then we continue our trip to our hotel for the check in.

In the afternoon we visit the Fausto Llerena Breeding Center located at the Charles Darwin Research station, this is a breeding program to restor the numbers of Giant Tortoises that declined in the past due the human predation and also due the introduce animals from the mainland to islands, here you will get the chance to see the 2 different shapes of shells of Tortoises that the islands have as Sadleblack shell and Domeshape shell, here you can see babys and adults tortoises from different islands.

BARTOLOME ISLAND

Bartolome is the most recognizable and photographed island in the archipelago, given its distinctive pinacle rock, visitors walk along a wood trail to the top of the island, during this amazing walk can see the different formations of the lava rocks during the process of formation of this island, finally on the top you`ll have a panaromic view of the island which is great, some pioneer plants can be seen as lava cactus, and also Darwin`s finches.

After this walk we do a zodiac ride along the island to the Galapagos penguins, and finally we disembark on the beach for snorkeling, this is a great place where we can see white tip reef sharks, sea turtles, swim with sea lions, and lots of fish, back to Puerto Ayora around 17:30.

SNORKEL TRIP TO SANTA FE ISLAND

The trip begins at 8:00 am from Puerto Ayora Dock. Get ready 1 hour navigation (more less) towards the snorkeling site of Santa Fe Island. A short 10 minutes stop will allow you to observe the northern cliffs and beach of Santa Fe, and catch sigh of Blue Footed Boobies, Sea Lions, Frigate birds from the boat. 

Afterwards, you will move on to the first snorkeling area on the east side of the island. This spot Is filled with colorful fish and sea lions are also common on the area. The rocky cliffs and the clear water of Santa Fe are a lovely submarine view of Galapagos wildlife. Rays, tuna, several large schools of fish and reef shark are also common to the area. After this fist dip in the water, you will get back on the boat for lunch. 

After lunch, you will be on your way back to Santa Cruz Island and stop at Hidden Beach. This beautiful isolated spot can only be accessed by boat. This is the perfect spot to observe Galapagos marine iguanas, Blue Footed Boobies, Pelicans and Sally light foot crabs. You will start this part of the visit snorkeling on the water on Playa Escondida. Spotted eagle rays, golden rays, sea turtles and even white tipped sharks inhabit this area. You will then have some time to just relax or explore the beach before returning to Puerto Ayora. 

ISABELA ISLAND

Early in the morning we will pick you up from your hotel in Santa Cruz Island to take the speed boat to Isabela Island, it takes a bit more than 2 hours and the sea could be chopped especially from June to December, once you arrive at the peer, our experience Naturalist Guide will be waiting for you and starts our visit to the Tintoreras Islet, we do a short boat ride along the islet to see Galapagos Penguins, Frigate Birds, Blue Footed Boobies, then we walk on the islet where is the home of one of the largest Marine Iguanas in the Archipelago, Galapagos Sea Lions can be seen, in the islet there is smal canal where White Tip Reef Sharks are resting and this are called Tintoreras by the locals and took the name of the islet, after the walk we do snorkeling activity, is a nice place to swim with Galapagos Penguins, Sea Lions, Sea Turtles, Rays, White Tip Reef Sharks and lots of fish, after the snorkeling we go to the town for lunch in a local restaurant.

In the afternoon we visit the Tortoises breeding center from Isabela and the Flamencos Lagoon, then we go back to the peer to take the speed boat to Santa Cruz Island arrival time around 17:30.

 Transfer Out