Tours and Attractions on Santa Cruz Island, Galapagos
The Galapagos Islands are the main attraction of a trip to Ecuador. They are located about 1,000 km west of the mainland in the heart of the Pacific Ocean near the equator. The Galapagos archipelago has 18 main islands, 3 smaller islands, and about a hundred islets and rocks.
This article provides information for travelers visiting Santa Cruz Island. Information on all the islands, weather, recommended season, getting there, and traveling between the islands can be found in the article: Galapagos Islands Tours and Attractions.
The main airport of the islands is located on a small island called Baltra, adjacent to Santa Cruz Island, and most tourists travel from the airport to hotels in Puerto Ayora mostly, or board a cruise ship from a small port near the airport on Baltra Island.
Santa Cruz Island has an area of about 1,000 square kilometers and its maximum height is 864 meters. Most of the island's residents live on this island, and the majority of them reside in the town of Puerto Ayora.
♦ Book recommended guided tours on Santa Cruz Island (via Viator):
Recommended Hotels in the City of Puerto Ayora:
The most luxurious and unique hotel in Puerto Ayora:
Finch Bay Galapagos Hotel - Declared a unique hotel by National Geographic. Located on a successful beach on the far side of the town (reached by a 5-minute boat ride). The hotel features a pool, restaurant, gardens, and a private dock with private yachts. Air conditioning, Wi-Fi.
Another luxury hotel in the same area:
Hotel Angermeyer Waterfront Inn - Pastoral location on the water. The hotel has a bar and restaurant. Good breakfast served to guests. Free Wi-Fi. Airport shuttle service to Baltra. Large, air-conditioned rooms with large windows overlooking the sea. 500 meters from the German Beach.
Hotel Del Sol Galapagos - Mid-range hotel located in the center of town. Air-conditioned and spacious rooms.
Internet and breakfast included in the price. Single rooms, double rooms, and family rooms for up to 4 guests.
Two vacation apartments on the main promenade in town with a stunning view of the bay. One apartment sleeps 3 people and the other sleeps 5. Daily housekeeping service. Equipped kitchen. Free Wi-Fi. Air conditioning. Courtyard with a grill.
Cheaper option:
A nice but basic hotel about a 10-minute walk from the city center. Large rooms, free Wi-Fi. Air conditioning. Basic breakfast served in a charming courtyard with birds. Small swimming pool and sun loungers.
Puerto Ayora
Puerto Ayora is a nice coastal town with many shops, hotels, and restaurants along its main street, Charles Darwin Avenue, which runs parallel to the coastline. This is the more touristic area and also more expensive in terms of restaurants and shopping.
In contrast, in the more inland area (Baltra Avenue) where local residents tend to shop and eat, prices are much cheaper. It is especially recommended to eat at the restaurants on Charles Binford Street known as Kiosko de Renato, which towards evening turns into a pedestrian mall and all the restaurants along it put tables outside. They specialize mainly in seafood, including wonderful lobsters, but also have typical Ecuadorian food. In many local restaurants, you can eat a full, typical Ecuadorian lunch for just five dollars!
Transportation in the city is very cheap, riding within the city costs one dollar and there are many taxis (double-cab pickup trucks). A boat ride to a nearby beach costs less than a dollar.
The fish market in Puerto Ayora in the Galapagos is a small market in the heart of the town's tourist street where, most hours of the day, fishermen bring fish and lobsters and sell them to the locals.
Sea lions and tons of giant birds hang out there trying to get fish scraps. The animals are very friendly and walk freely among the sellers. It is recommended to visit the market multiple times at different times of day to witness different animals each time.
Adjacent to the market is the coastal promenade named "Malecón" (like in any Spanish-speaking city) leading to the town's small port from which ferries depart to neighboring islands. Along the promenade and docks, you will see plenty of sea lions, a variety of huge and beautiful birds, and of course iguanas and lava lizards.
Although Santa Cruz is the most inhabited and touristed island, you can see an abundance of wildlife in nature alongside impressive geological phenomena and wonderful beaches.
♦ Booking multi-day guided tours in the Galapagos Islands (via the Viator website):
(Does not include flights to the islands)
Wildlife on Santa Cruz
The main animals you will see on Santa Cruz in addition to the sea lions lounging on the Malecón, port docks, and market:
Tortoises:
The giant tortoises of the Galapagos are one of the iconic symbols of the islands. On Santa Cruz Island, you can see many tortoises wandering around in nature, sometimes on the sides of roads. The tortoises are found mainly in the center of the island in the high part where most of the rain falls, making it rich in grass, which is the tortoises' food.
There are farms on the island for viewing tortoises that are open to tourists, and for a modest fee, the farm provides you with light refreshments and boots (if the terrain is muddy), and you walk around the farm grounds and see the many tortoises roaming freely and lounging in puddles and small water bodies to relieve the heat and refresh. It is important to emphasize that the tortoises wander freely all over the island and do not belong to any farm or person.
In Puerto Ayora is the largest research and rescue center for tortoises in the Galapagos: the Charles Darwin Research Station for tortoise conservation and rescue.
In the past, there were hundreds of thousands of giant tortoises across all the islands in the Galapagos. But by 1970, their number dropped to just 3,000 due to massive hunting by humans, harm caused by animals brought to the islands by resident populations—dogs, cats, goats—and also due to other ecological reasons. Thanks to the rescue and breeding centers established on the islands, the number of tortoises is growing today and currently exceeds 25,000. Each island has a different species. Certain species have become completely extinct. The centers continue to this day with the conservation and breeding work of the tortoises, especially the species with few individuals remaining. They raise the small tortoises up to the age of five at the center and then release them on various islands. Tortoises live on average up to age 150.
At the center, you can see tortoises from several species and at various stages of development, including tiny baby tortoises just a few months old, as well as learn a lot about the work of Charles Darwin, the author of the theory of evolution who extensively studied the animals on the islands in 1835 when he sailed in the area as a young naturalist on a ship called the "Beagle". Admission to the Charles Darwin Research Station is free!
Iguanas:
In the Galapagos, there are giant iguanas; some live only on land and some also know how to swim well. The iguanas in the Galapagos usually lie motionless. But when someone enters their territory, they come out to defend their space.
The iguanas that know how to swim (Marine iguana) are primarily dark black and gray in color (matching the color of the lava rocks among which they live), but there are also more colorful ones in shades of pink and blue (Pink iguana).
Marine iguanas:
You can see these iguanas everywhere, on every island, especially near beaches, for example at Tortuga Bay, but also on the main street in the largest town - Puerto Ayora.
Large and impressive land iguanas can be seen at Dragon Hill on Santa Cruz.
Land iguanas:
Swimming Beaches:
Tortuga Bay
There are not many sandy swimming beaches on the island. The most successful beach for swimming on the island is at Tortuga Bay near the town of Puerto Ayora. This beach is reached by a walking trail heading west from Charles Binford Street in town. Along the trail, there is diverse and beautiful cactus vegetation
and at its end, you reach a wild, sandy ocean beach with a nesting area for sea turtles and plenty of marine iguanas that can be seen swimming in the water or sunbathing on the sand and rocks.
Walking further along this beach brings you to a beach located in a protected bay where the sea is calm and the sand is soft and white, turquoise water, tons of iguanas, mangroves, and more. A true paradise. Admission is free!
Additional beaches: In the center of the Darwin Tortoise Conservation Center in the town of Puerto Ayora, there is a tiny swimming beach named Station’s Beach with little sand, tons of iguanas, and a view of the bay where all the cruise ships anchor.
Another successful sandy beach is Playa El Garrapatero, but it is located about twenty kilometers northeast of the town of Puerto Ayora.
Geological Features:
Los Gemelos Twin Craters:
The island's soil was formed from lava that erupted from the Earth's interior. When this lava cooled, unstable areas formed underneath, some of which collapsed and created two huge craters with very steep walls in the center of the island. The craters are located near the main road passing through the center of the island, and an easy and impressive hiking trail runs along them. Admission is free!
Lava Tunnels:
The island is also known for the lava tunnels found on it. At one of the farms where tortoises can be seen, Reserva El Chato, you can also enter and hike on foot inside lava tunnels.
Canyon Between Cliffs: "Las Grietas" Las Grietas
Between two rock walls in a wide canyon with clear water, you can swim and snorkel among giant fish. You get there via a five-minute boat ride (costing less than a dollar...) departing from the Puerto Ayora dock in small boats and arriving at the other side of a small bay where several hotels and restaurants are located (including the luxury Finch Bay Hotel). You walk on an easy and comfortable path for about half an hour among giant cacti and scenic viewpoints of the bay and along a successful beach known as the "German Beach" until you reach the canyon. In addition to swimming and snorkeling, it is worth walking along the trail with several viewpoints of the canyon from various angles, the bay and beach, and among wild vegetation mostly endemic to the Galapagos. Admission is free!
Our articles on Ecuador:
Destinations and attractions for a trip in Ecuador
Tours in the city of Otavalo and its surroundings
Tours and attractions in the Galapagos Islands
Trip to the Ecuadorian Amazon
Tours on Santa Cruz Island in the Galapagos
Tours on San Cristobal Island in the Galapagos
Trip to Isabela Island in the Galapagos
Attractions and tours in the city of Baños in Ecuador