Itinerary A - Stella Maris Yacht - Galapagos Cruise

Arrival to San Cristobal, transfer to the yacht.

PM: Lobos Island is a small flat island, located 10 kilometers northeast of Puerto Baquerizo Moreno, on the coast of Isla San Cristobal. Isla Lobos name is given because it is home to several sea lions that frolic on the beach. It is also the ideal place to observe nesting frigates and blue-footed boobies. It has a protected channel where you can do snorkeling with sea lions.

AM: Punta Pitt - San Cristobal (Dry Landing): Located at the eastern end of Isla San Cristobal. It is a group of eroded volcanoes, sparsely populated by the endemic vegetation of the islands.

PM: Cerro Brujo (Wet Landing): This beautiful beach of white coral is located on the north coast of the San Cristobal Island where you can swim, snorkel and observe the sea lions. In the vicinity of the beach you can also see a variety of seabirds like blue-footed boobies, Nazca boobies, herons, frigate birds and shore birds.

We also visit Kicker Rock (Leon Dormido) also known as the Sleeping Lion because of its resemblance. It is located of the coast of San Cristobal, and you can find the remains of a lava flows eroded by the tides, as well as two vertical rocks rising 500 feet from the ocean that form a small channel that is navigable by small boats. This Galapagos Island's natural monument has become a favorite sight for cruises due to the many Tropicbirds, Frigates and Boobies that fill the surrounding air. Beneath the sea, the crystal clear waters offer a brilliant show of colorful tropical fish and invertebrates.

AM: Española Island - Gardner Bay is located on the north-eastern coast of Hood. Gardner Bay provides an excellent beach for relaxing, swimming and the opportunity to observe sea lions. Here we can also observe sharks and other sea life in the crystal clear ocean waters.

PM: Española Island - Punta Suarez. This rocky land sustains one of the most impressive and varied colonies of sea birds in the Galapagos. Along its southern shore, high cliffs rise up from the sea affording the visitor spectacular views of soaring birds, and of the blow whole where water spouts up to 50-75 feet into the air according to the intensity of the surf.

AM: Punta Cormorant (Floreana). This site offers probably the best Flamingo lagoon in the Galapagos; it is also one of the largest of the islands. It is situated between two volcanoes that give the area a special atmosphere. There are various species of shorebirds to be seen besides flamingos; of which the most frequent are common stilts, white-checked pintail ducks and other migratory birds. This is a unique zone due to the high percentage of endemic plant species. It is also very interesting to see the two distinct beaches: “The Green Beach” (due to its high percentage of olivine crystals in the sand) and the “Flour Sand Beach” which is made up of coral.

PM: Post office bay (Floreana). Historically, this site is the location of a wooden barrel that was placed in the 18th century by the crew of a whaling ship. It has been used since this time by mariners and tourists as a post office. The idea is to carry letters or postcards to their destination by hand. Apart from being the Post Office Barrel, this site was the landing area for some of the first colonist.

AM: North Seymour (Dry landing): After breakfast in the morning on this island you can see blue-footed boobies, colonies of frigates, fork-tailed gulls, terns, sea lions, lava lizards and land iguanas. Palo Santo trees can also be observed.

PM: Bartolomé (Wet Landing): After lunch visit to the Pinnacle Rock beach for swimming and snorkeling. In the afternoon dry landing to reach the viewpoint of Bartolome. On this island, you can see interesting formations of lava and cinder cones. After a 30 to 40 minute hike, a wooden staircase leads to the top of the island where there are beautiful views of the nearby beaches. This island is one of the most visited and photographed because of Pinnacle Rock.

AM: Prince Phillip's Steps (El Barranco). This is the breeding ground for the tree-loving Red-footed Booby and the ground-nesting Masked Booby. This is also home to four species of Darwin Finches: the Large Ground Finch, Sharp-beaked Ground Finch, Large Cactus Finch and Warbler Finch. Natural history enthusiasts will recall that Charles Darwin's observation of varied adaptations of finches’ beaks helped inspire his theories on natural selection. Genovesa is also home to the indigenous Galapagos Mockingbird and the Galapagos Dove. If time permits, you can snorkel at El Barranco on the west side of Darwin Bay.

PM: Genovesa is the only northern island of the Archipelago open to visitors. This 14 sq km. island is the tip of a submerged shield volcano that rises 76 meters above the sea level. Its central crater is filled with salt water. Ocean erosion created the Darwin Bay on the southern slope. Genovesa lacks on reptiles, except for the Marine Iguanas. It is a paradise for sea birds, including large colonies of the Red-footed Boobies and Great Frigate birds. Swimming, snorkeling and dingy rides are available.

AM: One of a pair of small uplifted islands a short distance from the east coast of Santa Cruz, South Plaza has unique Sesuvium plants and Opuntia cactuses scattered across the landscape which provide some of the most interesting wildlife observations available in Galapagos. Land iguanas are easily seen from the trail under the shade of cactuses waiting for a prickly pear to fall. Swallow-tailed gulls, along with various other sea birds, use the rising air to glide effortlessly over the escarpment and the protected rocky seashore is prime habitat for a large colony of noisy sea lions.

PM: Santa Fe (Wet Landing): Snorkeling along the rocky coast of the island you can see a variety of fish and sea turtles. On land you can see colonies of sea lions, land iguanas, frigate birds, Galapagos doves and lava lizards. The island flora is unique as you can see a forest of giant cacti and Palo Santo trees.

AM: We will travel by bus up into the gently sloping and forested highlands. The scenery changes continuously as we ascend through all seven vegetation zones found in the Galápagos. We will visit a private reserve where giant tortoises lounge around a quiet pond grazing on vegetation "El Chato". After plenty of time to explore the reserve we will drive to a pair of large sinkholes called “The Twins” (Los Gemelos) where we will explore some ancient lava tubes. These tunnels are the largest lava tubes found in Galápagos and as we walk through them our feet will trace the path of the once-molten rock that flowed millions of years ago. This may also be an opportunity to observe Darwin finches, yellow warblers, bright red vermillion flycatchers and Giant Tortoises that gave the name to these islands. Then transfer to the airport.