Isla San Cristóbal (Chatham)
About an hour’s boat ride northeast of Puerto Baquerizo Moreno is León Dormido (Kicker Rock), so named because of its resemblance to a sleeping lion. León…
Must-see attractions in The Galápagos Islands
Isla Santa Cruz (Indefatigable)
South of Santa Rosa is El Chato Tortoise Reserve, where you can observe giant tortoises in the wild. When these virtually catatonic, prehistoric-looking…
Puerto Ayora
The first of its kind in the world, this museum uses augmented reality to showcase a permanent exhibition of 55 pre-Columbian artifacts. The ancient…
The Galápagos Islands
The summit of this volcano (1097m) is famous for its 7km-wide caldera and steaming fumaroles. Hundreds of giant tortoises can be seen here, especially…
Charles Darwin Research Station
Puerto Ayora
Just northeast of Puerto Ayora is this iconic national-park site, where over 200 scientists and volunteers are involved with research and conservation…
The Galápagos Islands
Puerto Egas is one of the most popular sites in the Galápagos – a long, flat, black lava shoreline where eroded shapes form lava pools, caves and inlets…
The Galápagos Islands
A dry landing deposits you at the beginning of a 2km-long trail that brings you past this postcard-perfect saltwater lagoon. It has twice the salinity of…
Isla San Cristóbal (Chatham)
Possibly one of the nicest beaches in the Galápagos, Cerro Brujo is a huge white expanse found on the west side of the island. The sand here feels like…
Puerto Ayora
In terms of sheer white-sand beauty, this beach is the rival of any in South America. You’ll find it at the end of a 2.5km paved trail southwest of Puerto…
The Galápagos Islands
Not only is Isla Isabela the largest Galápagos island, but its imposing skyline of grumbling volcanoes makes it the most striking. Volcán Wolf, at the…
Isla San Cristóbal (Chatham)
This modern and easily digestible center explains the history and significance of the Galápagos better than anywhere else in the country. Exhibits deal…
Isla Santa Cruz (Indefatigable)
Next to El Chato is this private ranch, where there are dozens of giant tortoises, and you can wander around at will. The entrance is beyond Santa Rosa,…
The Galápagos Islands
Northwest of the tiny settlement of Tomás de Berlanga lies the massive Volcán Sierra Negra (1490m), which last erupted in late 2005. An 8km trail leads…
The Galápagos Islands
Most groups spend several perfunctory minutes on the north coast at Post Office Bay, where scraps of wood covered in graffiti surround a a few gone-to…
The Galápagos Islands
Some 7km west of Puerto Villamil is the Muro de las Lágrimas (Wall of Tears), a 100m-long wall of lava rocks built by convicts under harsh and abusive…
The Galápagos Islands
Just across Canal Bolívar, Punta Espinoza houses marine iguanas (too many to count), which can be seen sunning themselves on the black lava formations – a…
Puerto Ayora
If you walk the length of Tortuga Bay, you'll reach this picturesque lagoon lined with mangroves. Here you can spot marine iguanas, brown pelicans and…
The Galápagos Islands
This coral beach can be reached by a wet landing. There is a 750m trail along the beach that passes through red-footed booby colonies and several tide…
The Galápagos Islands
Just south of Punta Tortuga is this cove where early sailors frequently anchored and scratched the names of their vessels into the cliffs. It’s a strange…
Isla Santa Cruz (Indefatigable)
A 30-minute taxi ride from Puerto Ayora through the highlands, plus a 15-minute walk, brings you to this beautiful beach. It has tidal pools that are good…
The Galápagos Islands
Behind and to the west of the village is this lagoon, known for its marine iguanas and migrant birds, especially waders – more than 20 species have been…
Isla Santa Cruz (Indefatigable)
These impressive underground tunnels southwest of the village of Santa Rosa are more than 1km in length and were formed when the outside skin of a molten…
Isla Santa Cruz (Indefatigable)
For nice swimming and snorkeling, head to this water-filled crevice in the rocks. Talented and fearless locals climb the nearly vertical walls to plunge…
Isla San Cristóbal (Chatham)
About 1.7km northeast of Puerto Baquerizo Moreno, Cerro de las Tijeretas provides good views and can be reached on a trail. You'll pass a national park…
Isla San Cristóbal (Chatham)
Scoring high on novelty, the Casa del Ceibo is a small shed built halfway up an enormous ceiba tree. It’s possible to spend a night in the treehouse or…
Puerto Ayora
Among the various statues of prominent Galapagos wildlife around Puerto Ayora, this is probably the most photographed of them all.
Isla San Cristóbal (Chatham)
Southwest of town, a road leads 2.5km (about a 30-minute walk) to La Lobería, a rocky beach with a lazy sea-lion colony. It’s good for year-round surfing,…
The Galápagos Islands
From the village of Puerto Velasco Ibarra, a road runs inland uphill for 7km to this official visitor site. A chiva (truck with bench seats) goes up twice…
Isla Santa Cruz (Indefatigable)
A path north from Bellavista leads toward Cerro Crocker (864m) and other hills and extinct volcanoes. This is a good chance to see the vegetation of the…
Isla San Cristóbal (Chatham)
Around 10km east of El Progreso along the main road, you'll find El Junco Lagoon – a freshwater lake some 700m above sea level. It’s one of the few…
Isla San Cristóbal (Chatham)
At the northern end of San Cristóbal is Los Galápagos, where you can often see giant Galápagos tortoises in the wild, although it does takes some effort…
Isla Santa Cruz (Indefatigable)
Part of the highlands that can be visited from the road are these twin sinkholes (not volcanic craters), surrounded by scalesia forest. Vermilion…
The Galápagos Islands
Looming above the central square, this church boasts uniquely Galápagos iconography. Note the stained-glass windows of native wildlife (marine iguana,…
Isla San Cristóbal (Chatham)
Smaller than its name suggests, Puerto Grande is a well-protected little cove on San Cristóbal’s northwestern coast. There is a good, sandy beach suitable…
The Galápagos Islands
Also called El Barranco, these steps on the eastern arm of Darwin Bay can be reached with a dry landing. They lead up a steep and rocky path to the top of…
Isla San Cristóbal (Chatham)
Galapaguera is part of the national park on the southeastern part of San Cristóbal, where giant tortoises live in semi-natural conditions. A taxi can take…
Isla San Cristóbal (Chatham)
The road to El Junco continues across the island to the isolated beach of Puerto Chino. This is one of the better places for beginner surfers, since this…
Puerto Ayora
This peaceful lagoon has a short boardwalk path, where you can stop to take in the mangroves while looking for stingrays, baby sharks, sea turtles and…
Isla Santa Cruz (Indefatigable)
The small beach in front of the Finch Bay Hotel is a good place to while away a few hours. The water here is pristine and sharks have been known to pass…
Isla San Cristóbal (Chatham)
A road leads from the capital to the village of El Progreso, about 6km to the east and at the base of the 896m-high Cerro San Joaquín, the highest point…
