Santa Cruz was the busiest island of the three that we visited in the Galapagos. The ferry ride from San Cristobal was about an hour and half and was a bit choppy. I recommend trying to secure a seat nearer the back or middle of the boat to avoid the diesel fumes that are stronger at the front of the boat. Strap in and pray you aren’t seasick, because once the captain gets going, the ride is loud and bumpy.
We stayed in a cheap Airbnb a bit of a walk from the main town, but we didn’t mind. The first thing we did was eat one of three meals at the 1835 Restaurant on Avenida Charles Darwin. They had the best food that we experienced on this island and is a must-stop if you go.
As for tours, we booked an over-priced day tour to visit North Seymour Island. It was overpriced because of the company we booked the tour with—it was a fairly unprofessional tour with a guide who seemed to be ‘just a guy’ going on a boat trip. He didn’t really talk much to us, and when we were snorkelling, he opted to stay seated on the beach. We are used to guides being in the water with us, talking about what we are seeing, and directing us to good spots to find marine life. The water was a bit too choppy, and the equipment supplied low quality, making the snorkelling portion of the tour quite disappointing.
Also disappointing was the fact that the tour was meant to be a walk on the island with the frigate birds first, and snorkelling second. This would mean we could cool down after being in the hot sun. As we were leaving the marina on the main island, however, we were told the tour would have to be conducted in reverse as per the navy’s instructions. This is not the fault of the tour, but it was less enjoyable in this order.
After the failed snorkelling experience, we did head to another island where the frigates were plentiful. Though it was scorching and the sun was highest in the sky, this was an exciting part of the tour, as it was mating season for the frigate birds. This meant that the males puffed out their red balloons on their chests and sang and danced to attract the females. It was special to see and I had a great time trying to capture it on film. We were here in March of 2025 for future readers. We also saw the females and the young frigates, as well as giant land iguanas and pelicans.
One of the free things you can do on this island is to walk (or take a ferry) to Tortuga Bay. The walk from town was not too long but we wondered if we would take the ferry back to town. We ended up walking back as well, and though it is a bit long, I didn’t want to be confined to a specific time to leave the area. The thing to do here is try and snorkel with iguanas in the protected bay around the corner of the main beach. The visibility was quite poor as we couldn’t see our hands in front of our goggles, but, this isn’t always the case at this beach. We did swim alongside a couple of iguanas, saw a huge turtle and near the shoreline we spotted some baby sharks—black fin and hammerheads! The main beach was immense and gorgeous and it was here I saw more marine iguanas enjoying the surf.
All in all I enjoyed Santa Cruz because of the infrastructure of the town, having plentiful options for food and souvenirs, as well as grocery stores and supplies. Callum liked this island the least because it seemed less natural and had too many other tourists. It was worth it and will probably be the place you would fly in or out (or both) of the Galapagos, as it has the main airport.
Travel Bugs 