Baltra

This island houses the main airport of the Galapagos and is where your unforgettable journey begins.


Baroness Outlook (La Floreana)

Pink flamingos and green sea turtles nest (December to May) in this island. The "joint footed" petrel is found here, a nocturnal sea bird which spends most of its life away from land. At Post Office Bay, since the 18th century whalers kept a wooden barrel that served as post office so that mail could be picked up and delivered to their destination mainly Europe and the United States by ships on their way home. At the “Devil's Crown”, an underwater volcanic cone, coral formations are found. At Punta Cormorant, there is a green olivine beach to see sea lions and a short walk past a lagoon to see flamingos, rays, sea turtles and ghost and sally lightfoot crabs.


Cerro Brujo (San Cristobal)

Eroded volcanic peaks in the north and rich vegetation in the south characterize the island. This island is also home to the only freshwater lake in the Galapagos.


Dragon Hill (Santa Cruz)

Santa Cruz hosts the largest human population in the archipelago at the town of Puerto Ayora. The Charles Darwin Research Station and the headquarters of the Galápagos National Park Service are located here. The GNPS and CDRS jointly operate a tortoise breeding center where these chelonians are prepared to be reintroduced to their natural habitat. The Highlands of Santa Cruz offer an exuberant vegetation and are famous for the lava tunnels. Large tortoise populations are found here. Black Turtle Cove is site surrounded by mangrove which sea turtles, rays and small sharks sometimes use as a mating area. Cerro Dragón, known for its flamingo lagoon, is also located here, and along the trail one may see land iguanas foraging.


Galapagos Islands

Each island in the Galapagos Archipelago has a unique habitat.

San Christobal is a gathering place for sea lions. Espanola has colonies of albatross and blue-footed boobies. Fernandina is home to hundreds of iguanas and sea lions.

The tip of a submerged volcano, Genovesa is perfect for countless red-footed boobies and great frigate birds. Fur seals make Santiago their home, along with marine iguanas and red sally-light-foot crabs. The largest island, Isabela is full of pelicans, penguins and flightless cormorants.

Unfortunately, the Black Watch cannot dock or tender due to the strict preservation of the natural habitat of those animals who reside there.


Genovesa Island

Genovesa Island is a shield volcano in the Galápagos Islands in the eastern Pacific Ocean.

The horse-shoe shaped island has a volcanic caldera whose wall has collapsed, forming the Great Darwin Bay, surrounded by cliffs. Lake Arcturus, filled with salt water, lies in the centre, and sediment within this crater lake is less than 6,000 years old. Although no historical eruptions are known from Genovesa, there are very young lava flows on the flanks fo the volcano.


Isla Baltra

The cruise portion of your journey begins on the beautiful island of Baltra where you'll tender onto the Celebrity Xpedition from our Zodiac rafts.


Isla Bartalome (Isla San Salvador)

Bartolomé is an extinct volcano and has a variety of variably colored volcanic formations, including a tuff cone known as Pinnacle Rock. This large black partially eroded cone was created when lava reached the sea. Contact with seawater resulted in a phreatic explosion. The exploded molten fragments fused together forming a welded tuff.

Bartolomé is inhabited by Galápagos Penguins, sea lions, nesting marine turtles, white-tipped reef sharks and a variety of birds.


Isla Española

The southernmost island, Española, is one of the richest wildlife locations in the Galapagos. Located on the western tip of Española is Punta Suarez. A 1.5 mile hike provides incredible views along the cliffs, through Blue Footed Booby colonies and a beach with sea lions and marine iguanas. It is also home to a magnificent blowhole that can shoot water 50 to 60 feet in the air, providing amazing opportunities for spectacular pictures.


Isla Isabel (Caleta Tagus)

Stretching 80 miles in length, this island is the largest in the Galapagos and a favorite site of the early pirates and whalers. Famous for the high cliffs which enclose the protected bay, a visit here will give you the opportunity to view a salt water lagoon and the lava fields of Darwin Volcano.


Isla Rabida

Known for its rugged, maroon-colored terrain, this island offers a picturesque view of brightly-colored flamingos congregated in its shallow saltwater lagoons.


Isla Santa Cruz

Home to the Charles Darwin Research Station and the Galapagos National Park Service, Isla Santa Cruz boasts diverse climate conditions, ranging from arid along the coast to humid, plush inlands and highlands. Also located here is Cerro Dragon, or Dragon Hill, named after the large iguanas that congregate there.


Isla Santa Maria (Floreana)

Floreana is best known for its colorful history of buccaneers, whalers and colonists. The island is also home to the Post Office-a mail system of yesteryear established to send letters to and from England. The tradition is kept alive today as visitors drop off and pick up letters (without stamps) to be carried to faraway destinations.


Isla Santiago (Puerto Egas)

Explore steep cliffs of tuff lava formations where hundreds of seabirds perch, or discover the best tide pools in the Galapagos. Here you'll have the chance to marvel at Grottos made from black lava, the Sally Lightfoot Crabs, sponges, sea lions, barnacles, and fish including the Four-Eyed Blenny.


Puerto Ayora (Santa Cruz)

Puerto Ayora has a privileged location, along the shores of Academy Bay. During most of the year, it receives a refreshing breeze which gives the town wonderful weather. The months of the hot season (December to May) make Puerto Ayora in Santa Cruz island a tropical paradise.

The bay is a good location to spot brown pelicans, marine iguanas, herons, Galapagos sea lions, and large numbers of blue-footed boobies, which fish by spectacular plunge diving.

Puerto Ayora in Santa Cruz island holds a very important communications infrastructure, including a bank (Banco del Pacifico) and several cybercafes with Internet access.

 

Punta Espinoza (Isla Fernandina)

Located on the northeast part of Fernandina, this port is known for its lava fields, where you can view recent volcanic activity and an abundance of wildlife from rich seas bathing the stark coastline. Here we find sea lions, masked boobies, marine iguanas, red billed tropic birds and many others.


Punta Suarez (Espanola)

A popular tourist stop, Isla Española is the most southerly island in the Galápagos Archipelago. It is about a 10- to 12-hour trip by boat from Isla Santa Cruz. Tourists come to see the albatrosses and the mating dances of blue-footed boobies on Española Island.

Two spots are especially popular with visitors: Bahía Gardner, which has a lovely beach; and Punta Suárez, of interest because of its varied bird-life. This island has its own species of animals, such as the Española Mockingbird, which has a longer and more curved beak than the one on the central islands; the Española lava lizard; the marine iguana, which has red markings on its back; among others. Here there are also boobies, Swallow-tailed Gulls and other tropical birds.


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