Highlights of Ecuador

Santa Cruz

Scroll

Santa Cruz is the most central and most populated of the Galapagos Islands, with most people living in the town of Puerto Ayora, where the Charles Darwin Research Centre is also found. It includes a visitor centre and a giant tortoise breeding programme, and was the home of Lonesome George, for years the sole survivor of the Pinta Island subspecies but now sadly deceased.

There are a number of interesting visitor sites on Santa Cruz including Bachas Beach (good for swimming), Black Turtle Cove (young white-tipped reef sharks, spotted eagle rays and golden rays), and wild giant tortoises and interesting geological formations including pit craters and lava tubes seen in the island’s highlands.

Baltra Island, which is separated from Santa Cruz by a narrow channel, is one of the two main airports serving the Galapagos Islands.

Accommodation Near

Santa Cruz

Finch Bay Eco Hotel

Located in front of a mangrove-lined beach across the bay from town in a peaceful, car-free location

Red Mangrove Aventura Lodge

Newly refurbished hotel in the Galapagos Islands faces Academy Bay on the edge of Puerto Ayora

Inspiration

Wildlife Holidays

Colombia Ecuador
14 Days
Price from
7435
Tour type
Wildlife Cruise
View Tour
Ecuador Galapagos Islands
8 Days
Price from
3200
Tour type
Wildlife Cruise
View Tour
Ecuador
15 Days
Price from
8186
Tour type
Tailor-Made Tour
View Tour
Ecuador
13 Days
Price from
6185
Tour type
Tailor-Made Tour
View Tour
Ecuador
14 Days
Price from
6715
Tour type
Family Holiday
View Tour
Ecuador Peru
12 Days
Price from
5650
Tour type
Tailor-Made Tour
View Tour
Ecuador
15 Days
Price from
3878
Tour type
Tailor-Made Tour
View Tour
Ecuador
16 Days
Price from
5915
Tour type
Tailor-Made Tour
View Tour