DAY 1 – Baltra / Santa Cruz: Cerro Dragon
Flight from Mainland Ecuador to the Galapagos in the morning. Upon arrival at Baltra airport, you pass through an airport inspection point. Then onto the ship.

The turquoise water of the stunning bay where you will be anchored offers the opportunity to snorkel with sea lions.

You will land on the sandy beach of a beautiful protected bay where you will be greeted by colonies of sea lions. A short circular trail takes you along the cliff edge where you can most likely spot the iguanas as well as many lava lizards and even the Galapagos Hawk. The trail brings you back round onto a second beach that is also inhabited by sea lions and blue footed boobies sit on the rocks. Snorkel in the bay with sea lions and admire the many species of reef fish and occasionally sea turtle and rays. Lunch will be served whilst still anchored in the bay.

On this tour look out for: Sea lions, Land iguanas, Lava lizards, Swallow-tailed gulls, Lava gulls, Shearwaters, Storm petrels, Marine iguanas, Great frigate birds, Blue footed boobies, Brown noddie terns, Brown pelicans, White tip sharks, sting rays and sea turtles.

DAY 2 – Mosquera Islet & Isabela Island: Pto. Villamil & Santa Fe Island

At Mosquera your first wet landing (as in, shoes might get wet …) onto a beautiful coralline white beach inhabited by the largest Galápagos sea lion colony in the archipelago. Mosquera Islet is a small, flat, sandy islet almost devoid of vegetation. Good area for lava gulls and coastal birds. In the afternoon we visit Santa Fe Island. Located south of Santa Cruz Island, a walk around this dry, rugged island offers the chance of spotting the Santa Fe Land Iguana that is only found here.

DAY 3 – San Cristobal Island: Interpretation Center & Lobos Island
At the port of Baquerizo Moreno – the capital of the province Galapagos, you will visit the Interpretation Center. The center will give you a good impression of the history of the Galapagos Islands.

In the afternoon we visit Isla Lobos, which is located up the coast from Wreck Bay and Puerto Baquerizo north of San Cristobal Island, also known as Chatham. Isla Lobos means ”Sea-Lion Island”, and the name is certainly appropriate because they frolic, leap and make a racket here.

It is also a nesting place for Blue-footed Boobies and a good place for snorkelling.

DAY 4 – San Cristobal Island: Punta Pitt / Natural Galapaguera

On the northeast tip of San Cristobal is Punta Pitt, a tuff formation that serves as a nesting site for many sea birds including Blue footed, Nazca and Red-footed boobies, Frigate birds, Swallow-tailed gulls and Storm petrels. A first-class site to see iconic Galapagos birds.

In the afternoon you visit La Galapaguera to see giant tortoises in the highlands of San Cristobal.

DAY 5 – San Cristobal Island: Cerro Brujo / Leon Dormido
A boat ride along rocky shoreline brings us to Cerro Brujo’s white coral beach. Highlights ashore include the Chatham (San Cristobal) Mockingbird and Lava Lizard: both species are endemic to this island and are not seen elsewhere in the Galapagos. We may also spot Yellow Warblers, Galapagos Flycatchers, and with luck – a Vermillion Flycatcher. These are the same shores that Charles Darwin walked on.

In the afternoon, we cruise around Kicker Rock (Leon Dormido), a vertical tuff cone formation that abruptly juts up almost 500 feet out of the ocean. On the cliffs, we find blue-footed boobies, masked boobies and magnificent frigate birds.

DAY 6 – Española Is: Punta Suarez / Gardner Bay
One of the oldest of the islands, Hood is small and flat with no visible volcanic crater or vent. Punta Suarez is one of the most outstanding wildlife areas of the archipelago, with a long list of species found along its cliffs and sand or pebble beaches.

Gardner Bay is on the eastern shore and has a magnificent beach. This beach is frequented by a transient colony of sea lions, and is a major nesting site for marine turtles.

On a trail leading to the western tip of the island you’ll pass the only nesting sites in the Galapagos of the waved albatross, huge birds with a 2m wingspan.

DAY 7 – Floreana Island: Cormorant point / Post office bay
Punta Cormorant offers two highly contrasting beaches; the landing beach is of volcanic origin and is composed of olivine crystals, giving it a greenish tinge. At the end of the short trail is a carbonate beach of very fine white sand, formed by the erosion of coral skeletons; it is a nesting site for green sea turtles. Between these two beaches is a salt lagoon frequented by flamingos, pintails, stilts, and other wading birds.

Wet landing on a greenish coloured sand beach of Post Office Bay. Passengers will hike a well marked trail beginning in the Black Mangrove beds heading towards the back of the lagoon. The large, brackish lagoon holds one of the biggest populations of flamingos in the Galápagos.

DAY 8 – Santa Cruz: Charles Darwin Station – Baltra
This morning we will visit at Puerto Ayora on Santa Cruz Island the Charles Darwin Research Station. Founded in 1959 at the centennial celebration of the publication of Darwin’s Origin of Species, the research station has an international team of scientists that studies the biology and conservation of the Galápagos Islands. The station conducts captive breeding program of giant tortoises, and we’ll see the hatchlings of several subspecies that have been brought back from near-extinction.

Walk around the settlement and later in the day get ready for the land tour.