3 Islands, 3 lodges 6 days, 5 nights | Our Galapagos island hopping programs provide you with the unique opportunity to lodge in three different islands! Santa Cruz, Floreana and Isabela.
Day 1: UIO/GYE - SANTA CRUZ AM: Baltra Airport Ferry crossing to Santa Cruz Island (10 min-ride). Arrival at Santa Cruz around 11:30 AM (Depending on your flight schedule). Check-in at Red Mangrove Aventura Lodge. PM: Begin your Academy Bay Tour at “La Loberia”, where you can snorkel with sea lions (optional). 40 min. navigation to “Tortuga Bay”. As we enter the white sandy beach, we have a chance to observe different marine species like Sting Rays and baby Reef Sharks in the shallow waters of the Mangrove ecosystems. After swimming on the beach we take a very short hike to the Marine Iguana nesting site. The walk back is through a Prickly Pear forest carpeted in crimson Sesuvium with black lava outcroppings home to more marine iguana colonies. Box Lunch on the beach. Welcome Cocktail. Briefing and Dinner.
Day 2: SANTA CRUZ - FLOREANA AM: Departure around 8:00AM to Floreana. Arrival around 10:00 AM. Tour begins with a trip to the Highlands through the agricultural zone. The Peace Asylum- is a visitor site that tells us about the Human History of “The Enchanted Islands”. Floreana was the first island to be colonized by men. This is the only opportunity to see the Medium Tree Finch. Lunch. PM: Red Mangrove Floreana Lodge check in. Visit to the Lobería (snorkeling) and Playa Negra. Briefing and BBQ Dinner.
Day 3: FLOREANA - ISABELA AM: After Breakfast, departure to Isabela around 10:00AM. Arrival around noon. Red Mangrove Isabela Lodge check-in. Visit to el Muro de las Lágrimas (the Wall of Tears), Cerro Orchilla, Humedales (Wetlands), Centro de Interpretación and Small Lava Tunnels. Lunch at the lodge. PM: After lunch, we take a dinghy ride for a visit to “La Tintoreras” (White Tip Reef Shark resting site), a canal where they spend the night in the bottom of the crevices. The canal sits between a small natural lava outcropping and an enormous lava field, one of nature’s wonders set against a backdrop of emerald green sea, white sand beach, dark green mangroves and the hills of Isabela beyond. Above the resting sharks, the rocky sides are lined with marine iguanas, one of the few marine iguana colonies on Isabela, that have not been disturbed by introduced species. You will probably have to watch your step on the trail as they are so abundant. Opportunity to see the colony of penguins recently established in Puerto Villamil, often resting side by side with Blue Footed Boobies. Briefing and Dinner.
Day 4: ISABELA HIGHLANDS- FULL DAY AM: After breakfast, we take a bus ride up to the highlands of Isabela where we will mount horses for a ride and then hike to “Sierra Negra Volcano”, one of the active volcanoes in the Galapagos. PM: Lunch will be in the Crater of the Volcano, the largest caldera in the islands with a diameter of 9-10 kms (approx. 4 miles). Sierra Negra offers volcanic activity as well as spectacular geology and vegetation scenery. “Volcan Chico” on the northwest side of the caldera is an area of fumaroles and the “Mina de Azufre” to the west is a sulphur deposit site with more fumarole activity. Return around 4:00PM. Afternoon relaxing on the stunning white sand beach of Puerto Villamil or at the lodge restaurant. Briefing and Dinner.
Day 5: ISABELA – SANTA CRUZ AM: After breakfast, departure to Santa Cruz (around 9AM). Arrival in Puerto Ayora around 11AM. Take the transportation to the Highlands of Santa Cruz to view “Los Gemelos” (enormous collapsed lava chambers), geological explanation. Walk inside the remaining Scalesia Forest. Opportunity to see the Vermilion Flycatcher, Small and Large Tree Finches. Afterwards, you will visit a Giant Tortoise Reserve for an easy hike to observe the Giant Tortoises in their natural habitat. Lunch in the Highlands. PM: Visit to the Charles Darwin Research Station. Red Mangrove Aventura Lodge. Welcome cocktail. Briefing and Dinner.
Day 6: SANTA CRUZ / GYE UIO AM: After breakfast, transfer out to Baltra’s airport in order to catch your flight back to mainland for connections or visit Ecuador. Check out time will depend on the Schedule flight.
