DAY 1: SATURDAY
AM: ARRIVAL TO SAN CRISTOBAL AIRPORT AND TRANSFER TO THE M/C OCEAN SPRAY
Welcome to the incredible Galapagos Islands and your luxury catamaran, the M/C Ocean Spray! Upon arrival onboard the vessel, your guide and crew members will greet you and take you to your accommodations. After freshening up, a short briefing will be given on health, safety and emergency protocols, and you will be given a description of normal routines and different areas aboard the M/C Ocean Spray.
PM VISIT: SAN CRISTOBAL ISLAND – LOBOS ISLAND/KICKER ROCK
Lobos Island is home to a large colony of boisterous sea lions who love to bask in the warm rays of sunshine and play along the island’s rock shores. It is also home to several different bird species, including frigatebirds, pelicans, and yellow warblers, among others. There is a small channel that runs along the island where the waters are very clear, making it easy to spot huge sea turtles, furtive rays, and even white-tipped sharks!
Kicker Rock is one of the archipelago’s most iconic visitor sites. It consists of two eroded volcanic cones that rise more than 100 meters from the waves in the middle of the open water. It is one of the Galapagos’ most renowned diving sites, and visitors can often see colorful underwater species from the deck of the M/C Ocean Spray.
DAY 2: SUNDAY
AM VISIT: SAN CRISTOBAL ISLAND – PITT POINT
Pitt Point is truly an “otherworldly” visitor point – it feels like you have stepped out onto another planet! The hike up to the top of the hill provides visitors with sweeping panoramic views of the island and the surrounding ocean, and the trail expertly curves around blue-footed booby nests on the ground. Toward the top of the island, visitors can see red-footed boobies nesting in the low trees, giving you up-close encounters with both incredible species.
PM VISIT: SAN CRISTOBAL ISLAND – WITCHES HILL
Witches Hill has several deep crevices and eroding rocks along the shore where different shore birds nest and feed. Visitors will be able to get close to them on the Zodiac ride, which is often accompanied by friendly sea lions and different kinds of tropical fish visible in the clear waters along the shoreline. Afterward, you’ll disembark on a powdery white-sand beach where you can swim and snorkel in the crystal-clear turquoise waters.
DAY 3: MONDAY
AM VISIT: FLOREANA ISLAND – POST OFFICE BAY
Post Office Bay is one of the archipelago’s most fascinating visitor points due to its human history. Centuries ago, sailors set up a barrel here where they would leave letters to loved ones back home. Other ships would also stop by and look through the addresses on the letters, and take the ones that were addressed to their own destinations – and the first Galapagos mail service was born! Today, the tradition lives on – you can leave a complementary postcard addressed to someone anywhere in the world, and someday a fellow traveler might take it with them and mail it!
PM VISIT: : FLOREANA ISLAND – CORMORANT POINT / DEVIL’S CROWN
Cormorant Point is home to two different beaches, and there is a saltwater lagoon just a short walk beyond one of them that is a nesting site for flamingos. Ones of the beaches looks green because of its extraordinarily high content of small olivine crystals, while the other is known as Flour Beach due to its powdery white sand made of pulverized white coral. Visitors can sometimes see rays meandering along the shoreline, as well as different kinds of tropical fish.
Devil’s Crown hosts one of the archipelago’s best snorkeling sites, where snorkelers can see, just below the surface, several incredible volcanic structures that have submerged over the centuries. Today, they are home to countless colorful fish species, as well as sharks, rays, sea turtles, sea lions, and starfish, among many others!
DAY 4: TUESDAY
AM VISIT: SANTA CRUZ ISLAND – BLACK TURTLE COVE
Located along the northern side of Santa Cruz Island, Black Turtle Cove is a shallow inlet surrounded by mangroves that provide natural protection for several juvenile marine species. Just under the calm waters of the cove, visitors can see majestic sea turtles, different kinds of rays, and both white-tip and black-tip reef sharks. Blue-footed boobies and pelicans both enjoy hunting in these nutrient-rich waters, and can often be seen dive-bombing into the water.
TRANSFER TO BALTRA AIRPORT
On the last day of your cruise, the only visit you have is to Black Turtle Cove. Afterwards, you´ll board the M/C Ocean Spray to gather your belongings and freshen up for your transfer to the airport.
