Itinerary
| DAY |
MAIN ITINERARY |
| Friday |
Puerto Baquerizo Moreno (San Cristobal [Chatham] Island)
Cerro Brujo (San Cristobal Island) |
| Saturday |
Punta Suarez (Española Island)
Punta Cormorant (Floreana Island) |
| Sunday |
Punta Espinoza (Fernandina Island)
Punta Vicente Roca (Isabela Island) |
| Monday |
Baltra (South Seymour) Island
Cerro Dragón (Dragon Hill) (Santa Cruz Island) |
| Tuesday |
Bartolomé Island
Puerto Egas (James Island) |
| Wednesday |
Rabida Island (Jervis)
North Seymour Island |
| Thursday |
Highlands of Santa Cruz Island
Charles Darwin Research Station (Santa Cruz Island) |
| Friday |
Puerto Baquerizo Moreno (San Cristóbal Island) |
Included
- Accommodation
- All meals
- Island sightseeing
- All guide and lecture services
- Taxes and transfers in the island.
- Glass - bottom boat outings
Not Included
- Air transportation to/from Galapagos
- Galapagos National Park entrance fee (US $100 subject to change without notice)
- Bar
- Gifts and items of personal nature.
Important Facts
The M/V Santa Cruz offers a choice of 3, 4 and 7 night expeditions.
Please read this Expedition Itinerary as a guide only. The route and program may vary according to National Park policies and regulations, weather conditions, seasonal changes or safety reasons. Our crew is trained to deal with all the elements of the nature of this expedition. Safety will be always part of the daily programming of activities. Kindly follow all suggestions. It is compulsory to wear a life vest during the rides in the dinghies between the ship and the shore. Flexibility is essential in order to cope with nature's outstanding features.
Given the islands' volcanic origin, and the fact that most walking is done over pristine and irregular volcanic terrain, guests must be in suitable physical conditions for these kind of outings. The ship also organizes activities such as shorter walks, boat rides, glass-bottom boat trips, snorkeling, swimming, as well as lectures and talks, all complimenting everyone's experience.
The Expedition Staff will provide you with snorkeling gear (mask and snorkel, fins, floating vest and net bag). Please note that the operation does not carry prescription masks. A shortie wet suit is highly recommended from June to December. Cooperation of guests is a key point when complying with the rules of the National Park. This alone can guarantee a major success in the expedition.
Dry landings: guests step from the dinghy onto rocks or a dock.
Wet landings: as the dinghy edges onto a sandy beach, guests step into knee-deep water and wade ashore.
Island Highlights
BALTRA (SOUTH SEYMOUR ISLAND)
This is the arrival and/or departure place from/to mainland Ecuador trough this island's airport. During WW II, from 1941 to 1948, this island was known as Beta. It was occupied by the US Air Force and the US Navy as a Military Base. Back in those days, this airport had the largest airstrip in South America. This uplifted island is a great visual introduction to Galápagos.
The pier is a 5-minute drive from the air terminal. If your voyage starts in Puerto Ayora, you will take a 10-minute bus ride to the Itabaca Channel, cross it by ferry towards Santa Cruz Island, and then an interesting ride across the entire island from the extreme north to the extreme south, enjoying the varying scenes and vegetation from the lowlands to the highlands and down again to the lowlands. This will be a most interesting way to start your Galapagos Expedition.
BARTOLOME
This is the most photographed location on the entire archipelago. Climb up a wooden staircase to the summit for a stunning view of two beautiful bays. You can observe fascinating formations of lava flows and spatter cones. Many have called this island "an open Geology textbook". Others, the island with a “moonscape”. Sea lions and penguins can be seen around the famous Pinnacle Rock. There is a golden colored sandy beach from where to do great swimming and snorkeling. This is one of those few locations where seeing penguins in tropical waters can be a unique an d fascinating experience.
FERNANDINA (NARBOROUGH ISLAND)
The youngest island of the Galapagos group. The landing point is Punta Espinoza. Walk among hundreds of marine iguanas on black lava rocks. See flightless cormorants, penguins, pelicans, sea lions and mangrove forests. The walking grounds will reveal the beautiful shapes of lava once it has cooled off. At this location, few rocks are older than 400 years of age. Fernandina's colossal dome shape will enchant anyone who visits, perhaps the most pristine island in the Pacific.
HOOD (ESPAÑOLA ISLAND)
Gardner Bay:
A magnificent coral white-sandy beach with sea lions and mockingbirds. Swimming and snorkeling from the beach and nearby islets.
Punta Suarez:
Walk on lava rocks along a trail dotted with nests of blue-footed boobies and masked boobies, a colony of marine iguanas (endemic to Hood), waved albatrosses and a roaring blow hole at the shoreline. There are also sea lions, Galapagos doves and Darwin's finches.
FLOREANA (CHARLES ISLAND)
Post Office Bay:
Visit the famous barrel, a do-it-yourself postal service set up by 18th century whalers. Cruise by "Lobería" islet with sea lion colonies and Opuntia cacti.
Point Cormorant:
Has an olivine-crystal beach and pink flamingos inhabiting a secluded lagoon. A short walk away is a white-sand beach where sea turtles nest (December to May).
Nearby is Devil's Crown with beautiful coral formations and great snorkeling.
ISABELA (ALBEMARLE ISLAND)
The largest island in the Archipelago is the result of six large volcanic domes fused together at their bases.
Tagus Cove:
Is a natural harbor where centuries ago whalers and pirates left their ship's names painted or carved on the rocks. A walk uphill takes you around Darwin's Crater salt-water lake for a superb view. A dinghy ride along the shoreline lets you see penguins, flightless cormorants, boobies, pelicans and Sally Light foot crabs.
Urbina Bay:
Is located at the central-west coast of Isabela Island at the foothills of Volcanoes Alcedo and Darwin. Land on a dark volcanic sandy beach. Highlights include large and colorful land iguanas, since the inland area includes excellent nesting grounds for them. Good possibilities of seeing giant tortoises in the wild (all year, numbers may vary according to seasonal conditions). Along the rocky shoreline, possible sightings of flightless cormorants, blue-footed boobies, penguins and large marine iguanas. Quite impressive is a coral uplifting from 1954.
Punta Moreno:
Is located in the central-south western coast of Isabela Island. Spectacular view of volcanoes Alcedo, Sierra Negra and Cerro Azul. Highlights: impressive lava flows from eruptions years ago. Desolate, extremely pristine landscape. A textbook of pioneer plants, extraordinarily varied and unusual arid-zone vegetation. The main attraction is a compound of small brackish lagoons very much like a desert oasis with lagoon birds, including seasonal flamingos. Ideal place for observing the rare and reclusive gallinules. Frequent sights of frigates, pelicans and other sea birds doing salt cleansing dives to the lagoon's surface.
Punta Vicente Roca:
A magnificent landscape shows the uniqueness of the western volcanos of Galápagos. We are now looking at the youngest geological features of the archipelago, and we are at the northern tip of the Galápagos' largest island, Isabela. This area is part of Ecuador Volcano, where a collapsed caldera floor is revealed after a major sinking of half of the whole volcano structure. The anchoring place lies in front of tuff-stone layers of a parasitic cone, next to the slopes of the host volcano. Lava intrusions, called sills and dikes, reveal the relatively recent volcanic activity of this area. Since there is no landing site at this location, our outing will include coastal exploration by dinghies where our Naturalists will commit to explaining the dramatic geology of the area. Wildlife here will definitely surprise everyone; few hours before we crossed the Equator and yet this tropical area can have surprises like dolphins, whales, sea lions, sea birds, turtles, and more. Where is all this life coming from? The answer is the Cromwell Current; a deep submarine current that upwells right at the volcanic platform of the western islands. These cool nutrient-rich waters attract plenty of sea-depending species which include brown pelicans, blue-footed boobies, noddy terns, shearwaters, and the only tropical penguin on Earth, the Galápagos penguin. Depending on sea conditions (current and visibility), we will schedule a snorkeling outing too.
JAMES (SANTIAGO ISLAND)
Sullivan Bay:
Dry landing on the area that had James' latest volcanic activity in 1897. Fantastic lava formations. A good spot for snorkeling where pioneer marine species should be expected.
James Bay:
Landing takes place at a black sandy beach where the shoreline walk will reveal a great assortment of marine-related species. Particularly good for migratory species of birds. Great swimming and snorkeling. An easy stroll, observing Darwin's finches and an ocassional Galapagos hawk will bring us to a series of black lava rock formations, home to a fur sea lion colony.
JERVIS (RABIDA ISLAND)
Behind the island's red-sandy beach, frequented by sea lions, is a flamingo lagoon. Pelicans and boobies nest in the vicinity. Nine species of finches have been spotted here.
NORTH SEYMOUR ISLAND
Palo Santo trees, colonies of blue-footed boobies, swallow-tailed gulls and magnificent frigate birds. On the other side of the island, the waves crash onto the rocks and sea lions play in the surf.
SAN CRISTOBAL ISLAND
Follow the route of Charles Darwin and visit his first-ever island in Galápagos. Visitors sites include the Interpretation Center at Puerto Baquerizo Moreno, as well as Isla Lobos. A walk up in the highlands is arranged for guests who take the week expedition. Great landscape photography.
SANTA CRUZ (INDEFATIGABLE ISLAND)
Academy Bay (Puerto Ayora):
The Finch Bay Hotel is located here, as well as the Charles Darwin Research Station. Giant tortoises are seen here and seasonally in the highlands where they graze on the pastures of local farms. Up in the highlands, the Pit Craters (Los Gemelos) is an outstanding area for bird watching, and observing the flora of the highlands. It is up here where amazing encounters with woodpecker finches have occurred. Moist conditions keep this epiphyte-laden environment. A visit to the picturesque and bustling town of Puerto Ayora is featured.
M/V Santa Cruz
The 44 cabin M/V Santa Cruz, built exclusively for Galapagos Islands cruising was completely renovated in 1998, having been redesigned and refurbished inside and out. The Santa Cruz has gained worldwide recognition for its excellent standards, including superb service, expert crew, the most knowledgeable multilingual naturalist guides and menus that feature the very best international cuisine and celebrated Ecuadorian dishes. Its capacity is for ninety guests.
Our Expedition Team consists of a Chief Naturalist and five Naturalists. All will delight guests with diverse natural history explanations, superb on-deck talks and eye-catching lectures regarding natural history issues. Their multimedia presentations and recaps will complement the day's activities. Together with the Captain, they will plan every day's program. They are masters of Galapagos' knowledge. Soon enough, our Naturalists will become the highlight of your voyage. At night, when pitch-dark starry skies are seen, stargazing is an amazing nocturnal activity. The southern skies are beautifully arranged with awesome constellations.
On the Boat Deck, there are two master suites with double beds (plus a sofa bed for a child) and a private balcony, and two junior suites with twin beds (plus a sofa bed for a child). Six Superior-Class cabins have twin or double beds and, the remaining Standard Cabins on the Upper and Main decks, offer a variety of accommodations, all meeting the same high standards for comfort and style. Family guests have ample choices to opt among single, double and triple accommodations.
The Sun Deck features a bar and Jacuzzi, along with the observation platform for dolphin and whale watching. The dining room, lounge and bar are elegantly appointed, as is the well-stocked library/reading room. As an alternative to snorkeling, the glass-bottom boat offers another opportunity to observe the marine life.
The entire ship is air-conditioned. A carefully planned itinerary includes the Galapagos' main highlights plus a flexible program allowing guests to enjoy several alternatives for their daily activities. In essence, an expedition to the most unique National Park, aboard the only ship exclusively built for exploring the Galapagos.
Technical Specifications
- Construction : Bilbao, Spain, 1979
- Reconstruction : Talcahuano, Chile, 1998
- Category : First Class
- Gross Tonnage : 1675
- Capacity : 90 guests
- Length : 72.35 meters (237.3 feet)
- Beam : 11.85 meters (38.86 feet)
- Speed : 13 knots
- Electricity : 110 Volts in the cabins with 220 Volt sockets available in Reception and Dining area.
- Engines : 2 Sulzer engines, 1620 BHP each
- Navigation : Gyrocompass, auto pilot, radar, echo-sounders,
- Equipment : GPS and Radio Director Finder
- Safety Classification : ABS classification +A1E + AMS #7907 853 SOLAS (safety of life at sea) ISM certificate Complying with the IMO resolution A.788(19) Automatic fire controls
- Life Jackets : In each cabin
- Lifeboats : Two 66-man, two 25-man,
- Life Rafts : Two 16-man, two 10-man
- Zodiacs : 5 for ship to shore transportation
- Boston Whaler : 1 with glass-bottom for underwater observation
- Owner : ETICA / Metropolitan Touring
- Decks : 4 (Sun deck, Boat deck, Upper deck, Main deck)
- Crew : 52
- Naturalist : 6 multilingual (includes Chief Naturalist)
- Medical Officer : Permanently on board
Services and Facilities
- Bar - Lounge, Boutique
- Gift Shop
- Email, radio, telephone, and Fax communications.
- PA system.
- Snorkeling Equipment
- Multimedia natural history lectures
- Stargazing Program
- Glass bottom boat
- Jacuzzi
- Reading Room and Natural History Library
- Air conditioned throughout
- Safety boxes
- Hair dryers
Sun Deck
Bar and relax area
Boat Deck
- 2 Master suites double bed + sofa bed
- 2 Junior suites twin beds + sofa bed
- 4 Superior cabins twin beds
- 2 Superior cabins double bed
- 5 Standard cabins twin beds
- 1 Standard cabin double bed
- 1 Standard single cabin
- 2 Standard Plus Twin beds
Upper Deck
12 Standard twin cabins
Main Deck
13 Standard twin cabins
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