The Galapagos Islands Aboard the M/V Eclipse
Sailings are from Saturday to Saturday - 8
Days / 7 Nights
Day #1
Saturday Morning: Arrive at Baltra Airport - Galapagos Islands
The flight from Quito (via Guayaquil) to the Galapagos Islands takes approximately 2-hours. Upon arrival
at Baltra Airport, you will be met by your guides, who will escort you on a short bus ride to the harbor.
Motorized dinghies, known locally as "pangas" will transport you to the Eclipse, where the captain and
crew will welcome you aboard. After departure there will be a briefing, lunch and a safety drill.
Saturday Afternoon: Las Bachas Beach - Santa Cruz Island
Las Bachas Beach is located in the north of Santa Cruz. Its soft, white sand is derived from decomposed
coral, making it a favorite nesting site for sea turtles. Behind the beach there is a small brackish water lagoon,
where it is possible to observe flamingos and other coastal birds, such as black-necked stilts and whimbrels.
Day #2
Sunday Morning: Puerto Egas - Santiago Island
Puerto Egas (James Bay) is located on the northwest side of Santiago. The landing is on a black beach with
eroded rock formations in the background. The trail crosses the dry interior, where the remains of a salt
mining enterprise can still be seen, and then continues along the coast. Tidal pools are home to a variety of
invertebrate organisms, including sea urchins, octopus and starfish. The trail leads to the Fur Seals Grottos,
one of the only places in the islands where they can be seen. After the walk, you will have time to swim or
snorkel off the beach, where you will see sea lions, fish and maybe some turtles and reef sharks.
Sunday Afternoon: Bartolomé Island
Bartolomé is a small island that has two visitor sites. At the first site, you can swim and snorkel around
Pinnacle Rock, where penguins are usually seen. Back on board for a quick change of clothes and then it
is a short dinghy ride to a dry landing for a climb to the highest point on the island. On the way up, you
will encounter different volcanic formations, including spatter and tuff cones, lava flow and lava tubes.
From the summit you will have a wonderful view of Sullivan Bay.
Day #3
Monday Morning: Cerro Dragón - Santa Cruz Island
The name Cerro Dragon (Dragon Hill) stems from the fact that it was one of the few sites on Santa Cruz Island
where a healthy population of land iguanas were found in 1975. After landing at a pier, a hike takes to you to
a salt water lagoon behind the beach, frequented by common stilts, pintail ducks and occasionally flamingos.
A short walk up the hill leads you to a land iguana nesting site, with breathtaking views of the bay. You will
have the chance to go swimming or kayaking after the walk.
Monday Afternoon: Rábida Island
Rábida is a small island with red volcanic rocks surrounding a beautiful red sand beach, where there is a
colony of sea lions and a pelican nesting site. The trail leads to a salt water lagoon where shore birds can
be seen. Rábida is considered to be one of the best snorkeling sites in the Galapagos Islands, and you will
also have the opportunity to go kayaking.
Day #4
Tuesday Morning: Tagus Cove - Isabela Island
Tagus Cove was historically used as an anchoring place for pirates, buccaneers and whalers. Here you will
see the names of hundreds of ships painted on the high ridges (a practice now forbidden). Depending on
the season, you will either go hiking or snorkeling. On the hike, the trail goes through an area of
vegetation and the volcanic landscape of Darwin volcano. At the top of the trail, you will enjoy an
incredible view of the whole cove and Darwin Lake.
After the hiking or snorkeling, there will be a panga ride, where you will have the opportunity to see a large
number of blue-footed boobies perched on the ledges of the cliffs, as well as marine iguanas, penguins,
brown pelicans, brown noddy terns and swallow-tailed gulls. While exploring the channel between
Fernandina and Isabela Islands, we sometimes encounter dolphins and whales.
Tuesday Afternoon: Elizabeth Bay - Isabela Island
Elizabeth Bay is one of the furthest points of the Galapagos that we will visit on our cruise. A panga ride
around two islets called the Marielas offers a wide variety of bird life, such as flightless cormorants, herons,
and blue-footed boobies. Then we will enter a sheltered cove - a wonderful mangrove ecosystem that is a
refuge for sea turtles and rays. After the panga ride you will have the chance to deep water snorkel.
Day #5
Wednesday Morning: Punta Espinoza - Fernandina Island
Fernandina last erupted in 1995. La Cumbre Volcano dominates the landscape, with lava fields stretching
towards the ocean from its base. Punta Espinosa is a narrow piece of land where some of the most unique
Galapagos species can be seen, including the flightless cormorant, Galapagos snakes, marine iguanas,
penguins and the Galapagos hawk.
Wednesday Afternoon: Punta Vicente Roca - Isabela Island
Punta Vicente Roca is a wonderful snorkeling site, where you can usually see turtles as well as all kinds of
fish. After the snorkeling you will go on a panga ride, which will give you the opportunity to study some of
the Galapagos’ spectacular geological rock formations. Nazca boobies, pelicans, swallow-tailed gulls,
marine iguanas, flightless cormorants and penguins are often seen in the area.
Day #6
Thursday Morning: Charles Darwin Research Station - Santa Cruz Island
On your visit to the Charles Darwin Research Station you will gain insight into the huge efforts being made
by scientists, guides, rangers and park managers to preserve this UNESCO World Heritage Site. You will
see the famous Galapagos tortoises that are the islands’ namesake. After the visit you will have some free
time to explore the town of Puerto Ayora.
Thursday Afternoon: Santa Cruz Highlands - Santa Cruz Island
From Puerto Ayora you will travel by bus to the lush, green highlands of Santa Cruz, where you will visit a
tortoise reserve to search for giant tortoises in their natural surroundings. You will have the opportunity to
walk through lava tunnels so take a flashlight if you have one, or go kayaking.
Day #7
Friday Morning: Gardner Bay - Española Island
Gardner Bay offers the chance to enjoy a wonderful white sandy beach. It is home to one of the most
important colonies of sea lions, and it is also a nesting site for sea turtles. After the beach time you will
have a chance to deep water snorkel from the panga at Turtle Rock, or go kayaking.
Friday Afternoon: Punta Suárez - Española Island
Punta Suarez is one of the most popular and attractive sites in the Galapagos. Due to its isolation from
other islands, it has a high proportion of endemic fauna. A few steps inland from the landing site, groups
of Española marine iguanas bask in the sun. Further inland, Nazca and blue-footed boobies nest almost on
the trail, Galapagos doves peck around unaware of visitors and finches go about their business. The trail
continues towards a blowhole, which is a fissure in the lava where water spurts high into the air like a
geyser. The cracks in the cliffs are home to swallow-tailed gulls and red-billed tropicbirds. Further up the
cliff in an area of low-lying trees you will find waved albatrosses nesting. The 10,000 to 12,000 pairs of
albatrosses on Española represent the entire population of this species on the planet. They perform one of
the most spectacular courtship rituals of the animal world.
Day #8
Saturday Morning: Black Turtle Cove - Santa Cruz Island
Departure from Baltra Airport
Black Turtle Cove is one of the most beautiful marine sites in Galapagos. It is a complex maze of tranquil
salt-water inlets, surrounded by three different species of mangrove. Its waters are a resting site for sea
turtles, rays and sharks. This site is only accessible by panga.
IMPORTANT NOTE:
Itineraries
and programs are subject to change without previous notice due
mainly to readjustment of the National Park policies and
regulations, weather conditions, seasonal changes or safety
reasons.
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