Quick answer Genovesa, nicknamed Bird Island, is the most remote of the major Galapagos cruise destinations, reached by an 8 to 10-hour overnight sail northeast from the central islands. The effort is worth it. The island is the collapsed rim…
Quick answer Española is the oldest island in the Galapagos at approximately 4 million years, the most remote of the southern islands, and the most endemic-species-rich island in the archipelago relative to its small size. It has two visitor sites:…
Quick answer Isabela is the largest island in the Galapagos, formed by six coalesced volcanoes, five of which remain active. It holds more Galapagos penguins than any other island, five giant tortoise subspecies, the only flightless cormorant nesting sites in…
Quick answer San Cristóbal is geologically the oldest island in the Galapagos, the first Charles Darwin stepped foot on in September 1835, and one of only two islands with a commercial airport. Its signature experience is Kicker Rock, a 148-metre…
Quick answer Santa Cruz is the hub of the Galapagos, the island where most cruises begin and end, and the one place that compresses every habitat zone from arid coast to misty highland into a single island. Key stops for…
Quick answer Galapagos snorkeling delivers a combination of marine life found nowhere else: over 500 fish species in one place, including cold-water and tropical species mixed by seven converging ocean currents. What sets it apart is not just diversity but…
Quick answer Galapagos green sea turtles are encountered on virtually every snorkel in the archipelago and are one of the most reliably sighted animals in the water. The only species that nests here is the East Pacific green turtle, a…
Quick answer Galapagos fur seals and sea lions are two distinct species sharing the same islands but living very different lives. Sea lions are everywhere on beaches across the archipelago, active during the day, and the animals most people swim…
Quick answer Darwin’s finches are present on every island in the Galapagos year-round, but most cruise passengers walk past them without realizing what they are looking at. There are 18 recognized species, all descended from a single ancestor, differing primarily…
Quick answer The waved albatross nests on a single island in the world: Española Island in the southern Galapagos. They are present from April through December. Outside those months there is nothing to see on Española because they have gone…