Private Charter - Western & Southern Islands Aboard Galapagos Angel

Morning flight from Quito or Guayaquil to Baltra, Galapagos Islands.

Arrive at Baltra Island in the morning. After passing through immigration and baggage claim, meet a Galapagos Angel staff member and transfer to the yacht. They show you to your cabin, where you have some time to settle in before lunch and a welcome briefing.

Situated on Santa Cruz Island, Dragon Hill is one of the newest visitor sites accessible to tourists in the Galapagos Islands. One of the lengthier Galapagos walking trails will lead visitors along a beach and up a trail to the lagoon lookout where bright flamingos, pintail ducks, and land iguanas can be spotted.

Possible Activities: Snorkeling, Hiking
Difficulty: Easy to moderate: the trail may get muddy at times, and there is uneven rocky terrain.
Type of Landing: Dry Landing
Highlights & Animals: Land iguana nesting spot, Galapagos flamingos, common stilts, palo santo trees and cacti forest

Bachas Beach is located on the north shore of Santa Cruz and is a beach for swimming. One of the few remnants of the U.S. World War II presence in the Galapagos, a floating pier, can be seen here. You may see flamingos, Sally Lightfoot crabs, hermit crabs, black-necked stilts, and whimbrels. Sea turtles also nest on the beach.

Possible Activities: Snorkeling, Hiking
Difficulty: Easy
Type of Landing: Wet Landing
Highlights & Animals: World War II remnants. Sally Lightfoot crabs, hermit crabs, black-necked stilts, whimbrels, sea turtles.

Head to Bartholomew Island where the famous Pinnacle Rock is found. Bartholomew consists of an extinct volcano with a variety of red, orange, black, and even green volcanic formations. Take a trail of stairs to the summit of the volcano (about 30 or 40 minutes) and enjoy one of the best views of the islands! You will also visit a small, beautiful beach surrounded by the only vegetation found on this barren island. The beach is perfect for snorkeling where you may even see and swim with Galapagos penguins.

Possible Activities: Dinghy ride, snorkeling & hiking (1.2 miles/ 2 km)
Difficulty: Moderate/Difficult
Type of Landing: Dry & Wet Landings
Highlights & Animals: Pinnacle Rock, panoramic view, moonlike landscape, penguins, pioneer plants, lava cactus; snorkeling: penguins, reef sharks, rays, and great colorful fish.

Vicente Roca Point is a large bay with spectacular sea life, composed of two separate coves. Keep an eye out for seahorses, sea turtles, and the strange yet fascinating Mola mola (or sunfish) while you snorkel.

Possible Activities: Snorkeling & dinghy ride
Difficulty: Easy/Moderate
Type of Landing: No Landing
Highlights & Animals: Penguins, blue-footed boobies, terns, Nazca boobies, and two types of sea lions. Sea turtles, rays, and puffer fish.

Crossing the Bolivar Channel that divides Isabela and Fernandina Islands, you will land at Espinoza Point, and after walking past a colony of marine iguanas and a group of sea lions, you will reach the island’s highlight: the flightless cormorant nesting site. This area also provides a great opportunity to see the Galapagos hawk.

Possible Activities: Hike (approximately 1.2 miles / 2 km)
Difficulty: Moderate
Type of Landing: Dry Landing
Highlights & Animals: Flightless cormorant, marine iguanas, ‘a‘ā lava, sea lions, penguins, active volcano “La Cumbre”.

Visit Tagus Cove on Isabela Island which is located across from Fernandina Island, near the Bolivar Channel dividing the two islands. This spot has been frequented by ships since the 1800s, using the area as an anchorage site. Trails winding by Lake Darwin up to a ridge display wonderful views.

Possible Activities: Long hike, snorkeling, panga ride, kayaking (depending on weather conditions and time availability).
Difficulty: Moderate/Difficult
Type of Landing: Dry Landing
Highlights & Animals: Penguins, flightless cormorants, Darwin Volcano & Lake

Elizabeth Bay is located on the east coast of Isabela Island. The bay contains many islets, which can be visited by dinghy. Penguins and blue-footed boobies can be spotted on the rocky islets. With an abundance of marine life and clear water, the area is perfect for snorkeling and viewing schools of colorful fish, sea lions, and perhaps even sharks.

Possible Activities: Hiking (1.5 miles / 2 km) and dinghy ride
Difficulty: Easy/Moderate
Type of Landing: Wet Landing
Highlights & Animals: Mangrove forest (unique in Galapagos), sea turtles, penguins, rays, herons and sea lions

Urbina Bay is located at the base of Alcedo Volcano on the west coast between Tagus Cove and Elizabeth Bay. This area experienced a major uplift in 1954 causing the land to rise over 16 feet. The coast expanded half a mile out leaving marine life stranded on the new shore. This area is also a great place for snorkeling.

Possible Activities: Snorkeling, dinghy ride & hike, 2 trails: short (0.6mi/1 km), long (1.9mi/3km)
Difficulty: Easy/Moderate
Type of Landing: Wet Landing
Highlights & Animals: Land iguanas (the biggest in the Galapagos), hawks, coral reef, giant tortoises; snorkeling: turtles, rays, tropical fish

Moreno Point is located southwest of Elizabeth Bay. Here a dry landing onto what was once flowing lava is possible. The lava has left craters in its wake which formed crystal tide pools. By looking into the pools, you can peer into another world as the marine life drifts by your window. In the brackish pools of this area, you may see pink flamingos, white-cheeked pintails, and common gallinules. If you look carefully into the pools, you may see white-tip reef sharks and some sea turtles.

Possible Activities: Snorkeling, panga ride & hike (1.2 miles / 2km)
Difficulty: Moderate/Difficult
Type of Landing: Dry Landing
Highlights & Animals: Flamingos, gallinules, pintail ducks, turtles, white-tip reef sharks.

Visit the Sierra Negra Volcano, which is the largest basaltic caldera in the Galapagos with a diameter of 6.2 miles (10 km). The site offers impressive views and the opportunity to observe up to seven species of finches and a rich display of vegetation. The north side of the caldera provides evidence of its most recent volcanic activity in 2005.

Possible Activities: Hiking, walking
Difficulty: Difficult
Type of Landing: Dry Landing
Highlights & Animals: Basaltic caldera, stunning views, finches

Arnaldo Tupiza Breeding Center is located about one mile (1.5 km) from Puerto Villamil. Here, tortoise populations from South Isabela, Sierra Negra Volcano, Cerro Azul, Cazuela, Cinco Cerros, Roca Union, San Pedro, Tables, and Cerro Paloma have been bred in captivity. In total, there are 330 juvenile and adult tortoises.

Possible Activities: Walking
Difficulty: Easy
Type of Landing: Dry Landing
Highlights & Animals: Two of the five species of the giant tortoise

You have the chance to snorkel around Devil’s Crown which is the rocky remains of an offshore volcano sticking out of the water. This is a great location to spot a wide range of marine creatures.

Possible Activities: Snorkeling, panga ride
Difficulty: Moderate/Difficult
Type of Landing: No Landing
Highlights & Animals: Large array of marine species

Cormorant Point hosts a large flamingo lagoon where other birds such as common stilts and white-cheeked pintails can also be seen. The beaches on this island are distinct: The Green Beach is named so due to its green color, which comes from a high percentage of olivine crystals in the sand, and the Flour Sand Beach is composed of white coral.

Possible Activities: Dinghy ride & hike (1.25 mi /2 km)
Difficulty: Easy
Type of Landing: Wet Landing
Highlights & Animals: Flamingoes, green-colored beach

Land on a beach and head to a spot where 18th-century whalers placed a wooden barrel used as an unofficial mailbox. The custom continues to this day with Galapagos visitors. So, don’t forget your postcards, and don’t be surprised if the postcard arrives at its destination before you even get home!

Possible Activities: Short hike (less than 0.6 miles / 1km) & snorkeling
Difficulty: Easy
Type of Landing: Wet Landing
Highlights & Animals: Post office barrel, nice sandy beach

Mosquera Islet is located between the islands of Baltra and North Seymour. This reef of rocks and coral (the result of an uprising) is only 160 meters across at its narrowest width. This island has one of the largest populations of sea lions and is home to many shorebirds. There have been occasional reports at this site of orcas feeding on sea lions.

Possible Activities: Dinghy ride, snorkeling
Difficulty: Easy
Type of Landing: No Landing
Highlights & Animals: Orcas, sea lions, shore birds

After this final visit, transfer to the Baltra airport in time for your flight back to the mainland.