Complete Guide to Santa Cruz Island for the Best Galapagos Journey by Land!

Stay in Paradise

Santa Cruz Island is home to the biggest port Puerto Ayora and is full of amazing accommodations and natural sites. Most of the flights you’ll catch to the Galapagos will bring you to this island so its a great place to start your journey discovering the enchanted isles!

Getting to Santa Cruz & Puerto Ayora

Quito to Baltra Island: Getting to the Galapagos can be a journey all on its own. From planes, to buses to ferries you will experience it all getting to Santa Cruz and Puerto Ayora the biggest port town in the islands! First leg catch a flight from Quito and be sure to follow all of the boarding steps in order to get to the islands - give yourself plenty of time on the Quito side for this! The airport for Santa Cruz actually lands on a tiny island to the north called Baltra to avoid interfering with the wildlife.

Bus to Ferry to Bus: From the Baltra airport you’ll collect your bags and buy a bus ticket for a short 20 min bus ride to the ferry. USD is the currency of Ecuador so be sure to have different denominations ready to go for all of these steps since you have to buy tickets at each stage and cash is king on the islands. After the bus, you’ll hop on a very quick ferry that takes you across the channel to Santa Cruz! Off the ferry you have the option to take a bus directly to town that costs $5 or you can book a taxi (which is a comfortable pick-up truck) for $25 that will get you there faster. Unfortunately there isn’t an easier way to get to Puerto Ayora from the airport so just sit back and enjoy the journey!

Where to Stay on Santa Cruz

Bay House: This very affordable bed and breakfast is a hidden gem set on a private bay ready for you to explore! Relax in the waterfront pool, pop over to the German Beach right next door, kayak the bay and see all the best wildlife Galapagos has to offer without being in a huge tour group. Also the very cool Las Grietas path is right behind the house which is one of the top sites! Truly the best location for a land based trip on Santa Cruz! There are also a couple of nearby beach bars to get a drink and food that we really enjoyed!

Finch Bay Hotel: The best hotel in the Galapagos! This gorgeous hotel has a waterfront pool and directly on its own beach with shallow calm inviting waters. The service here is unparalleled and they will take care of most of the planning and logistics for you making it a breeze! You can schedule tours right from the hotel. Stay here for a luxurious yet natural stay!

Ginger tip: To get to the main town and over to the quiet more natural part of Puerto Ayora where both the Bay House and The Finch Hotel are - you need to take a $1 water taxi leaving from the main pier in town and will drop you off right on the path! It is still well worth it since the German Beach (Playa los Alemanes) and Las Grietas as well as pristine kayaking are all on this side of the bay which you will want to do no matter where you stay - but you will need to plan more for meals outside of breakfast at the bed and breakfast. We never had an issue getting a taxi and never had to wait on one!

Best Things to Do on Santa Cruz!

Tortuga Bay

Tortuga Bay: One of the best beaches in all of the Galapagos! The trail leads straight from downtown Puerto Ayora so grab plenty of water, sunscreen and food for your day excursion. We hiked 45 min through the National Park and really enjoyed the cool landscape and interesting plants. Once you finally spot the ocean and after walking across the white sand you will find a section of mangrove trees and calmer water where marine iguanas will be sunbathing and swimming! I love these guys! Bring a mask and snorkel here too since the water is crystal clear

On the other side of the main beach nestled in the trees you’ll find a little path leading to another calmer beach filled with families and people lounging in the sun. We ate our lunch here and enjoyed hanging out in the warm shallow water.

Ginger tip: On the way home we took a water taxi that picked us up right from the beach so we didn’t have to do the long hike back! It allowed us to stay longer and enjoy the beach too since we didn’t have to worry about walking in the dark. Be on the lookout for a women with a clipboard collecting payment for the water taxi. It was a lot of fun watching the sunset from the boat and laughing with the other adventurers at how wild and rough the ocean was!

Kayaking & Snorkeling the Bay

Kayaking and Snorkeling in the Bay: One of the best days we had in the Galapagos was using the kayaks provided right from the Bay House and exploring the full bay completely on our own! The bay is full of amazing nature and we couldn’t believe how much we saw.

Sea lions playing around us, natural channels in the rocks that created little nursing sanctuaries for baby fish and white tip sharks! Blue footed boobies perched on the rocks and so many birds - and we were able to pull the kayak up on a little sandy beach where we snorkeled right off of! What a day - this is a must do especially since it’s a rare Galapagos adventure you can do fully on your own!

Charles Darwin Research Station

Charles Darwin Research Station: Right next to the center of town in Puerto Ayora is the incredible research station where you can view the Giant Tortoises! We took a great guided tour with a ranger at the station who told us about the conservation efforts for the gentle giants and you can see them at different ages before they place them into the wild. A must do to see the Giant Tortoises up close and help support their ongoing conservation

Las Grietas

Las Grietas: These two natural swimming holes have crystal clear water and a great spot to swim and snorkel! We saw parrot fish and even some small eels which was a surprise since the water is a mix and salt and freshwater so definitely bring your mask to check out the incredible rocks and depths of the pools.

The higher Grieta has an incredible view of the bay so definitely check that out too!

Ginger Tip: We came right at sunrise to catch the sun coming up over the bay which was so beautiful. This was the BEST decision we made because after enjoying the sunrise we had both pools entirely to ourselves which was so special. Big tour groups can often crowd Las Grietas and they also will make you pay an entrance fee later in the morning

Explore Puerto Ayora

Explore Porta Ayora: The biggest town in all of the Galapagos has some cool stuff to check out! We loved grabbing beers at the Enchanted Isles very own brewery - Santa Cruz Brewery. The Santa Cruz Fish Market is also a must see, a bustling place where animals and people are equally interested in the fresh fish pulling right up out of the ocean!

If you want to buy any souvenirs this is also the place since it has the most shopping and best prices compared to the other inhabited islands. The store Darwin + Wolf has very cool gear and is a store worth checking out! Angermeyer restaurant had a great open air vibe with good food too!

What to Pack

Enjoy the magic of the Galapagos!