Ecuador
Santa Cruz Island, Galapagos Islands
Santa Cruz Island: Puerto Ayora and the Darwin Research Station
Puerto Ayora, on Santa Cruz, is the largest town in the archipelago, with shops and cafés, and the headquarters of the national park and the Charles Darwin Foundation are here. Clocks here run an hour behind mainland Ecuador, so go by your ship's time.
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Good to know
Coming Ashore at Puerto Ayora
Academy Bay is the busy harbor in front of Puerto Ayora. Your ship will tell you how passengers get ashore, and which park sites you visit with a guide depends on its plan for the day.
- Puerto Ayora, on the south coast, counted about 12,700 people in the 2022 census, and the whole island has around 18,000.
- Santa Cruz is a shield volcano 864 meters high, near the middle of the archipelago.
- Nearly all of the Galápagos is national park. The inhabited parts of Santa Cruz are among the few areas outside it.
- The town's tap water is poor, so drink bottled water ashore.
Puerto Ayora on Your Own
Puerto Ayora is small enough to walk, and two of the island's best-known places, the Charles Darwin Research Station and Tortuga Bay, are reached on foot from town. Check with your expedition team first, because the time ashore is set by the ship.
- Charles Darwin Research Station: At the end of Avenida Charles Darwin, the waterfront street, the station's tortoise breeding center is where Lonesome George lived, and young tortoises and iguanas are raised there. Entry has been free; check before you go.
- Tortuga Bay: A path of about 2.5 km leads from the edge of town to the bay. Sign in and out at the park office at the start; the path is open from early morning to early evening. Swimming is not allowed on the main beach, but you may swim in a sheltered cove at its far end, where white-tip reef sharks can be seen.
- Water taxis: Small yellow boats wait at the main pier to cross Academy Bay for a small fare.
- Las Grietas: This canyon of clear, brackish water west of town is reached by water taxi and a marked path, and park rules say every visitor must go in with a guide.
- Watch the clock: The Galápagos keeps its own time, one hour behind mainland Ecuador, so go by the time your ship gives you.
- Getting back on time: All-aboard is usually about 30 minutes before sailing, and your ship posts the exact time. A ship will not wait for passengers touring on their own.
Tipping in Ecuador
Restaurants, bars and hotels in Ecuador normally add a 10 percent service charge to the bill, so you do not need to tip, although leaving some small change for good service is common. Ecuador's currency is the US dollar, and other currencies are not readily accepted.
- Some restaurants that do not include a service charge leave a line on the card slip for a tip of about 5 to 10 percent.
Visiting the National Park
Outside the towns, visitors to Galápagos National Park must be with a guide certified by the park, with a few exceptions such as Garrapatero Beach, and may be on land only between sunrise and sunset. Your expedition team arranges these visits and gives the rules before each landing.
- Stay at least 2 meters from animals, even when they walk up to you.
- Keep to the marked trails, and never feed wildlife.
- Do not bring plants, seeds or animals to the islands, and clean your shoes between islands.
- Do not buy souvenirs made from black coral, shells, sea lion teeth, tortoise shell, volcanic rock or native woods.
- Take only photographs, and do not write or carve on rocks or trees.
A Brief History
Puerto Ayora dates from the early 20th century, when small groups of settlers from Norway, Germany, mainland Ecuador and elsewhere made homes on Academy Bay. Since 1959 the island has also been a center for science and conservation in the Galápagos.
- Many names: The Spanish called the island San Clemente. The English buccaneer William Ambrosia Cowley named it after the Duke of Norfolk in 1684, the British later called it Indefatigable after a Royal Navy ship, and Ecuador named it Bolivia.
- 1832 and 1892: Ecuador annexed the Galápagos in 1832, and the island was renamed Santa Cruz in 1892, the 400th anniversary of Columbus's first voyage.
- 1920s: Norwegian settlers set up a cannery on Academy Bay, and others joined them after a failed colony on Floreana.
- 1935: The four Angermeyer brothers arrived from Germany, and their descendants still live on the island.
- 1959: Ecuador created Galápagos National Park, and the Charles Darwin Foundation was founded. Its research station on Academy Bay was dedicated in 1964.
- 1971 to 2012: Lonesome George, found on Pinta Island in 1971 as the last of his subspecies, was moved to the research station, where he lived until his death on 24 June 2012.
- 1986: The Galápagos Marine Reserve was created, and the islands moved to their own time zone.
- 2015: Scientists recognized the tortoises of eastern Santa Cruz as a separate subspecies.
- To learn more ashore: The Charles Darwin Research Station, at the end of Avenida Charles Darwin in Puerto Ayora, has a natural history interpretation center on the islands and their conservation.
Santa Cruz with Children
Wildlife is all around Puerto Ayora and the walks are short, which suits children. Bring sun protection and plenty of water.
- Younger children: Around the harbor you may see pelicans, marine iguanas, herons, sea lions and blue-footed boobies. At the research station, young tortoises are raised in the breeding center.
- School age: Walk to Tortuga Bay to watch marine iguanas on the rocks and crabs along the shore, then cool off in the sheltered cove.
- Teenagers: With a guide, snorkel the clear water of Las Grietas. On a highlands outing, look for the lava tubes, one over 2 km long, and Los Gemelos, two pits formed when the ground collapsed into a magma chamber.
- All ages: Keep 2 meters from animals, however close they come.
Beaches
Tortuga Bay is the beach to know on Santa Cruz: a large beach reached on foot from Puerto Ayora, with a calm cove for swimming at its far end. The main beach is kept for wildlife and is closed to swimmers.
- Punta Estrada, also called German Beach, is a small beach across Academy Bay, reached by water taxi, and is good for snorkeling at high tide.
- Garrapatero Beach, about 35 minutes' drive from town and then a 20-minute walk, needs no guide, and swimming and snorkeling are allowed. Flamingos are sometimes seen on the lagoon behind it.
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