Experience the best of Santa Cruz
Santa Cruz is the most populated island of the Galápagos, a volcanic island of lava tunnels, giant tortoises and sea lions on the harbour front.
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Santa Cruz lies at the centre of the Galápagos Islands, about a thousand kilometres west of mainland Ecuador. Puerto Ayora is its main town, where sea lions doze on benches and pelicans wait at the fish market. The Charles Darwin Research Station, on the edge of town, runs breeding programmes for giant tortoises, and a walking path leads to Tortuga Bay, a long white beach where marine iguanas feed on the rocks.
In the green highlands, wild giant tortoises graze in farmland and forest reserves, and lava tunnels beneath the fields can be walked through. Twin sinkholes called Los Gemelos lie on either side of the road, and Las Grietas, a narrow flooded fissure, is a place for swimming. Boats cross to Isabela and San Cristóbal, and boat trips visit islets where frigatebirds and blue-footed boobies nest.
Fresh seafood is the local table: grilled fish, lobster dishes and ceviche, with coffee grown in the highlands. The warm, wetter season runs from about January to May with calm seas and bright sun, while June to December is cooler and drier, with a fine mist over the highlands.
- Day trips to Isabela Island
Top experiences in Santa Cruz
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6% offFree cancellation
Go beyond Santa Cruz
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Puerto Ayora · 12 kmThe Cracks (Las Grietas)
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Puerto Ayora · 12 kmPlaya de los Alemanes
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Guayaquil · 1,148 kmSeminario Park (Parque de las Iguanas)
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Guayaquil · 1,148 kmMalecon 2000
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Drake Bay · 1,276 kmPlaya San Josecito
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Cuenca · 1,284 kmMirador de Turi
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Sámara · 1,285 kmSamara Beach (Playa Samara)
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Mindo · 1,287 kmMindo Butterfly Farm (Mariposas de Mindo)
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Mindo · 1,287 kmMindo's Cable Car (Tarabita de Mindo)
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Jacó · 1,304 kmTortuga Island (Isla Tortuga)
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Jacó · 1,304 kmCarara National Park (Parque Nacional Carara)
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Quepos · 1,312 kmRainmaker Park
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