10 Awesome Tours in Santa Cruz, Galapagos
Land-Based Guide
- Last Updated: September 22, 2024
Santa Cruz Island in the Galapagos is the main island of the archipelago and therefore I’ve listed here the 10 best land-based tours in Santa Cruz you can do in order to take the most of your time here. Snorkeling and scuba diving tours are not part of this list, if you are interested in those specific tours check my full dedicated articles on them here.
It is the island with the best infrastructure and tourist vibe of all the three main ones and like all of them it has adventures for all tastes. Here you can see all the most famous endemic animals of the Galapagos, explore the island on land and on water, learn about its history and conservation projects, and explore many of the other islands nearby.
Most of the tours I’ve done them myself and I’ve written detailed articles about them, which I will link together.
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The Best Tours in Santa Cruz
General Info
Santa Cruz, like all the other islands, is part of the Galapagos National Park, and therefore it has a number of things you should know:
- Most of the activities have to be done on a tour with a Naturalist guide.
- All the agencies have the same prices (although you can barter if you book more than one tour).
- Most beaches have opening and closing times (turtle nesting reasons).
- You should book your tour at least one day in advance (or you might risk not having a place on the best ones).
- Bring Seasickness Medication for the tours on the water.
- Always use strong sunscreen (Sun in the Equator line burns more).
- Have mosquito repellant with you, especially at sunset. There are horseflies in the Galapagos.
- You can’t fly a drone here unless you have a special permit from the National Park.
- You can’t rent a motorcycle or a car, everything has to be done by taxi, bus, boat, bicycle, or on foot.
- You can’t and shouldn’t touch the animals on the island.
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The Best Tours in Santa Cruz
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1. Highlands Tour - Half Day
The Highlands Tour or Tour Parte Alta is one of the best tours in Santa Cruz for inland exploration. You will venture to the middle of the island and visit “Los Gemelos”, which are ancient lava-made crater pits, followed by a visit deep inside some impressive lava tunnels and end up at the tortoise reserve “Las Primícias”.
View the full blog post here: HIGHLANDS TOUR IN SANTA CRUZ
To book this tour: Check the local company Galapagos Dreams’s website, or book it online on Viator here: The Giant Tortoise Experience | Lava Tubes + Los Gemelos
2. Bay Tour - Half Day
The Bay Tour or Tour de Bahía is another of the best land-based tours in Santa Cruz. It lets you see all the incredible water and lava-rock formations that exist on this island and a lot of its flora and fauna. All of this in just a half-day tour. You will snorkel with lots of tropical fish and hopefully, turtles and baby sharks, visit and swim at Las Grietas canyon, and watch the beautiful Love Channel, between other places.
View the full blog post here: BAY TOUR IN SANTA CRUZ
To book this tour: Check the local company Galapagos Dream’s website, or book it online on Viator here: Half Day Bay Tour in Santa Cruz Island
3. Dragon Hill Tour - Half Day
The Cerro Dragon or Dragon Hill tour is usually booked with a cruise for its remoteness on the northwestern point of Santa Cruz island. Its main attraction is the multitude of beautiful orange land iguanas and marine iguanas, from where the name Dragon comes from. You will also see many Opuntia giant cacti and probably a lot of flamingos and other birds. On some of the tours you can snorkel and you might see baby reef sharks and sea lions.
Here I’ll leave you some companies whose yachts pass there: Letty by Ecoventura, Celebrity Xpedition by Celebrity Cruises, Explorer II by EQ Touring, La Pinta and Isabela II by Metropolitan Touring.
To book this tour please check with the tour agencies on the island, I couldn’t find any online that I could honestly suggest to you apart from the cruises.
4. Coffee Tour - Half Day
The coffee farm is called El Trapiche Ecológico Galapagos and its coffee tour is probably one of the tastier tours in Santa Cruz. Yes, there is coffee produced solely in Santa Cruz. I’ll be honest, the coffee I tasted in San Cristóbal was tastier than the one from Santa Cruz, but I’m not sure it was from this farm, so maybe their coffee is as amazing as San Cristobal’s one. Give it a try!
To book this tour contact them at:
5. Bartolomé Island - Full Day
The Bartolomé Island Tour is the most iconic tour you can do on the Galapagos islands. You will go on a gorgeous sailing ship starting at Santa Cruz island, passing through the Daphne islands, and arrive at the beautiful Bartolomé island, almost an islet from Santiago island. With luck, you might spot some penguins as we did and then you go snorkeling on one of the paradisiac beaches in the near.
The name of the island comes from Charles Darwin’s friend Bartholomew James Sullivan who was the principal surveyor and second lieutenant aboard the HMS Beagle. Bartolomé is a volcanic tuff islet on the east side of Santiago island. It is the most photographed place in the Galapagos archipelago.
View the full blog post here: BARTOLOMÉ ISLAND TOUR
To book this tour: Check the local company Galapagos Dreams’s website, or book it online on Viator with any of the tours underneath:
6. North Seymour Island - Full Day
North Seymour island is located on the north part of Santa Cruz island, over Baltra island (aka South Seymour island). You will see just like in Cerro Dragon hill (on the northern part of Santa Cruz) and on Baltra island, beautiful orange land iguanas, blue-footed boobies, frigate birds, marine iguanas, and probably sea lions.
Both North and South Seymour Islands were named after the British royal navy officer of the late 18th century, Admiral Lord Hugh Seymour. If you’re more fond of scuba diving, I wrote a full article on my dive here that I’ll link underneath.
View the full blog post here: DIVING IN NORTH SEYMOUR AND MOSQUERA
To book this tour: Check the local company Galapagos Dreams’s website, or book it online on Viator with any of the tours underneath:
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7. Isabela Island - Full Day
Isabela island is the third main island of the archipelago and it happens to be the biggest one of the three. If you have time I do recommend you to actually go and sleep there and start your tours from there, Isabela island’s landscape is wonderful. Two-thirds of the island is unoccupied and you can’t visit it unless you go on a National Geographic expedition or some scientific research trip of a sort.
Most of the Isabela day tours include the Tintoreras islets activity, there you will snorkel next to Puerto Villamil town (Isabela’s “capital”) and you will probably see some penguins and reef sharks. Personally, I would suggest you speak to the Galápagos Dreams travel agency and tell them you’d prefer to go to Los Túneles instead of Tintoreras Islets, for there you can see amazing underwater lava structures and wildlife.
They can probably organize it and you pay a little more (the Los Tuneles tour is more expensive and far away than Tintoreras, but is so worth it). If you don’t have the time or don’t want to bother here are a couple of Isabela days tours you can book from Santa Cruz.
To book this tour: Check the local company Galapagos Dreams’s website, or book it online on Viator with any of the tours underneath:
Other Things You Might Like in
Isabela, Galapagos
8. Floreana Island - Full Day
The Floreana Island Tour is the most mysterious and at the same time beautiful tour, you can do on the Galapagos Islands. From tales of piracy, an Austrian baroness and her love trio, a crazy German toothless doctor, and murder this island has it all.
This tour has to be done with an agency or you can alternatively take a boat to Floreana island and spend multiple days there, as there is some infrastructure on the island (not like in Bartolomé Island where you can only visit it on a tour).
The name of the island comes from Ecuador’s first president Juan José Flores, whose administration officially recognized the Galapagos islands as part of Ecuador’s territory. Previously the island was called Charles island (after King Charles II of England) and Santa Maria island (one of Columbus’s caravels). Floreana is the 4th and last island with human settlements in the Galápagos archipelago.
View the full blog post here: FLOREANA ISLAND TOUR
To book this tour: Check the local company Galapagos Dreams’s website, or book it online on Viator with any of the tours underneath:
9. Plazas Islets - Full Day
These are two of the many uninhabited islets in the Galápagos. They were formed by an uplift of the seabed giving it its flat but very unique shape. They are located on the northeastern side of Santa Cruz island.
The visit is in the channel between the North and South Plaza islets, in the part where the islet slopes a little towards the water. There are many opuntia cacti and very beautiful red low-ground vegetation. On this tour, you will see many iguanas, swallow-tailed gulls, and blue-footed boobies. You end up on the tour snorkeling at Punta Carrion where you will see a plenitude of marine life.
To book this tour: Check the local company Galapagos Dreams’s website, or book it online on Viator here: Day Trip to South Plaza Island from Puerto Ayora
10. Santa Fé Island - Full Day
Santa Fé is one of the biggest islands in the Galapagos and it’s located just 20 km away from Santa Cruz. For that reason, it’s usually part of the daily tours in Santa Cruz. The island is known for its large colony of sea lions that live on the two beaches and its giant opuntia cacti.
You will probably find the endemic Santa Fé island land iguanas (yellow colored), blue-footed boobies, frigatebirds, and other seabirds. After the walk, you can snorkel from the boat and spot amazing marine life. If you’re interested there are also pure snorkeling and scuba diving tours to Santa Fé.
To book this tour: Check the local company Macarron Scuba Diver’s website, or book it online on Viator with any of the tours underneath:
Best Tours in Santa Cruz
Where to Stay
Santa Cruz Island in the Galapagos has a variety of accommodation options to choose from, and we’ve narrowed down the top three choices for you.
For the ultimate luxury getaway, Finch Bay Galapagos Hotel offers a range of amenities, including an outdoor swimming pool, fitness center, and hot tub. Hotel Acacia is a comfortable and serene environment to unwind in the heart of Puerto Ayora, with lush gardens, a shared lounge, and a terrace. And Suites Hermosas offers two fully furnished apartments with breathtaking views and fully equipped kitchens.
To learn more about these options and other accommodation choices, check out the full article:
All The Articles About The Galapagos
San Cristobal Island – The easternmost island of the Galapagos, the “Isla Bonita”
Santa Cruz Island – The island with the best tourism infrastructure.
Isabela Island – The most adventurous and less explored island of the main three.
