Safari to Isla Santa Cruz

opportunities to explore the highlands

Set in Galapagos, Isla Santa Cruz is both geographically and economically at the heart of the archipelago.

Area : 986 sq km / 381 sq mi
Location : 2km south of Seymour Airport

Santa Cruz is one of the older islands in the group, at around 3 million years. Its central shield volcano is long extinct, but remains high enough to induce a good deal of rainfall. The vegetation in large parts of the island is therefore unusually lush and diverse.

The island is home to the majority of the human population, centred on the relatively busy Puerto Ayora in the south and with extensive farmland in the central highlights, where there’s a couple of small villages and scattered rural habitation.

The very important Charles Darwin Research Station, the headquarters of the Galapagos National Park Service and the main Tortoise Breeding Centre are all located in Puerto Ayora.

The main airport on the adjacent Isla Baltra is accessed via a significant main road that traverses the island from north to south, connecting the various settlements.

Given the relatively heavy human population, it comes as little surprise to discover that the delicate natural ecosystems of the island have taken a severe pounding over the centuries. Unlike the smaller unpopulated islands, whose natural flora and fauna have now been largely restored, the situation here is a lot more complicated and compromised.

The main reason to come to Santa Cruz is not, therefore, to experience a pristine environment, but to visit the important research and conservation institutes, whilst dropping in on a couple of other attractive and interesting locations.

Having said that, on the north and east coasts of the island, far from the human habitation, there are some less easily accessed sites, which are sometimes included in live-aboard cruise itineraries. The list of sites below starts with these more pristine locations.

The island was named after the Holy Cross in Spanish. It was previously known as Indefatigable Island (after the British vessel HMS Indefatigable).

Isla Santa Cruz is usually reached via Seymour Airport (GPS) on the adjacent Isla Baltra, which is connected by regular flight services to both Quito and Guayaquil in mainland Ecuador.

The majority of our guests head directly to the dock in Isla Baltra to connect with their live-aboard boat, heading directly out to the more remote islands.

A relatively small number of guests take the short boat trip across the channel from Isla Baltra to Isla Santa Cruz and then travel south across the island on the main road, to reach a hotel, either in the central highlands or down in Puerto Ayora.

Isla Santa Cruz is visited by virtually all of the live-aboard boats that originate out of Isla de San Cristóbal, a little further to the southeast (where there is another international airport).

home to the best lodges in the islands