What to see on San Cristobal

It is definitely worth to spend between two and three days on San Cristobal, as it has a lot to see. My recommendation would be a 360-Tour around the island for one day, which includes snorkeling at three different spots and visiting some isolated beaches. On the other two days you are free to explore the less remote spots on the island.

360-Tour

This tour shows you all the island from the sea side, as there are almost no roads it is necessary to take a boat to explore the island. The tour starts at 7am and makes 5 different stops which are, Bahia Rosa Blanca, Punta Pitt, a remote beach, Cerro Brujo and Kicker Rock (León Dormido). The best thing is, if the weather is fine you can go snorkeling at Kicker Rock. Where you can see hammerhead sharks and manta rays. The food can be ordered vegan at least at the tour office where I was (Galadventure). However the first snack (a chocolate croissant) was not vegan.

To bring with:

Water shoes the landings are mostly wet. Sunscreen and other sun protection even with a cloudy sky you get sunburned. Medication against seasickness, the east side of the island is pretty rough. Snorkeling gear if you have.

Sights you can visit on your own

Cerro tijeritas and its beaches

This route starts right behind the Centro de Interpretaciones, which is worth a visit, if you want to know more about the history of the Galapagos Islands, their economy and ecologic work. After that you can just follow the path and will end up, if you turn left at the crossings, at the Playa Punta Carola. This beach has some sea lions and iguanas, the old lighthouse can be visited on your own risk. There might be a sea lion sleeping upstairs. From this point you can also see the Kicker Rock.

Going back the path and turning left you will be led to three small viewpoints and a bay which is apt for snorkeling. Continuing the path and turning left, going up some stairs, you will end up at a view point overlooking that same bay. From here you can still continue to another beach which is home of a lot of sea lions. Otherwise you can turn back to town. This trip can easily fill a whole day or only a morning, depending on how long you stay and if you want to snorkel or not.

La Loberia

La Loberia is known as one of the biggest sea lion colonies. However this August 2018 there are not much sea lions at all. If you still want to visit the place you have to follow the street behind the stadion. The distance is about 3km.

The tortoises

On San Cristobal there can also be seen tortoises in the high lands (Galapaguera) as in Santa Cruz.

Puerto Chino

For going to this beach you need to take a taxi because it is 20km from Puerto Baquerizo Moreno. You can either ask the taxi to wait, or to pick you up at a certain time.

Puerto Baquerizo Moreno

The main town itself also has some thing to offer, there are a lot of sea lions at the beach south of the port as well as at the Playa Mann in the north and at the Playa de Oro which is in front of the small Naval Museum.

I stayed at the Cucuve Eco-Hostal, which is situated outside of the town but has a free shuttle service. The owner a former fisher man knows much about the island and is willing to give tips and take the guests at different places. The rooms are simple and private (they’re more like a shared apartment, as two rooms share a simple kitchen each). Fruits and water are for free. The Hostal itself is also interested in welcoming volunteers (cucuvegalapagos(at)gmail.com).

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