Galapagos Express

Travel Just 4U's Galapagos representative will be waiting for you at the Baltra Airport. They will provide you with your pre-paid transfer ticket and will escort you to the short airport shuttle and the ferry which takes you across the small channel (10 min ride) to Santa Cruz Island. Here your private transfer and guide is awaiting you. 

You will journey across the island up into the highlands and will be amazed by the island’s variety of wildlife and geology. Beginning on the coast and travelling along the road to Puerto Ayora, the road climbs through the agricultural zone and into the mist-covered forests of the highlands. Santa Cruz possesses all of the various life zones present on the archipelago, with wonderful birding opportunities, like Darwin’s finches. Almost every land bird present on the islands can be found here. Continuing on, the tour will stop at a local ranch for lunch. You will be able to explore the grounds in search of tortoises during the visit. After lunch, you continue to descend through the agricultural zone into the transition zone where the Tortoise Reserve is located. In this area, the introduced vegetation of the higher farmlands is replaced by native vegetation. 

The tour continues to Puerto Ayora where you will check-in at your selected hotel and have the rest of the late afternoon and evening for leisure time. 

Hotel La Casa de Judy started as a place for scientists from around the world, who came to conduct studies of species in the Charles Darwin Research Station and the Parque Nacional Galapagos. Today it is a beautiful and warm hotel with 20 rooms for 46 passengers with the comfort of air conditioning, swimming pool, cafe, bar and spectacular view from upper terrace.

Hotel La Casa de Judy offers free WiFi . 

All rooms at Hotel La Casa de Judy are fitted with air conditioning and have a flat-screen TV. A terrace or balcony are featured in certain rooms. Every room includes a private bathroom fitted with a bath or shower and shower.

Please note that all water based island explorations in this itinerary are subject to change, without prior notice, due to weather conditions. 

Additionally, the order of island explorations or the specific islands visited may also change, closer to your time of travel. This is due to available permits for the excursion yachts provided from the government which is assigned yearly, but can change. 

Your day starts after breakfast at your hotel. Travel by small boat, max 16 passengers total, on an excursion to North Seymour Island. 

North Seymour is a small 1.9 km² island north of Baltra with a path that crosses the interior and allows you to explore rocky coast. You will see some of the largest bird colonies on the Galapagos Islands here.

The main features of this island are the incredible fauna species you can observe such as the Land Iguanas, the Magnificent Frigate bird with their incredible scarlet pouches, blue-footed boobies with their unique courtship dances and sea lions surfing across the waves. You will have time to explore and learn about the animals from your guide. 

Once on board, you will enjoy a freshly prepared lunch before returning to Santa Cruz Island where you will have the opportunity to snorkel at Bachas Beach if you wish, or alternatively, you can relax on shore. You will see a variety of fish species and maybe even swim with sea lions if they are feeling friendly.

After snorkeling, you will be brought back to port and transferred to your hotel for the rest of the evening at leisure. 

Your day starts after breakfast at your hotel. Travel by small boat, max 16 passengers total, on an excursion to South Plazas Island. 

South Plazas Island is very small at only .13 km² and is situated off the east coast of Santa Cruz Island. It is formed from uplifted marine lava and is one of the smallest islands on the archipelago. This island, despite its size, has a high concentration of wildlife. The tour disembarks (this is a dry landing) on a small dock frequently occupied by sea lions. 

You will continue through a small forest of prickly pear cacti with bright yellow flowers. You will see land iguanas (South Plazas has the largest population of land iguanas in the Galapagos) as they are often waiting for the pear cacti's fruits and flowers to fall on the ground. The walk continues up to a small cliff, where you can often see a shoal of the endemic yellow-tailed mullet swimming below. The clifftop lookout also offers excellent views of swallow-tailed gulls, tropic birds, frigate birds and pelicans. 

The view extends to the eastern end of the island where bull sea lions congregate to rest after they have lost territory to a challenger. Here they recover energy before vying to once again be the master of the beach. 

Return to Santa Cruz. Lunch included.

After breakfast, we will head to Tortuga Bay. Starting from the main street in Puerto Ayora this tour will have about an hour of walking. The trail goes through the arid zone and many land birds can be seen along the way. Arriving to Tortuga Bay beach you will find the first beach “Playa Brava” this beach is with open waters and strong under currents not recommendable for swimming, if you continue walking to the right side (15 minutes) you will arrive to “Playa Mansa” ideal for sun bathing, swimming and photo shooting, you will also find marine iguanas along the shore. 

Then we will do a navigable excursion to isolated bays of Puerto Ayora. We will visit interesting and beautiful sites such as Lobería with time for snorkelling with sea lions, Reef Shark Channel. There will also be a short walk to see the Opuntia Cactus, Marine Iguanas and the Love Channel where there are small colonies of blue-footed boobies. Snacks, water and snorkel equipment (mask and tub) are included.

During your time at leisure on Santa Cruz Island, we recommend you explore the following sites if they interest you. 

Las Grietas:
Las Grietas (The cracks in English) is a place to swim in cool ocean water between two tall cliffs, where the earth has opened like a rack or “crevasse”. To get here from Puerto Ayora, you need to take a speed boat ferry (approximately $1, it is a very short ride under a minute) from the main dock to Finch Bay hotel. Once there, continue along a rocky wall to the very end where you will find a path leading off to the right hand side. From here, you follow a 15 minute trail that starts off sandy and rocky, and winds up crossing over a jagged lava field, through a cactus forest, and up a sandy path once again to the top of Las Grietas.

Tortuga Bay:
Beautiful white sand beach, a few kms walk, or take a 20 minute water taxi from the main port in Puerto Ayora. Visitors must sign in and out at the start of the path with the Galapagos Park Service Office. Tortuga Bay has a gigantic, perfectly preserved beach that is forbidden for swimming and preserved for wildlife. There is a separate cove where you can swim.

Opening Hours:
6:00 to 18:00 daily

Charles Darwin Research Centre:
A 15 minute walk from Puerto Ayora, here you can spend time at the research centre. You can view the exhibition hall, visit the library and see their specimen collections. 

Opening Hours:
Monday through Sunday
8:00 to 12:30 & 14:30 to 17:30

Optional: Not included in starting price

Your day starts after breakfast at your hotel. Travel by small boat approximately 45 minutes to a small island 24 kms squared which lies in the centre of the Galapagos archipelago, to the south west of Santa Cruz Island. 

Geologically it is one of the oldest, since volcanic rocks of about 4 million years old have been found. The vegetation of the island is characterized by the presence of a dense forest of the giant opuntia cactus.

Weathered cliffs provide a haven for swallow-tailed gulls, red-billed tropic birds,shear-waters petrels. Santa Fe species of Galapagos Land Iguanas and lava lizards are frequently seen. 

Santa Fe Island is home to one of the most beautiful coves in all the Galapagos. The landing site is a wet landing located in Barrington Bay on the northeastern side of the island. Large numbers of sea lions are found on the beaches here.

After landing on Santa Fe Island you will continue for a short walk to see two species of land iguanas found only within this island. Crabs, Night Heron, Sea Iguanas, Mockingbirds and other birds are seen frequently on the Island. After the walk we will go back to have lunch on board and finally enjoy a wonderful snorkel experience. 

The bay is an excellent swimming and snorkeling place where Sea Turtles, rays, fish, and the clear and warm water are unique attractions.

After breakfast, you will be picked up from your hotel (with your luggage) for a Twin Craters tour before continuing on to the airport for your return flight to the mainland. 

This tour takes you to the Gemelo Lava Tunnels, or "twin" lava tunnels which were formed over hundreds of thousands of years of continued volcanic pressure on the rock surface. The tour includes a short walk around the lava tunnels. 

Continue via your private transfer to Baltra for your flight back to mainland Ecuador.