Day tour to San Cristobal Island with private Land Tour and snorkeling
Description
This tour allows you to get to know the captial of the Galapagos: San Cristobal Island and its beautiful sites in only one day; you will not only get to see tons of sea lions and many sea lions babies, but also many marine birds, marine iguanas, sea turtles, tropical fish, sharks and even more sea lions. Moreover, you will get to see beautiful landscapes with crystal clear turquoise water and the iconic Kicker Rock. This tour is the perfect combination of land and water, as during the snorkel activity you will get to know the abundant wildlife underwater, while three sites (Punta Carola, Tijeretas and La Loberia) allow you to get to the the most beautiful sites, species and landscapes San Cristobal has to offer on land too. The tour includes a very good lunch menu too and you will be provided with high quality snorkel equipment and wetsuits. Please note that the only way to get to San Cristobal is by PUBLIC SPEEDBOAT - of course they are safe but on rough sea it can get choppy!
Tour Options
Itinerary
At Puerto Ayora's pier before your Speedboat you could observe a variety of birds fishing, small sharks or sea lions resting on the public seats. After the speedboat ride, you will disembark at the pier of San Cristobal Island, Puerto Baquerizo Moreno. It is the capital of the archipelago of Galápagos, and it is the place with the most abundante population of sea lions in all of Galapagos - they are literally everywhere; on the streets, on the banks, on the beaches, everywhere. This is the reason why San Cristobal is the perfect island to see recently born baby sea lions on one of the beaches you will visit during this tour.
Your private land tour will start with a nice walk of about 25 minutes through endemic and native vegetation, leading you to a stunningly beautiful coral beach where you will be able to observe many recently born sea lions babies, on the beach and playing in the water as well as sally lightfoot crabs, lava herons and pelicans. The order of the different visitor sites can also be the other way around, we always check the tide and organize the tour accordingly, so that you will get the best possible conditions for the snorkeling. This is the perfect place to take the perfect picture of a baby sea lions and if you like, you can already do the first snorkel activity from this beautiful beach.
From Punta Carola, your guide will accompany you on an even trail (stones and sand - about 25 minutes wakling time) to "Las Tijeretas", passing by different spectacular view points, where besides the many frigate birds (that is where the name of this place comes from, as their tales are shaped as a scissors - tijeretas in Spanish) and swallow tailed gulls as well as nazca boobies, blue-footed boobies and marine iguanas you get a stunning view of the unique landscape made out of a beautiful cove with turquoise, crystal clear water and the famous Kicker Rock (Leon Dormido) in the background. This unique cove also is the place where the snorkel activity will take place; your guide will lead you to the best hidden spots to find playful sealions, sea turtles, rays, tropical fish and often also sharks.
After lunch in one of the local restaurants, a private car will take you to the last activity for today: "La Loberia". From the parking lot, you will start to walk for about 15-20 minutes passing by some small white beaches with mangroves and big marine iguanas as well as hermit crabs until you arrive at a stunning Bay with black lava in contrast tu crystal-clear water and a white sand beach, called La Loberia. The big colony of sea lions inhabiting this place is where the name comes from; it is like a sea lion kindergarten where it never gets boring to observe the cute little sea lion babies, sleeping on the beach, playing in the water and calling their mothers back from getting food. Exploring this bay a bit further, you will see lots of marine birds: Swallow-tailed gulls, nazca boobies, pelicans as well as great blue herons.
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Infants are required to sit on an adult’s lap
- Not recommended for travelers with poor cardiovascular health
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
Reviews(30)
Look no further this trip to San Cristobal was the ultimate snorkel experience. We did this tour our first full day in the Galapagos and I worry that nothing will top it. David had us come the evening before when we arrived to fit us for gear and was very informative on every step the next day. On the day of the trip we took the ferry to San Cristobal and met Omar who took us around to different snorkel spots. It crossed my mind that maybe I could have done this on my own for less but Omar grew up on the island and was so informative- he knew exactly where to go and lead us through land and water. The current can be strong and I felt so much better with him out in the water pointing things out to us. THE ANIMALS! It was a dream- we saw turtles, many schools of fish, underwater iguana, and more sea lions then I could have imagined. They are so playful and come look at you with their big brown eyes- they wanted to interact and at points I was surrounded with them playing and swimming all around. To top it off Lunch after was really delicious at a nice restaurant hotel overlooking the water. I could not recommend this tour more!
Amazing!!!, organized, on time. Our guide David was was very professional and knowledgeable, lunch was delicious. All together trip was very enjoyable
We had the best experience on this tour to San Cristobal. Omar met us early in the morning at the dock with our snorkeling gear and escorted us on the water taxi to the ferry to San Cristobal. A 2-hour ride got us to the island where we were met by our guide, David, who took us on multiple hikes and snorkeling adventures around Puerto Baquerizo Moreno. When snorkeling, we swam with seals, sharks, sea turtles, and tons of colorful fish. The beaches and docks are teeming with seals (including pups), and we also saw blue-footed boobies and frigate birds. Afterwards, we had a pre-arranged lunch with David before departingu back to Santa Cruz around 3 (arriving around 5). It was a terrific day, and David was an amazing and gracious guide. Great service all around by the Guiding Galapagos team and an unforgettable day!
Tour arrangements was excellent. We got reserved top deck seats in the speed boat to and from San Cristobal. Guide was very nice and covered the route in the tour description. Snorkeled in two different locations. Lunch was so good and it was a clean cozy restaurant with ocean view. Saw the Kicker rock from far away. (If you want to see kicker rock up close, needs to spend at least overnight at San Cristobal as kicker rock tours starts at 8am) Tour Company escorted us to and from the speed boat and they were very nice. Highly recommend if you need a day tour to San Cristobal from Santa Cruz.
We had a great day out with our guide David who was fantastic and knew loads about the wildlife. Very safe and helpful when snorkelling, we saw turtles, lots of fish, sea lions and an eagle ray; amazing experience. Nice lunch at local restaurant with fresh tuna and fruit. Saw more sea lions and did hikes up to viewpoints. Great day out.
We had an excellent tour day on San Cristobal Island and enjoyed seeing the 3 different beaches. By far the best snorkelling was at Loberia Beach with curious sea lions, diving boobies and a few turtles! Take plenty of sunscreen as the hikes to each of the beaches are in full sun! It's a 2h ride from Puerto Ayora which was long but comfortable, and we saw dolphins on the way home. Lunch was amazing at the Miconia Restaurant!
I used Guiding Galapagos for several excursions and consistently found them to be honest, transparent, and very reasonable about what could be provided. They truly went above and beyond my expectations. Like another reviewer mentioned, they were especially helpful in arranging good seating on the boat, which made a big difference during a two-hour ride. They set clear expectations, kept me well informed about the schedule, and communicated efficiently through WhatsApp, which I really appreciated while traveling. I highly recommend this company for anyone planning excursions in the Galápagos.
David was such a wonderful tour guide! You can tell he loves and appreciates wildlife and truly cares about your experience in the water. The food was an added bonus! Highly recommend! We went in early December and had wonderful weather.
The tour was fantastic, spectacular, exceptional. Our tour guide was very knowledgeable. We are recommending this tour deeply
This excursion was the highlight of our Island trip. Guiding Galapagos did a wonderful job of taking care of us, from beginning to end. Helping to ensure us a good placement on the boat to handle a two hour boat ride (we are land-locked people with little experience on the open ocean). Our Island guide, David, is passionate and so very knowledgable. He truly helped enhance our awareness of the protective measures and conservation in place. Our snorkelling experience was truly epic. Sea lions played all around us, too bad we can't upload videos because it was truly a once in a lifetime experience.
