As we approached the Puerto Ayora anchorage from Santa Cruz Island, we were initially disappointed to see so many smaller and larger motorboats anchored there. Finding the right spot wasn’t easy as the seabed was quite rocky in places. Just as we were finally ready and admiring the beautiful sunset, a dinghy from the large motorboat behind us approached and asked us to anchor elsewhere as they were leaving at 0300. So, we weighed anchor again and anchored on the other side. It’s really crowded here!
Santa Cruz is famous for its giant tortoises which still live wild on the island. There are about 6,000 of these endangered tortoises left. They are protected by the Charles Darwin Center’s research station and its breeding programs.
The wildlife here is incredible. Even from a distance, we could hear the barking of the sea lions, see turtles and Iguanas in the water, as well as smaller Reef sharks circling our boat.
The next day we took a water taxi to Puerto Ayora. These small yellow water taxis are on all the islands and will take you ashore for $1 – we’re not allowed to use our own dinghies.
The very next day, we rented two regular bicycles and an e-bike, which Uwe had. We thought the 22 km to El Chato Ranch, where the wild giant tortoises live, couldn’t be too bad. Wrong! It was almost entirely uphill.
Even on the way there, as the landscape further inland became increasingly green and diverse, we saw the giant tortoises which move very slowly, sometimes even on the road.
The ranch can only be visited with a guide, which was very informative. The giant tortoises are solitary animals and can live up to 100 years. The ranch provides them with plenty of space and a mudhole that they seem to love.
Unfortunatey for us at the end of our bike tour, it started to rain, and without mudguards, we could barely see through the muddy spray.
Another bike tour, this time with e-bikes, took John and I to the famous volcanic craters of Los Gemelos. Again, a completely different fauna with very high humidity. Moss hung from the trees everywhere.
There are many lava tubes that the volcano created in the past. Many of these you can visit and marvel at the forces in play to create such things.
The best of these, Lava del Armor, is 500 meters long and in places without light. We were completely alone there, and it was a little eerie, as we also had to climb over rocks in the dark.
There is a 40-minute hike to Tortuga Bay was so good that we went twice. The beach is super fine sand with many marine iguanas and a bay with giant sea turtles and also larger sharks. Unfortunately, the visibility was a bit murky for snorkeling.
Furthermore Santa Cruz also offers quite good restaurants, good shopping opportunities, and of course, smaller hardware stores. I was of course fascinated by the farmers market, which takes place once a week on Saturdays. John and Uwe had to go along mainly to carry all the shopping to the boat.
After about 10 days on Santa Cruz, we set off for the island of La Isabela.
Once again, there was no wind, which meant we had to motor for 8 hours and, of course, deal with the overheating shaft seal by hand.
The anchorage at La Isabela is much more open and quickly becomes very shallow, so we anchored relatively far out.
At 120 square kilometers, Isabela is the largest of the Galapagos Islands.
Isabela and Fernandina are among the younger and more active volcanic islands.
Around 2,200 people live in the authentic main town of Puerto Villamil and make their living primarily from tourism. Life here is much more tranquil with the unpaved roads creating a much more peaceful atmosphere.
Besides the main volcano, Sierra Negra, there are five other volcanoes on the island.
We hiked 15 kilometers to the active volcano Sierra Negra. The 40-minute drive to the start of the hike takes you through the lush highlands where coffee, bananas, and papayas are cultivated. Further up, you find cloud forests, ferns, mosses, and almost tropical vegetation. We were rewarded with unforgettable views of the caldera, which is 9 km in diameter and 100 meters deep. It’s one of the largest in the world. From there, we continued past bizarre lava formations to the Chico volcano, with its steaming fumaroles and iridescent rocks reminiscent of a lunar landscape.
Another detour to the sulfur mines during a further hike brought us very close to the fumaroles, which emit dense sulfurous vapors. The volcanic rocks glow in intense shades of yellow and orange, creating an almost otherworldly landscape. At the end of this tour, we visited a farm where we could sample various products. Simply fantastic!
Isabela Island is my absolute favorite; I find its breathtaking natural beauty simply magnificent. It also boasts a fantastic snorkeling cove, Concha Perla, just a few meters from the harbor. A wooden walkway through mangroves leads to the natural pool, which is also frequented by lizards and large sea lions lounging on the sandbanks. If you arrive early in the morning at 7:00, you can swim with giant tortoises and sea lions. We were also lucky enough to see Rays.
The long, fine sandy beach right in front of the town is reminiscent of the Caribbean. Small bars and restaurants line the beach, and we even found a little beach bar serving Coco Loco (rum with coconut milk).
The anchorage off Puerto Vilamil became more crowded each day as the World Arc Rally slowly arrived. They anchored right in front of and next to Maya, with little space between them and us. It was time to sail to the next island.
A fantastic sailing trip at speeds of up to 22 knots took us to the small island of Floreana in six hours. Floreana is a small, tranquil island with just 160 inhabitants who live peacefully in harmony with nature. It’s famous for “Post Office Bay”, where originally an 18th-century wooden barrel that served as the post office stood. Visiting sailors would drop letters off and collect ones that were on their onward route. The collected postcards/letters would then be delivered by hand to the destination. Even today, we found unstamped postcards that anyone could take and send. We took a 10-kilometer hike with a guide across the arid interior to this bay and were able to swim with a family of sea lions. We also saw some of the “original” giant tortoises that had been re-introduced to the island just a few weeks before.
The island became known in the 1930s when German emigrants Dr. Ritter and Dore Staruch settled here, followed shortly after by the Wittmer family, who still run a small hotel there today. We had the opportunity to speak with their granddaughter, Ingrid, who showed us the small museum, which tells the story of the Wittmer family and their hard life. We knew the bizarre story of the mysterious deaths from the film “Eden”, which was released in 2025.
Ingrid also runs a very small beach bar that is open at random times during the week. She makes magnificent cocktails!
Being completely alone at this anchorage was simply magnificent. The island exudes tranquility, and the sea lions and turtles that kept appearing around our boat were truly captivating.
One of the sealions Angelika named “Otto”. He was quite friendly and kept trying to get on board.
After five days, we continued on to the island of San Cristobal. Unfortunately there was no wind, so we had to motor again.
But what was that? Suddenly, we were surrounded by about a hundred dolphins, swimming alongside Maya at the bow. We’ve rarely seen so many and such large animals. They glided past us for hours, and it was simply incredible to hear them chatting with their high-pitched, shrill whistles. Incredibly beautiful!
Once we arrived at San Cristobal, we first had to navigate our way through the entire “Oyster Rally” fleet to be able to anchor in the anchorage. These fleets are unbelievable; this time, the Oyster fleet with its large boats practically besieged the anchorage.
San Cristobal is quite peaceful, and the best thing about it is its herds of sea lions, which lie everywhere along the beach, on the quayside, and sometimes even in the restaurants. We needed a large fishing net across the stern to keep the sea lions from getting on our boat. It’s incredible how high they can jump!
Here on San Cristobal, we went snorkeling twice at the beautiful Muelle Tijeretas bay. This magnificent bay is simply amazing.
We saw turtles, manta rays, and lots of playful sea lions, some of which came quite close to us. One particularly exuberant sea lion couldn’t resist playfully chewing on John’s flippers.
San Cristobal has quite good supermarkets, and we bought some canned goods here for our Pacific trip. We also got to meet up with our friends Mickey and Sheila from “Loulou” again.
We spent the last 10 days back on Santa Cruz Island to do some necessary shopping and minor repairs, such as getting a leak in our exhaust pipe welded.
And of course, to enjoy sushi one last time at our favorite restaurant.
We also couldn’t miss several visits to Iguana Rock, where they serve the best IPA. After all, we didn’t drink a single drop of alcohol on our long Pacific cruise.
