Yes, it’s true – you can do Galapagos day tours to Espanola Island from San Cristobal Island!
About Espanola Island Day Tours
Years ago, the only way to visit Espanola Island was by taking an expensive multi-day cruise. Now it is one of the more popular day tour options in the Galapagos, available from San Cristobal Island.
Marine Iguana at Punta Suarez on Espanola Island
These day tours only start from San Cristobal Island. You can not visit Espanola Island on a day tour from Santa Cruz. As with most regulated visitor sites in the Galapagos, there are limited permits which restrict the number of people who can visit the island.
Different day tour boat providers get permits for different days of the week, and many of them are not found online – which makes it quite difficult for people to plan such day tours ahead of time.
For our Galakiwi travelers, we include the option to add an Espanola day tour to the start or end of any of our regular 6-day or 10-day Galapagos land tours. We can also put together custom island-hopping land tours that include Espanola Island, Bartolome Island or almost any other island in the Galapagos.
Punta Suarez Lighthouse, Espanola Island
Because this change is still quite new, the price and quality of these day tours can vary quite a bit. We’re working with a number of our friends and business contacts here on San Cristobal Island to determine who operates the safest and best valued Espanola Island day tours on each day of the week.
There are two main sites at Espanola Island. Punta Suarez offers good hiking and bird watching. Bahia Gardner, another popular site on Espanola Island is a beautiful beach that sea lions like to lounge on. The beach is also a great snorkel spot.
Sea Lions at Bahia Gardner on Espanola Island
A visit to Espanola Island may treat you to a number of species endemic to this island. The Hood Mockingbird, as well as the lava lizards and marine iguanas are all considered unique species or subspecies. Depending on the time of year, an Espanola Island day trip is also a great option to see blue-footed booby courtship rituals, or to catch a glimpse of the impressive waved albatross.
Blue Footed Booby Courtship Dance on Espanola Island
If you want to take a land tour in the Galapagos Islands, and add a day trip to Espanola Island, let us know…we’ll happily put a custom tour together for you!
Contact us to learn more about Espanola Island Day tours.
Espanola Lava Lizard, endemic to the island
Steep Cliffs at Espanola Island, where Waved Albatross Nest
Why not add an Espanola Day Tour to your Galakiwi trip?
Nazca Booby with Chick at Punta Suarez
Snorkelling at Bahia Gardner
Baby Sea Lions at Punta Suarez