Santa Cruz was the last island we visited on our trip. It’s not the biggest but has the largest population and is the tourist hub of the Galápagos. Most visitors we talked to said Santa Cruz was their least favorite island and I think we’d agree. It’s not that there is anything wrong with it, but it’s busier and more touristy and just didn’t have the character like San Cristóbal or Isabela.
That said, it did have a pretty harbor and reminded us a bit of Thailand.
We arrived on Wednesday morning after a 3 hour ferry ride from Isabela which was our longest ferry ride, but also the calmest. Luckily we were able to check into our hotel, Suites del Sol, and relax a bit. Wednesday was a pretty chill day of just walking around the town, getting our equipment fitted for our Gordon Rocks dive, and getting to bed early (again!).
Thursday we were up early (again!) for our dive to Gordon Rocks. Later that afternoon, we strolled around the main town looking for souvenirs for the kids and soaking up the sights. We also wandered down to the fish market where the fishermen bring their catches at the end of the day. It was quite a sight with a sea lion and many pelicans trying to steal any fish they could get.
Friday was our last full day on the island so we took the day to relax. We did hike to Las Grietas which is a swimming hole set among a crack in the lava rocks. There weren’t many fish in it and the water was very cold, but it was still a neat place to visit.
We were also lucky enough to spot a marine iguana swimming and were able to get in the water quite close to him. Unfortunately our pictures didn’t come out.
After getting cleaned up, it was time for cocktails, something that was mostly absent from our entire tropical beach vacation.
That night we ran into our Australian friends, Laith and Katie, and said our goodbyes. It’s funny how many times we saw them on our trip and it was such a pleasure to get to know them.
Our Australian friends Laith and Katie
On Saturday morning, we realized our flight had a delay so we had time to run back down to the pier to say goodbye to the island (and of course ran into Laith and Katie again!). We were treated to the pelicans and blue footed boobies diving into the water for their breakfast. We also got to see a marine iguana swimming.
And then it was time to leave which consisted of taking a pickup truck taxi to the ferry landing, then taking a ferry to Baltra, then taking a bus to the airport and then, finally getting on the plane. 🙁
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Love the piles of pelicans!