Galapagos Diving – San Cristobal & Santa Cruz

Arrival - Interpretation Centre Visit, Tijeretas Hill & Tijereta Bay
Upon arrival to San Cristobal Island, our representative will meet you and transfer you to your hotel. After checking in, your first visit will be to the San Cristobal Interpretation Centre where you will have the chance to learn about the origin of the archipelago, its fauna and flora, as well as the history and its first inhabitants.

Afterwards, head out on a hike for about 2 hours to Tijeretas Hill where you will enjoy the endemic vegetation and a beautiful view of the island and its surroundings. The main attraction here is the frigate birds. At the end of the day, you will visit Tijereta Bay and do some snorkelling before returning to the hotel.

Tijeretas Hill Diving
Today you will head out to Tijeretas Hill, a dive site off of San Cristobal Island. It has great visibility and is a perfect site for beginners and more experienced divers alike. This wall dive features green sea turtles, Galapagos garden eels, rays and great schools of fish including angelfish and grunts. With all this said, possibly the best part of this dive will be swimming with the playful sea lions.

Breakfast and Lunch included.

Speedboat from San Cristobal to Baltra
Today you will be transferred from your hotel to the dock and take a speedboat from San Cristobal to Baltra.

Full Day: Highlands & Charles Darwin Station (Shared)
Today we will take a shuttle through Santa Cruz Island where we will reach the highlands of the Islands with its green vegetation where we will stop to visit a Ranch, here we will be able to see Giant Turtles in their natural habitat, lunch at the ranch. After, we will head to the Charles Darwin Station. The centre is a reservoir of information on habitats and local conservation, as well as other fascinating relevant statistics. The most striking attraction of this station is certainly the Tortoise Breeding Center, where it is possible to view tortoises of varied sizes and shapes. Travellers here can freely walk and get their photos clicked with the tortoises. Among other inhabitants at the centre, you can see the land and marine iguanas and different species of birds. After this visit we will head to Puerto Ayora and check-in to your hotel.

Breakfast and Lunch included.

Full Day Diving at Gordon Rocks
North-east of Santa Cruz island lie the famous Gordon Rocks. Sometimes called ‘The Washing Machine’ it is a popular site where intermediate and advanced divers go due to challenging currents and upwellings. It is these very currents that bring the plankton to the surface attracting large pelagics from across the sea in numbers. One of the best places to find Hammerhead sharks and the weird and wonderful Oceanic Sunfish (Mola Mola). Also here are Galapagos sharks, white tip reef sharks, lots of giant sea turtles, mobula rays, sting rays, eagle rays, panamic green morays, Galapagos eels, barracudas and various reef fish.

General Conditions
Moderate to strong currents and surge
Diver Level Certified – minimum 25 logged dives or evaluation by our guides at another site.

Breakfast and Lunch included.

Day at Leisure
Spend your second last day relaxing in the Galapagos Islands or alternatively there are a variety of optional excursions for you to choose from (additional expense):

Tortuga Bay beach
Boat excursion to Santa Fe, South Plazas or North Seymour
Cooking class and lunch at Silberstein Hotel
Bay Tour

Breakfast included.

Santa Cruz Hotel to Baltra Airport (Shared)
At the appropriate time today you will be transferred from your hotel in Santa Cruz to Baltra airport.

Breakfast included.