Santa Cristobal Island
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TRAVEL AGENCIES
CHALO TOURS
Chalo Tours is an excellent place to organize tours and diving. With special discounts of up to 35% for students and volunteers, this is a very popular place to arrange outings. The staff here are very professional and very informative and friendly.
Tours are as follows:
Camping
$25 - Puerto Chino
$50 - Puerto Grande
This involves a trip by taxi and an overnight stay on the beautiful beach of Puerto Chino. Puerto Grande is a boat trip away so costs a little more. This is a beautiful beach where you can see rays gliding along in the shallows of the shores and frigate birds swooping above the mangroves.
Biking
$20 - El Junco
$30 - Galapaguera
Mountain biking tours take you up to the highlands and back to Puerto Baquerizo Moreno.
Kayaking
$25 (day trips)
$200 (overnight on Puerto Grande)
Full camping, kayaking and snorkeling trips take you to Isla Lobos, Leon Dormido (Kicker Rock), Cerro Brujo beach and overnight camping at Puerto Grande.
Espanola
Duration: 1 day
Cost: around $75
Includes: Food, snorkel equipment, naturalist guide and refreshments
The most popular outlying Island to visit from San Cristobal is Espanola. It’s English name means ‘hood’. Here you will find the endemic Albatross, Galapagos Hawks, Finches, Lava Lizards, Marine Iguanas and a colony of sea-lions. Along the Punta Suarez side you can find all kinds of sea birds nesting. Along the north side is Gardner bay, where there is a long sandy beach along which you will find a colony of sea-lions and a gathering of Mockingbirds swarming on the sand. The trip involves snorkeling with white tip reef sharks and sea-lions. Around 1000 Galapagos tortoises have been introduced to Espanola by the National Park so a trip here will also involve seeing these.
Diving Tours
All dives include the use of full dive equipment, food and professional dive master.
Kicker Rock - $90
Here it’s possible to do three or four dives. This is a wall dive and has a rocky sandy bottom. Depending on the season, currents are soft to medium. This impressive rocky formation is very popular with divers as it’s extremely rich with marine life. This place is famous for spotting Hammerheads and Galapagos Sharks.
The profile is:
Max Depth: 20 mts
Navigation: 300 mts
Time: 45 mins
Tour diaries for diving
1 to 3 people - $110
4 or more - $95
Includes: 2 dives, A check out dive, A choice of where to dive: Leon Dormido/ Isla Lobos / Wreck Orca / Wreck Caragua / Five Finger or Cerro Tijeretas, Divemaster, Complete dive equipment, Tanks, Transport to the place of visit, Refreshments.
Galapagos Cruises: handpicked yachts and cruises in the Galapagos Islands, last minute deals and group discounts on Galapagos cruises.