It's more populated, but that also offers greater variety in housing and restaurants. (And populated is relative on the Galapagos. Population is tightly regulated to protect the natural ecosystems.) There are also plenty of agencies offering cruises through the islands or day tours. We checked out a lot of the tour offerings and wound up creating some for ourselves. Instead of paying a tour company to take us to the lava tunnels and beaches of the highlands, we rented bikes for the day and went independently.
The guy you see below is in the shadows by my bike.
Quickly, I discovered that my favorite day in the Galapagos was a morning spent swimming in Las Grietas, a nearby grotto, followed by lunch in town, and an afternoon lazing at Tortuga Bay Beach.
From the docks we paid $.60 for a water taxi to take us to the opposite and visible shore. (Asking for Finch Bay Hotel will do the trick.) We followed signs for Las Grietas through a harsh landscape.
To arrive here
Many visitors brought their own snorkel mask. Honestly, I didn't think it was necessary.
Kevin even did one of his epic foolish jumps:
Obviously, between that & the hiking, lunch was in order. After lunch we liked to hike the three miles to Tortuga Bay. Honestly, this place deserves it's own post. The beach is only open between 6 am and 6 pm. The hours are to protect turtles who come onto the beach to nest. The park rangers diligently enforce these rules.
Three miles of paved trail. Towards the end of the day you pass multiple local joggers making their rounds up and back to the beach. And at the end of the road...
Stay tuned for a future post highlighting this beautiful beach.
I enjoyed basing my time in the Galapagos out of Santa Cruz. We alternated spending a day on another island with our favorite days of Grotto and beach hopping. This way, we saw a good bit of Galapagan diversity while still slowing down to a turtle's pace. Affordably.
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