darwin bay

Scott8147

After a short water tour of the shore line, we landed at Darwin's Bay for a short walk. The sea lions, the red-footed boobies (many with chicks), the Galapagos doves, frigate birds and iguanas were everywhere. Afterward, we snorkeled in the bay - conditions weren't ideal, but the fish were amazing anyway.

travelapple

sealions,birds,iguanas, beach.......its just beautiful! the water is so pretty! you just cant go wrong here!!

T2a2014

Crystal clear water. A little cold. I stayed on a boat. Went with a travel agency. Best way. Again, once in a life time.

Dushi-NY

Like many others, this was our first stop after boarding our boat in Baltra/Itabasca Channel. It was a very rough boat ride overnight as the distance is quite significant.We arrived during nesting season for many of the birds; mainly the Galapagos Dove, Nazca boobies, frigates, and red footed boobies. They were everywhere. We had to walk off the path sometimes because some birds decided to just relax in the middle of the path. Our naturalist commented that he had never seen so many male frigates in one place, we even saw several males puffed out trying to intimidate the other males. This was the most bird life we had seen in one place during the entire week.After the morning hike, we returned to the beach to snorkel around the rocks. Not the best visibility but it was a good introduction back into the water for those of us who don't snorkel often.

LuckyPenny8

Our afternoon walk on the beach with our naturalists got us so close to red footed boobies, frigate birds, Nazca boobies, other birds, and sea lions you could have touched them. We saw a swallow tailed gull on the rocks across from the water from the mangroves with a chick so well camouflaged it had to move before you could spot it. Getting so close to the animals gave us great opportunities for photography.

CassieKat306

After leaving Baltra, this was my boat's first stop. The first of the animals, scenery, cliffs, and yes, even graffiti. I loved every minute there. It gave me a great preview of my next weeks to come, which were even more eventful.

Globetrotter613

It's a gorgeous site, and the only place to see the Galapagos owl. And of course, sea lions, red-footed boobies, nazca boobies, marine iguanas, finches, frigate birds, etc. It was just fantastic!

jcanberra

Also known as Tower Island, this half moon bay is really not worth the visit. I believe most people end up visiting the compulsory location as part of a cruise to see mainly red footed boobies, nasca boobies and marine iguanas. These birds and iguanas are on other islands so other then seeing the half moon bay which is mainly cliffs covered white in bird poop, there is nothing else unique about this island. Which btw is far to the north and depending on the time of year the water can be rough. We did a short trail hike and snorkeled the current along the cliff, which again, very similar to what we did on other island, but I wish our itinerary had gone to a different location and skipped this island. The pictures attached sum up the island. I do not think a lot of people get a choice of going or excluding the island, but if it is not on your itinerary I would not be too alarmed as I believe you are not missing much.

dannyvicki

This is a great place to visit and well worth the trip. It is an amazing place to see and is a one off place to visit. Make sure you see this as it is beautiful.

stargazer_edm

This was our full day in the Galapagos and what better way to be introduced to these islands by landing ('wet' beach landing) on this remote island on the northeast corner of this archipelago (we spent the previous day fying in from Quito to Baltra and visited Mosquera Islet - which is a small sandy island just north of Baltra Island (airport)).We were able to walk up to bird nests (red-footed and Nazca boobies, great frigate birds) and saw other numeorus birds (finches, herons, mocking birds, etc.) and walked to Darwin Bay where we even spotted sharks patrolling the shoals!After hiking back to the beach, we pur on our snorkel equipment (masks, fins, snorkels) and snorkelled around to check out the local fauna - again the local shark was there in addition to the numerous and colourful reef fishes common in the area.Overall a great introduction to the Galapagos Islands.

TessiR

Genovesa and Darwin Bay was our 1st full day stop on our tour of The Galapagos. We'd cruised overnight from Baltra. It was breathtaking to wake up and see we were anchored in the middle of this sunken caldera with beautiful cliffs and beach. We spotted small sharks jumping near our boat as they fed. Such a range of wildlife - birds, sea lions, etc. Getting onto Prince Phillip Steps was challenging with the waves and tide, but so worth it! Nesting birds everywhere! Then we went to the beach on the other side of the island. Lots of sea lions were laying about or swimming in a lovely lagoon. You can wade to a back area to view more nesting birds. One sad note: there is graffiti on some of the cliff near the beach! What a shameful reminder of human impact. Snorkeling was not good on the day of our visit. the water was too rough due to wind and tides. We felt lucky to visit this remote, magical place! It's not on many itineraries. It was a unique experience.

lrb88888888

This was our first island stop after San Cristobel and I wasn't expecting to be blown away like I was. I'm not a 'birdy' person, but the amount and variety of the birds on this island is incredible. Red footed boobies, nazca boobies, frigate birds with their amazing red pouches, short-eared owls, etc, etc. It ended up being my favourite island of all (we did Itinerary B ecoventura cruise). We were there beginning of October and there was only 1 other boat anchored in the bay. We spent time snorkelling around the edge of the caldera and this was one of the better snorkelling sites of the trip. Fabulous!

qc51411

I was continually blown away by the extraordinary natural beauty we encountered in the Galapagos Islands. By the last day of the trip I was thinking I had seen the bulk of what Galapagos had to offer and I was not necessarily expecting to be wowed. Genovesa Island was the best of all the islands we went to (even better than Espanola). It is called 'bird island' for a reason. Many of the most beautiful birds in the Galapagos Islands reside on this island and in large numbers. There were frigate birds, red footed boobies, nazca boobies and swallow tail gulls everywhere. Later on at another landing site on Genovesa (Prince Phillip's steps) we saw short-eared owls, and large numbers of frigate birds, red footed boobies, nazca boobies, and storm petrels. We were fortunate to visit this island as many boats cannot go here because the caldera of the island is too small for large boats. If you get a chance to request your itinerary (which you mostly don't) make sure Genovesa is on the list.

824marc

Que decir, fue maravilloso, el viaje en barco a la vuelta fue muy movido, el único consejo sería que busquen un buen servicio de traslado. De ida el capitán me dejo conducir el barco!!! Un grosso! en el paseo se conocen innumerables cantidades de aves, animales marinos, paisajes, playas, etc, etc...

marcb84

Jamais autant vu d'oiseaux et qui ne s'échappent pas quand n les approche à moins de deux mètres, le spectacles est fascinant, nous ne pouvons qu être admiratifs pour ce sue peut procurer un tel spectacle, il y a la plage, toute petite ou l on peut se baigner avec les lions de mer, et la balade guidée au milieu de la végétation ou les oiseaux nichent par milliers