8-Day Galapagos Island Hopping Tour: Santa Cruz Island, Santa Fe or Pinzón Island, Isabela, Plazas, Cabo Rosa Tunnels**5 Nights Santa Cruz Island & 2 Night Isabela Island**<br>** Shared Tour**

Passengers will be met at Baltra airport by a tourist guide from Turismo Paradise, and then be taken to Ninfa Hotel in Santa Cruz Island. We will make a stop to visit the Twin Craters, a geological subsidence found in the highest part of the island and in the middle of a forest of scales (endemic vegetation). Passengers can enjoy a beautiful view from the highest place of Santa Cruz Island where there is a rainforest with warm climate and a dense vegetation; by contrast the completely different landscape and environment existing in the lower part of the island. When visiting Santa Rosa which is located within El Chato Reserve, the Galapagos giant turtles can be observed relaxing at the beach or submerged at El Chato Lagoon. This place is also favorable for many wild birds to nest such as finches, scarlet flycatchers, cattle egrets, and the Pachays birds from time to time. Visitors can also walk through a natural lava tunnel illuminated by a dim light, which has been placed by the owners.

After breakfast (at 07:45 am), we will sail for about one hour to get to Santa Fe Island. From the yacht, we can see a forest of endemic cactus that grow in the huge ravines of this island. In addition, in a calm turquoise water inhabited by a colony of pelicans, blue-footed boobies, seagulls, and a great number of sea lions, you can enjoy practicing snorkeling or swimming alongside harmless manta rayas, tropical fishes or occasionally you may bump into sea turtles. Lunch will be served on board and then we will leave for Playa Escondida where tourists will have time to relax before returning to the hotel.

Depart at 6:30 am after breakfast. We board the yacht towards Isabela on a journey of approximately 2 hours. After arriving at Puerto Villamil, we enjoy watching the Flamingos Lagoon as well as the magnificence of Isabela beach. Later, we have lunch at a local restaurant and then continue our journey to experience – watching from the yacht- the beauty of blue sharks, the colony of marine iguanas, and the adorable penguins. Then if you like, snorkeling practice is available while tropical fishes, sea turtles, and sharks living in these calm crystalline waters can be viewed. Return at 6:00 pm for dinner.

The route to the tunnels lasts approximately 1:30 to 2:00 hours. Once in this sector, the boat will travel the different roads through the tunnels where you will clearly see the landscape that is the most outstanding of this site. The tour starts at approximately 08:00 am. We'll go first to Roca Union, a small islet located in the open sea where you can see pelicans, blue-footed boobies, and the occasional sea lion resting on the rocks. After this short stop you will sail for about 45 minutes to get to one of the most beautiful landscapes of lava rock formations of the Galapagos Islands. It is called tunnels since in ancient eruptions, the lava passed under the formed earth tunnels that then collapsed and gave rise to these arcs over the water where you can clearly see vegetation that comes out of the rocks, the crystal clear water, and the sea lions flutter between the arches. Subsequently, we move to the site known as Finados to enjoy practicing snorkeling or swimming.

After breakfast at Isabela Island, we leave at 8:00 am to visit the Sierra Negra Volcano, the biggest and most active volcano of these islands. Its northern flank is usually cloudy and misty, and allows the growth of a dense vegetation. Here, there is also one of the most important worldwide biological reserve of turtles, iguanas, and birds species, which were studied and observed by naturalist Charles Darwin in the XIX century to then write his famous book “The Origin of the Species”. There is another volcano located at northeast part of the Sierra Negra Volcano - Chico Volcano - with a height of approximately 860 meters above the sea. There is a pedestrian path clearly marked which leads to this volcano.

Choice 1: North Seymour Island - Bachas At 7:30 am, a bus will pick passengers up from the hotels to take them to the Itabaca Channel dock to board the yacht and start a new day tour. Northern Seymour Island is an incredible place to take walks and it is very pleasant to go by a 2km circular path that crosses the interior of the island, which will take you to explore the rocky coast and watch some of the largest and endemic colonies of marine birds. Here, there will also be an opportunity for visitors to observe the nesting places of the colorful blue-footed boobies as well as the frigates. The latter inflate their huge pouches during mating season to attract the attention of the female frigates and they are also known for stealing the blue-footed boobies’ food. Tourists will really feel delighted to observe the beautiful mating ritual practiced by blue-footed boobies. After enjoying lunch, we can practice snorkeling alongside the green sea turtles and the famous Galapagos Sharks. Also, we'll watch the naughty sea lions playing and surfing in these crystalline waters. We will visit Bachas beach where the sun and the sea for sure will delight us. Finally, we leave at 5:00 pm and will transfer the tourists to their respective hotels. Choice 2: Bartolome Island and Sullivan Bay Passengers will be picked up from their hotel at 7:00 am, and then be taken on board a yacht to Itabaca Channel to enjoy a new expedition day across the islands, pristine waters, and white sandy beaches. Breakfast will be served onboard and then, on a journey of 2 hours, we get to Bartolome Island. Once there, we will go up through a stair until a summit from where you will enjoy a wonderful sight of these two fantastic bays, with amazing lava growths and volcanic cones. Visitors can also observe the famous Pinnacle Rock, a giant black lava formation that has eroded over time and has become a representative image of the archipelago. Near this elevation, we can also enjoy seeing two beautiful half moon-shape beaches. Green marine turtles choose Bartolome Island as their ideal mating zone and nest on the seashore from January to March every year. The most beautiful landscapes of Galapagos are present in Bartolome. This island is an extinct volcano and has a variety of soils in bright colors (red, orange, green, black, etc.) as well as volcanic formations. Another activity to perform in this second choice is snorkeling and you'll be lucky watching one more time the sea turtles, whitetip reef sharks, tropical fishes, sea lions, and many other unique marine species existing only here in this superb paradise. This territory is a perfect place to enjoy seeing the adorable Penguins. Sullivan Bay will be our next destination after having lunch so take advantage and enjoy seeing these amazing lava formations which is a result of volcanic eruption that occurred in 1903. Return at 5:00 pm.

From 7:30 am, a bus will pick passengers up from their respective hotels to take them to Itabaca Channel dock where they will board a yacht towards Plazas Islands. Once we get there, after a two-hour sail, the largest sea lion colony in the archipelago can be observed here as well as only a few meters behind the landing dock, the land iguanas always lying on the rocks. Then, going by a path we get to the other side of this very small and rectangular shape island, walking along the ravine we see some blue-footed and masked boobies gliding over. Besides swallow-tailed gulls, shearwaters, frigate birds, pelicans, and other tropical birds, there are also marine and land iguanas. Despite its small size, Isla Plazas is famous for being home to a large variety of flora and fauna species since here we can find beautiful thorny trees, cacti, etc. Depending on the season, the existing vegetation changes its color; from an intense green in winter, to an orange and purple color in the summer and besides of course, the very important colony of land iguanas. This island is very popular among local and foreign tourists who feel pleased visiting this paradisiacal place.

After breakfast, we will transfer you to the airport to take your flight back to Quito or Guayaquil.