San Cristóbal – Galápagos Islands

San Cristóbal is the easternmost island in the Galápagos, famous for sea lions swimming with beachgoers, and the 360° tour taking visitors to breathtakingly scenic spots around the island. Also, San Cristóbal is where Charles Darwin landed in 1835 to observe the animals, leading to his Theory of Evolution. The largest settlement is Puerto Baquerizo Moreno, located on the west side. The island hosts one of the Galápagos’ three airports, serving the other islands as well as Guayaquil in mainland Ecuador.

This was the first island we visited in the Galápagos Islands and also ended up being our favourite!

Island life

On San Cristóbal, locals were so nice and friendly! They greeted us on the street once in a while just like that, and when we were sitting on the bench outside a bakery eating our breakfast, they even shouted “enjoy your food”. Everyone seems to know each other here. The owner of our hotel also runs a bottled water distribution company and picked us up from the airport in her truck filled with water dispensers. We squeezed into the front with me having to sit on Adam’s lap – it was definitely a fun ride! She also let us use the washing machine for free – these small gestures show just how hospitable people are on the island.

Most restaurants and tour companies have settled around the port area. There are a couple of smaller grocery stores and two ATMs in the town centre.

San Cristóbal, Galápagos - Guide to Tours (360°), Animals & Costs

Things to do & animals to spot on San Cristóbal

There are actually many things to see around the island without having to book an official tour. The most frequent animal to spot here is the sea lion – they were also our favourites! They hang out at public beaches and you can swim with them in the water. If you want to go surfing here, they will even surf with you! We were there during baby sea lion season in September and saw so many pups lying around on the beaches and around the port. They are so adorable and playful.

We also saw the famous blue-footed boobies here, which are endemic to the Galápagos Islands. Another popular bird to spot here is the Darwin’s finch. They are famous, as it was the observation of these birds that inspired Charles Darwin to develop his Theory of Evolution. There are 13 different types of them around the Galápagos Islands.

Galapaguera de Cerro Colorado: one of the few places on Earth where you can see the Galápagos Giant Tortoise! These giants are what the islands were named after (not the other way around!). They are the biggest tortoises in the world and are also endemic to the Galápagos Islands. The turtle ranch serves as an education centre with a small exhibition about the species, as well as a breeding ground where most of the conservation efforts for the species take place. Entry is free, but they accept kind donations that go towards the centre’s conservation work. We spent around 1 hour here. Location

You can reach Galapaguera by car or via an organised island tour. We asked our hotel to call a taxi for us, but you can simply flag one down on the street – drivers are familiar with this kind of excursion. Make sure to clarify the price before setting off. We paid $55 for the ride to Galapaguera and Puerto Chino, including waiting time and the return trip.

Puerto Chino: this beach is located on the east side of the island. Its white sand and gentle waters make it a perfect place for a swim! You can also spot sea lions, birds and other native wildlife on the beautiful path through lush vegetation leading to the beach, as well as on the shore. We spotted some blue-footed boobies and got a good look at them through our binoculars. We were also approached by quite a few Darwin’s finches, which came so close! They are also endemic to the Galápagos Islands. Although they were very interested in our food, it is not allowed to feed them. Occasionally you can spot some surfers at this beach, and sea lions who join them!

We recommend combining the visit with Galapaguera; you can arrange the whole tour with your taxi driver, who will wait for you at the entrance. We stayed at the beach for around 2 hours, which was enough time for swimming and relaxing around the beach with the sea lions.

Playa Mann: a really cool beach that can be reached on foot from the town centre. Sea lions hang out here among beachgoers, and they will even swim with you if you let them! There are a couple of restaurants and other facilities at the entrance. If your time on the island allows, make sure to spend a relaxed afternoon here!

Recommended tours

Just like the other islands in the Galápagos, San Cristóbal also offers specific tours in the surrounding marine area and to nearby smaller islands. We definitely recommend booking in advance, as the most popular tours sell out fast. Depending on the season, you might be lucky and book a last-minute spot (and might even get a discount), but we recommend not risking it, as we too had to miss a tour that we really wanted to do.

360° tour

This is hands down the most poplar tour on San Cristóbal. As the name suggests, this tour takes you once around the whole island by boat, either clockwise or counterclockwise, depending on the weather and ocean currents. There are many companies offering this tour, but, essentially, all of them make the same stops. The main difference is the type of boat, quality of equipment and food provided and the number of other guests on the tour.

We ended up booking the tour at a local agency called Galapagos Xcursion tour agency, and were very happy with our choice. Our guide was very knowledgeable and the staff took really good care of us on and off board. We booked directly at the office and paid $150 per person with a seasonal discount. If you want to be sure to get a spot though or are you traveling in the busy season (more on seasonality later), we would recommend booking your tour through GetYourGuide in advance here.

The excursion takes around 9 hours, and includes lunch, snacks and drinks, a naturalist guide, and also snorkelling gear, fins and a wetsuit in most cases. We also recommend packing sunglasses, a hat, and binoculars to be able to see the wildlife from aboard. The tour stops at the following scenic spots:

Kicker Rock: a world-famous snorkelling and diving area, where it is possible to see hammerhead sharks with a bit of luck. The volcanic formation resembles a shoe from certain angles, hence the name Kicker Rock. On the tour, you will make a 30-minute snorkelling stop here. We saw plenty of fish, many turtles, sea lions and some sharks and beautiful sea stars on the rocks. Unfortunately we didn’t see any hammerheads.

Cerro Brujo: at this short stop, you stay on board and view the landscape and rock formations of the bay.

Bahía Sardina (Sardine Bay): beach time! You will spend around 1,5 hours on this beautiful sandy beach. You can enjoy the sun, relax, and snorkel around the bay. We were able to spot colorful fish, white tip reef sharks, sting rays and some people even spotted eagle rays. There was also a pelican trying to catch some fish.

Punta Pitt: here you can observe blue-footed boobies, red-footed boobies and Nazca boobies from aboard.

Bahía Rosa Blanca (White Rose Bay): a 1,5-hour stop at a stunning beach; we found this to be the highlight of the tour! It is a perfect spot for snorkelling, where you can see many sea turtles, sea lions, reef sharks, sting rays and, if you’re lucky, even manta rays! Definitely bring your rock water shoes for this stop, as the bottom is rocky. The way to the beach is very beautiful with special rock formations and huge cacti.

Española Island

This is the second most popular tour from San Cristóbal. It’s a little more expensive because of the longer navigation time required to reach Española Island, with tours running for around $200-$250 per person depending on the season, if you book at a local agency. If you want to be sure to get a spot, you can also book it in advance through Viator here. We did not do this tour, as we already had similar plans on another island. Nevertheless, we recommend taking a look at the itinerary if you are especially interested in volcanic landscapes, seabirds and marine life.

Punta Cevallos: the first stop after a long navigation; the group hikes through the volcanic rocks for about 40 minutes. You can see many seabirds, albatrosses, Nazca boobies along the way and sea lions on the shore.

Playa Manzanillo: a short hike followed by a snorkelling activity with chances of spotting sea turtles, sea stars and, of course, many-many colourful fish.

Roca Tortuga: this is a pure snorkelling stop: you can see vibrant marine life here, including white-tip reef sharks, sea turtles, tropical fish and, depending on the season, even manta rays.

Diving at Kicker Rock

Me, Isi, was very much looking forward to diving in the Galápagos, as the islands offer some of the most pristine underwater environments in the world and are on many divers’ bucket lists. The world-famous dive site Kicker Rock can be reached from San Cristóbal after just a short boat ride.

It is popular all year round, however, from what I learnt there, marine life is generally more active in the wet season (between December and June). I went diving in the dry season in September and saw significantly less wildlife. The dive was still incredible, don’t get me wrong – however, I did not get to see the famous hammerhead sharks that I was hoping for.

Now let me tell you more about my experience. With only 8 dives under my belt at the time, I was the least experienced diver on the boat and all the other divers had an Advanced certification. And it was no coincidence: at Kicker Rock, the currents were quite strong and at times challenging for me as a beginner, so that I had to concentrate a lot on my buoyancy and not losing my group. The water was freezing, so much so that some people on the boat skipped the second dive entirely. Luckily one of the dive instructors had an extra hooded vest on board that fit me, which helped me cope with the cold temperatures. Once I got used to the conditions, I was quickly absorbed by the incredible marine life. I saw countless colorful reef fish, turtles gliding through the water, octopuses, and my favorite of all: playful sea lions swimming up and down the rock formations and spinning around us divers. I watched them chase schools of fish and put on a show for us underwater. I had also never seen so many turtles swimming above me before. One of the groups spotted a bull shark.

All in all it was an incredible dive, but definitely a little challenging due to the currents constantly pulling me downwards and although I was managing fine, I did wish I had come to dive here after having gained more experience, so that I could focus more on the marine life. Ultimately, the whole experience left me hungry for more. If you tend to get cold underwater, I would definitely recommend asking for a hooded vest in addition to your wetsuit.

After researching multiple local dive operators, I found that some of them were closed during the dry season, including Ocean Galapagos, who I was planning to book with due to their good reviews. I ended up booking my dive at Galapagos Fun Dive (location). The staff was accommodating, but the equipment was not the best. I was having trouble with my BCD and had to swap it out for the second dive. I booked last-minute and paid around $200 for the two dives.

Best time to visit

San Cristóbal, just like the other islands in the Galápagos, has two distinct seasons:

• The wet season (December to June) is the warmer season and also more touristy in general, especially around the Christmas holidays. The ocean is a bit calmer, and water temperatures are higher. Rain occurs almost daily and skies are often cloudy. Thanks to the rain, trees and bushes turn lush green.
• The dry season (July to November) brings cooler temperatures which are pleasant on land, but significantly colder underwater, with a higher possibility of choppy waters. July and August are particularly busy because of the holiday season, which also drives hotel and tour prices up, therefore, we recommend avoiding those months.

As you might see, it is not easy to give a definitive recommendation, as both seasons have their distinc advantages and disadvantages. Nevertheless, we suggest avoiding the holiday seasons, if you can. We visited the island in the dry season, and benefited from the absence of rainy days and from the lower prices of hotels and tours. The sea was definitely cold and snorkelling without a wetsuit would have been borderline unbearable. Also a shame to have missed the hammerhead shark season while diving.

Where to stay

We recommend staying close to the port, as this is where excursions will start. We stayed at Irlanda Hospedaje ($), run by a local family. The hotel is in a quiet area, about a 10-minute walk from the town centre and the port. The hosts were very kind and even though the owner didn’t really speak English, we had a long conversation about his life on the island, tourism and things to do – all through Google Translate. 🙂

Another budget option we considered is Islas Galapagos ($), an affordable hotel located a little closer to restaurants and the town centre. For mid-range options we recommend Galapagos Eco Friendly ($$) that features an outdoor hot tub to relax after your excursions, Casa Blanca ($$) and Casa Opuntia ($$) with pool and great views close to Playa de Oro. For a more high-end option we recommend the Hotel Indigo Galapagos by IHG ($$$), one of the nicest hotels on the island.

As mentioned above, we recommend to bring earplugs with you to ensure that you can sleep well at night.

Restaurant recommendations

Based on our research and other blog posts, we were preparing for high food prices in restaurants. We were positively surprised that this was not the case at all! Prices are around 20-30% higher compared to mainland Ecuador, but we felt that this was still absolutely within the acceptable range, especially given the logistics of the islands.

We tried to find affordable local restaurants that seemed less tourist-oriented. A lot of them offer the menú del día, a daily course usually consisting of a small starter, main course and sometimes a fresh fruit juice and/or small dessert. Lunch and dinner cost us around $6-$7 per person per meal, and we grabbed some pastries for breakfast at a local bakery for around $3 per person.

Here are some great restaurants we found:

Restaurante Lucky: delicious local and international food in a casual atmosphere. Location

Degusta – Restaurante: we saw mostly locals eating here, which is usually a good sign! They had affordable daily menus, with soup, a main course and a fresh fruit juice for just $6. Grilled fish and shrimps are amazing here too! Location

Restaurante “Las Acacias”: a true hidden gem offering super delicious home-cooked-style local food, fresh fish, and our favourite breakfast, tigrillo. We saw no tourists here, and the owner seemed very excited that we wanted to eat there. 😀 The waiter was also super excited to answer all our questions and explain everything about Ecuadorian food. We even returned a second time for breakfast! Location

El Cangrejo Loco: a nice restaurant by the coastline with excellent seafood and delicious drinks. We tried the ceviche, which was presented in a beautiful seashell-like plate. Location

Also try the Endémica local craft beer, brewed directly on San Cristóbal! A super unique one that you cannot really buy anywhere else.

Transportation to and around the island

San Cristóbal has its own airport near Puerto Baquerizo Moreno, the main settlement on the island. You can fly there directly from Quito or Guayaquil, mainland Ecuador, with one of the two airlines serving the islands: Avianca and LATAM. There will be taxis waiting outside the terminal to take you to the town centre, if your accommodation does not provide a pickup service.

To get to the other islands, you have two options. There are inter-island flights, but they tend to be a little more expensive with tickets on sale for $70 per person.

A more affordable option is taking the ferries. There are multiple companies running the service, but they all operate at a fixed rate of $35 per person. Tickets can be purchased at the port or at any tour company, or you can purchase them online in advance. Sea sickness pills are recommended, as the sea can be quite choppy from time to time. We saw many passengers throwing up on the boat, sadly.

You can take a look at the schedule and buy tickets on one of the operators’ websites here or here.

To get around on the island, taxis are the way to go, as there is no public transport service available. You will see many pickup trucks running through the settlements with the official logo of the local taxi cooperative. They operate on fixed rates too, depending on the distance. You have a little wiggle room for negotiation though! A ride in the town will cost you between $1-$5, while a longer trip can go up to $50 including waiting time (see the Galapaguera excursion above). You can either flag them down on the street or ask your hotel to arrange a ride for you. We did not find any apps that allow ordering taxis here.