Galapagos Southern Islands 4 Day | Ocean Spray

Welcome to the Galapagos Islands, and to your luxurious home for the next few days, the M/C Ocean Spray! After arriving at San Cristobal Airport, you'll be transferred to the vessel and greeted by your guide and crew. Once settled in, a brief overview of health, safety and emergency protocols will be given, as well as an introduction to the normal routines and different areas of the M/C Ocean Spray.

In the afternoon, you'll set sail to visit San Cristobal Island and two of its most popular attractions, Lobos Island and Kicker Rock. Lobos Island is home to a large colony of playful sea lions and a variety of bird species, as well as clear waters teeming with sea turtles, rays and sharks. Kicker Rock, on the other hand, is an iconic site of two towering volcanic cones rising over 100 meters from the sea, and a renowned diving spot where visitors can see a variety of colorful marine life.

On Sunday morning, you'll embark on a hike to the top of Pitt Point, where you'll feel as if you've stepped onto another planet. The trail winds past blue-footed booby nests and offers breathtaking panoramic views of the island and ocean. Along the way, you may also spot red-footed boobies nesting in the trees.

In the afternoon, you'll visit Witches Hill, where you'll take a Zodiac ride along the shoreline to see an array of shorebirds nesting and feeding in the deep crevices and eroding rocks. You'll also have the opportunity to see friendly sea lions and tropical fish in the clear waters. After the ride, you'll disembark on a powdery white-sand beach where you can swim and snorkel in the crystal-clear turquoise waters.

Saturday morning, you'll visit Post Office Bay, a site rich in human history. Sailors of centuries past set up a barrel here where they would leave letters for loved ones back home. Other ships would stop by, take letters addressed to their destination, and thus the first Galapagos mail service was born. Today, visitors can leave a postcard to someone anywhere in the world and hope that a fellow traveler will mail it.

In the afternoon, you'll visit two more remarkable sites on Floreana Island: Cormorant Point and Devil's Crown. Cormorant Point boasts two different beaches, one with an extraordinary high content of small olivine crystals and the other known as Flour Beach due to its powdery white sand made of pulverized white coral. Visitors may also see rays and different kinds of tropical fish along the shoreline. Devil's Crown, on the other hand, is home to one of the best snorkeling sites in the archipelago, where you can see just below the surface several incredible volcanic structures that have submerged over the centuries. Today, they are home to countless colorful fish species, as well as sharks, rays, sea turtles, sea lions, and starfish, among many others.

On Tuesday morning, you'll visit Black Turtle Cove, a shallow inlet on the northern side of Santa Cruz Island that is surrounded by mangroves, providing natural protection for several juvenile marine species. Underneath the calm waters of the cove, visitors can see majestic sea turtles, different kinds of rays, and both white-tip and black-tip reef sharks. Blue-footed boobies and pelicans can also be seen hunting in these nutrient-rich waters.

After the visit, you'll return to the M/C Ocean Spray to gather your belongings and freshen up before your transfer to Baltra Airport, marking the end of your Galapagos Islands cruise.