Floreana

Island

V!VA User‘s Description

Also known as Santa María or Charles, Floreana is the sixth-largest island (173 km2) and has the fourth-largest population. There are three visitor sites on the north coast of Floreana.

The first, Post Office Bay, is a short, white-sand beach (requiring a wet landing) with a makeshift barrel adorned with a rustic, yet international decor. Although originally utilized by whaling ship captains, post office bay now counts on other tourists to provide mail service: if you encounter a postcard addressed to someone in your home town (or home country), you are required to personally deliver it. The system works, because the number of postcards kept in the barrel at Post Office Bay remains low. Also nearby are the remains of a canning factory, a lava tunnel with a small, brackish (and chilly) pool for swimming in the dark, and a soccer field. You can also swim or snorkel from the beach. Be careful of the stingrays hiding in the surf!

The second visitor site is Punta Cormorant. After a short dingy ride along a cliff with nesting seabirds, visitors disembark (wet landing) onto a brown-sand beach, which is tinted green due to its composition of olivine crystals and inhabited by sea lions and crabs. A short distance up the beach is the first trail, which leads to a promenade overlooking a flamingo lagoon.

Dozens of flamingoes make their home here, building their nests toward the end of the year (October-December). They make intricate patterns in the mud as they kick up their food, and occasionally exhibit their flamenco-style mating dance. If you are lucky, you will be able to witness this from June-October. This is also a good place to see other wading birds, such as white-checked pintail ducks, black-necked silts, American oystercatchers, whillets, and whimbrels.

Another 400-meter trail follows the perimeter of the lagoon through the island’s distinctive mangrove and palo santo stands to a white-sand beach where turtles often lay their eggs. From the beach, you have an excellent view of two small islands in the distance, Enderby and Champion, which are excellent snorkeling and dive spots. You may also be able to spot sea turtles and stingrays in the surf.

The third visitor site, Devil’s Crown, is the remains of a half-submerged volcanic cone a few hundred meters from Punta Cormorant and the best snorkeling site in the Galapagos Islands. Snorkelers enter the water on the outside of the rocky crater, where white-tipped reef sharks, sea lions, sea turtles, rays, and large schools of tropical reef fish are commonly seen in the deep water. You continue to swim around the volcanic semi-circle )or through an underwater opening in the rocks) to the shallow crater center, where white-tipped reef sharks hide in cave openings; moray eels poke their heads out of rock and coral formations; and colorful reef fish abound.

The port town of Puerto Velasco Ibarra, the only settlement on the island with inhabitants, provides limited tourist attractions. There are a few hotels, stores, and restaurants along with a soccer field. Infrequent public transportation and private vehicles offer access to the highlands. The family of Margaret Wittmer, one of the early (and scandal-ridden—read A Galapagos Affair to get the full history) inhabitants of Floreana, has a farm with intact relics and giant tortoises, which passengers on either of their boats (Tip Top II & III) may get to visit.