Diana Anghelus
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Santa Cruz is the main island of the Galapagos Archipelago. We took the flight to Baltra Island, the closest. After we landed, we went through custom and had to pay $100 fee ( cash ) per person to enter. It is a fee for the national park of Galapagos from my understanding. From the airport we took the Lobito bus for $5.00/person till we got to the Itabaca Channel, about 10 minutes. We then had to take the the water taxi ( $1.00/person) to cross the channel and then we took another bus for about 45 minutes and another $5.00/person to get to Puerto Ayora, the main town on Santa Cruz Island. The Lobito buses come every 10 minutes.
In my opinion, one week is enough on this island, unless you plan to visit other islands while there. There are many restaurants by the port , this is the touristic area of the town, as well as souvenir shops. The restaurants are priced like in the United States or less, however, you can eat at the local restaurants for $5.00 ( juice , soup and a 2nd course), very good food. We ate once a day there and saved the other restaurants for the dinner. It saves you some money this way.
Be careful as the water is not safe there to drink or brush your teeth, so look for a hotel stay that offers that. Most of the people there do not speak English , so having some Spanish knowledge helps. The internet is not the best in town, sometimes it is very slow. Don’t be surprised if you see trash on the streets, you can barely find a trash can. The best way to travel in town if you don’t want to walk are the local taxis ( usually Toyota trucks ), for $1.00/person. If you travel farther the fee is higher. We took the taxi back to the airport and it cost $25.00 in total. Make sure you bring enough cash as most of them take only cash. They have a bank there but the lines are big. Also, not many accept $100 bill, so smaller bills are better.
There are some attractions in the area like the Tortuga Bay where you can travel by boat (15 minutes) or walk there in less then 1 h. This beach is a must do. You can also visit El Chato Ranch, Las Grietas , Charles Darwin center, El Garrapatero beach etc.
Most of the restaurants open around noon, so if you are a morning person, you might not find many places to have breakfast that early.
One more thing I want to mention is that you cannot throw toilet paper in the basin, you’d need to use the trash can in the bathroom. Also, most of the places don’t have air conditioning, so make sure at least your hotel does.
And when you enter the island, you have to pay $1.00 some municipal tax. You’ll get a ticket like the one I post among pictures and with that ticket you can get a 10% discount at certain restaurants. I almost threw it away , but then I was able to use it once.
