FLOREANA

Located approximately 4 to 5 hours west of Española and equal distance south of Santa Cruz, this island has long been a favorite site of visitors including pirates, whalers and early settlers.

One of the oldest islands Floreana illustrates the aging process of a volcanic island. Unlike the younger western islands, Floreana's volcano has been long extinct and is in the advanced stages of erosion. The erosion process gave the island the nutrients and soils need to sustain plant life. The combination of this rich soil and a good water supply have given the highlands of Floreana a diversified landscaping of native and introduced flora.

Floreana is best known for its colorful history of buccaneers, whalers, convicts, and colonists. In 1793 British whalers established the Post Office Barrel to send letters to and from England. This tradition has continued over the years, and even today visitors may drop off and pick up letters, without stamps, to be carried to far destinations. Punta Cormorant offers two highly contrasting beaches. The landing beach is of volcanic origin and is composed of olivine crystals, giving it a greenish tinge. At the end of the short trail is a carbonate beach of extremely fine white sand. Formed by the erosion of coral skeletons, it is a nesting site for green sea turtles.

In the 1930's Floreana was the setting for intrigue and mystery. A German dentist and his mistress, a young family (the Wittmer family who still live on the island) and a self-styled baroness with three men came to settle in the island. Shortly after the baroness and her lovers arrived chaos began. The baroness and her entourage terrorized the other inhabitants while planning to build a luxury hotel.

Eventually the baroness, two of her lovers and the dentist all turned up missing or dead. There has been much investigation searching for what really happened on Floreana, but there have never been any hard answers. John Treherne wrote of these people in "The Galapagos Affair".

POST OFFICE BAY

This is one of the few visitor sites, that is visited for its human history. Whaling Captain James Colnett established the wooden post barrel in the early 1793. At the time whaling was a big industry, ships were typically gone for 2 years at a time. The Galapagos Islands were a frequent stop for these ships. Outbound ships would drop off letters after rounding the cape and the ships returning home would mail them.

Over the years thousands of ships have stopped to send and receive mail at Post Office Bay. Many have posted a sign of driftwood or other materials memorializing their visit. This is the only area in the Galapagos were graffiti is still acceptable.

Arriving at Post Office Bay you will land on a brown sand beach, passing the sea lions lying in the sun. At the post barrel the guide will pull a hand full of letters for the group. Continuing the tradition, the letters are brought home with the traveler and then mailed to the addressee. Visitors also have the opportunity to send letters of their own.

There is also the remains of a Norwegian Fishing Village a commercial fishing operation established in 1926 and abandoned a couple of years later. The group of Norwegians arrived with dreams of riches started a fishing and can operation on $900 each. The tough Galapagos life and a few misfortunes had them abandon their dreams.

Visit Information

Landing: wet landing
Highlights: sending and delivering post cards via post barrel
Conditions: gentle beach
Notes: make sure to bring post cards to send to friends and family postage free

PUNTA CORMORANT

The visit to Punta Cormorant offers two contrasting beaches. Arriving on shore you will encounter a green sand beach (the green sand is caused by the olivine crystals derived silicates or magnesium and iron) from here you will follow the trail leading to a lagoon where pink flamingoes and other shore birds can be seen in the distance making their home. Looking into the mud of the lagoon there appears to be 'cracks' in the mud. These cracks are not caused from dryness but are actually the footpaths of flamingos. This is also a good spot for seeing large-billed flycatchers, small-ground finch, medium-ground finch or cactus finch. The walk continues to another beach on the other side made of fine white sand particles known as "Flour Beach". In the waters ghost crabs and rays can be seen swimming.

Visit Information

Landing: wet landing
Highlights: flamingo lagoon, Darwin Finch and Flour Beach
Conditions: easy trail with open zone on far beach
Notes: take caution not to disturb sea turtle nests. Swimming is not permitted at Flour Beach due to sting rays that frequent the area

DEVIL'S CROWN

Located just off Punta Cormorant this is the best snorkeling in the Galapagos! To see the crown you need to go underwater, an almost completely submerged volcano, which erosion has transformed the cone into a series of jagged peaks creating the "Devil's Crown". The remains of the volcano create a haven for seabirds such as boobies, pelicans and frigates. Red-billed tropical birds can be seen nesting in the crevices.

The highlight of the visit is snorkeling in the center of the crater. You will play with sea lions, while swimming with schools of colorful king angel fish, balloon fish, hawkfish, scrawled filefish, yellowtail grunts, tiger snake eels, white-tipped sharks, eagle rays, amberjacks, wrasses, hammerhead sharks, and sea turtles. The water is a bit rough and the current is strong. The east to west current provides a fun ride as it pushes you through the crown. There is a tube on the western side that you can swim through if you are a strong swimmer (approximately 10-15 feet down) and come out on the other side.

Visit Information

Landing: no landings permitted this is a snorkel and dive site only
Highlights: snorkeling inside cone with a variety of colorful fish
Conditions: currents may be strong
Notes: large sharks may be present