Day 1 – Finch Bay Land

Our driver will meet you at the airport outside of baggage claim and will accompany you and assist you with your luggage until you reach the Puerto Ayora public pier.

Baltra Island, Galapagos airport.

Follow your driver’s indications and get on the public bus just outside the airport with signs saying “Canal Itabaca.” This bus will take you across Baltra’s arid landscape to the Itabaca Channel. The transfer bus is a basic official airport shuttle which you may need to share with other passengers. Sometimes, this means we must wait a while for the next available bus. The ride generally lasts no more than 10 minutes.

At the channel, we take a ferry across to Santa Cruz Island. The ferry ride lasts approximately 15 minutes and is shared with other passengers. Sometimes, if the ferry is full, we may experience a slight delay as we wait for the ferry to be available. The driver will pay the ferry.

Take the airport ferry to get to the public dock in the Galapagos Islands.

Once you have reached the Santa Cruz side of the channel, wait here with your luggage until your chartered transport vehicle arrives. You will travel 42 km across Santa Cruz Island through Palo Santo groves, a Scalesia forest and farmland, enjoying beautiful views the whole trip and arriving at Puerto Ayora’s public pier.

View of Scalesia forest in Galapagos.

Sunny day at Puerto Ayora. Photo credit: Mapionet

At the pier, embark on the hotel’s water taxi (staff will call it the panga) and cross over from the Municipal Dock to the Hotel Dock.
Disembark from the panga at the Hotel Dock and leave your luggage with the hotel staff. They will transfer it to your rooms. Enjoy the short walk (600 m / 2000 ft) along a pedestrian-only pathway through mangrove-areas and brackish lagoons before reaching the beachfront area and entering the Finch Bay Galapagos Hotel grounds.