Puerto Ayora

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Puerto Ayora is a town in central Galápagos, Ecuador. It is located on Santa Cruz Island, and it is the seat of Santa Cruz Canton. It is named after Isidro Ayora, an Ecuadorian president. The town is sometimes mistakenly referred to as Santa Cruz.

Puerto Ayora is the most populated town in the province, with approximately 10,000 inhabitants. It also has the most advanced tourist infrastructure in the archipelago. Most flights from Ecuador fly to the small island of Baltra just off the north end of Santa Cruz. Tame and Areogal are the two airlines available. Tame will generally cost tourists (extranjeros) 390 dollars round trip. Areogal is often less expensive, but the planes are older and fewer flights are offered.

Puerto Ayora has a privileged location, along the shores of Academy Bay. During most of the year, it receives a refreshing breeze which gives the town wonderful weather. The months of the hot season (December to May) make Puerto Ayora in Santa Cruz island a tropical paradise.

The bay is a good location to spot brown pelicans, marine iguanas, herons, Galapagos sea lions, and large numbers of blue-footed boobies, which fish by spectacular plunge diving.

Puerto Ayora in Santa Cruz island holds a very important communications infrastructure, including a bank (Banco del Pacifico) and several cybercafes with Internet access.

It is often unclear to tourists what to expect upon arrival in Baltra. Expect to pay a 100 dollar park entrance fee immediately in the airport terminal. Once you have recovered your luggage you need to get on a bus at the front of the airport, this is first come first serve so be prepared. The 10-minute bus ride takes you to a small ferry that crosses the narrow strait to Santa Cruz. From there you will take one more bus for an hour through the center of the island to Puerto Ayora. All these providers charge a small fare. Be sure to bring small change.

The vast majority of tourists arrive with reservations already made for a charter vessel. If you plan to look for a boat on arrival, just walk the main street and inquire in any of the many charter offices around town. In the busy season, however, be prepared to wait up to a week for a space. Puerto Ayora itself has the Charles Darwin Research Station, some tourist shops and some restaurants and bars. Tortuga Bay, a long white sand beach just outside of town, is a good site to view marine iguanas, rock pools and seabirds, as are the Las Grietas swimming fissures. Outside of town are the lava tubes, horseback riding, tortoise reserves, scuba diving, etc.

A new and very important action to reduce the human impact in the Galapagos Islands, and the population growing, is the april 2005 deportation process started by the Ecuadorian government, to extract 5000 people who live in Galapagos without permission and create a threat to the environment with the solid and liquid garbage management. The process must end in 2006.