San Cristobal is one of four inhabited Galápagos Islands. With an airport, it is often the island many people arrive and depart from.
I flew into it so San Cristobal was my first stop on my island hopping. I had two and a half full days to explore the island before heading on to Isabela. Here’s what I got up to…
Day One – Arriving to the Galápagos
I arrived to San Cristobal in the early afternoon. After paying the $100 entrance fee and collecting my backpack, I walked into town to my hostel.
In the afternoon, I booked a Kicker Rock tour for the following day and bought a snorkel.
There’s a short story here…I’d orginally planned to buy a snorkel on the mainland after reading tips in blogs about having your own and a friend who’d previously visited said the same.
I found one in Guayaquil but for $30 I wasn’t convinced it would be worth it. So, I didn’t buy one and then really regretted it and kind of beat myself up about not getting one. When I walked past a shop on San Cristobal selling a snorkel for $17, having learnt my lesson from the last time, I bought one straight away! No regrets this time!
In the evening, I went to Playa Mann, which was teeming with sea lions, to watch the sunset and followed it with an awesome burger at Cri’s! My trip to the Galápagos was off to a great start!
Day Two – Kicker Rock (El León Dormido)
Other name: Kicker Rock is also called El León Dormido (sleeping lion). From afar, the rock formations apparently look like a sleeping lion. Imagination is required!
On my first full day, I splashed out on the Kicker Rock tour. I say “splashed out” because none of the tours are budget friendly. Day tours cost from $100 and I paid $120 (£95 approx) for Kicker Rock.
Included in the price is the snorkel gear, wetsuit, snacks, water, lunch, guide and obviously the boat!
I went to my agency for 8am to collect my gear for the day and when doing so I received the best wetsuit tip of my life so far!
Tip: Putting on a wetsuit always involves a struggle! At least it does for me! They’re so tight and practically impossible to slide on; I normally end up wiggling and pulling it on – it’s a slow frustrating process! I’ve since discovered, thanks to the guy at the agency, that a plastic bag makes it all easier! Wear a plastic bag on your foot and the wetsuit will slide up your legs so much quicker!
Once at Kicker Rock, our group split into two as half were diving and the other half (me included) were just snorkelling.
On getting in the water and wearing the snorkel, I had a classic 5min panic where I struggled with controlling my breathing with the snorkel. Out of practice I guess!
We snorkelled around Kicker Rock for about an hour (I reckon!) and at one point went though a channel which was really cool. Saw lots of fish, some in massive shoals, and some seriously big turtles!
The water was very cold and by the end my teeth were chattering hard. I was very grateful for my long wetsuit; definitely wouldn’t have coped in a short one or without!
Back on the boat, we waited for the divers to return (this was my seasick feeling dodgy moment!), and then went for a second shorter snorkel while they did their second dive.
Tip: If you do get sea sick, potentially have some motion sickness pills on you for sea sickness. I was fine when we were moving, but after the first snorkel, when we were sat on the boat, I really wasn’t feeling good with the boat’s rocking.
One of the reasons why Kicker Rock is a popular tour is because it’s a good place to see sharks, particularly hammerheads. Kicker Rock is basically a carwash for them; they swim around it rotating and get cleaned by the fish swimming there.
Although we did see turtles and fish, water visibility on our trip was not good; it was very cloudy. Our guide said the drop in temperature had a knock on effect on the algae which died in the cooler temperatures and hence made the water murky.
So we didn’t see any hammerhead sharks which I was really disappointed about (unlike me I know!).
Considering my fear of sharks, I’m still impressed I got in deep water knowing they were swimming below. Plus throughout the snorkel I wasn’t worried about an incoming shark attack! I was confident they’d mind their own business!
I can now say I’ve swam in shark infested waters 😉
After both snorkels and dives were done, we put up anchor off shore from a beautiful beach and had a Ceviche lunch. I’m not the biggest fan of Ceviche (it’s the raw texture!), but I really enjoyed this one!
Was Kicker Rock worth it?
Kicker Rock is a really cool tour that I imagine is fabulous when you get great clear water and visibility. Whilst I enjoyed it – saw amazing giant turtles and it’s a cool snorkelling location – I won’t rave about it and say it was amazing.
This is probably due to the price of the tour coupled with what I saw, or in my case didn’t see due to poor visibility. I know you can’t control weather or water conditions, but experiences of a tour are largely governed by what you see.
In my case, it was hard to see much swimming through the murky water so for me Kicker Rock didn’t justify the price tag. I was disappointed we didn’t see a greater variety of sea life (like stingrays etc) and any sharks (which is weird coming from me I know!).
I also think if I’d paid less, I wouldn’t have been so disappointed. I did meet a couple who’d done the tour the previous day and they raved about the sharks, stingrays etc they saw!
Day Three – Playa Lobería and Las Tijeretas
In the morning, I went to Playa Lobería. It’s a 40/50min walk from the town centre and not the most interesting of walks; most of it is along a tarmac road. I walked but renting a bike might be more fun!
I also missed the signs and walked to the airport which isn’t what you want to do. To get to the beach, take the last left before the airport and follow the road. There are signs but I totally missed them!
There are lots of crashing waves along that coastline; however Playa Lobería is a small beachy protected bay. The waves break far out so snorkelling and swimming is still safe to do. Also, since it’s further away make sure you take plenty of water and suncream.
Rather than go snorkelling, I followed the path along and past the beach to a viewpoint called Las Negritas (15min walk approx). It’s a rocky walk and on the way I passed (and almost stepped on) many iguanas. It’s so hard to see them when they’re as still as statues and blend into the black rocks.
At the viewpoint, I was lucky to find two blue footed boobies perched on the cliff.
Tip: If you’re looking for sea lions, I came across way more at Playa Mann and Punta Carola than at Lobería!
I then headed back to town and went to Playa Mann for lunch. I ate at the food stand nearest the toilets and it was such a good $5 almuerzo. I had vegetable soup to start, then grilled fish with rice (so fresh!) with a glass of passion fruit juice. Really recommend!
After lunch I went to Las Tijeretas for some snorkelling with my own gear. It’s a great cove to swim in: lots of fish, the sea lions swim right up to you and play, and I saw another turtle!
To get to Las Tijeretas, walk to Playa Mann and go to the Centro de Interpretaciones. You’ll sign in and then follow the signs to Las Tijeretas (approx a 10/15min walk).
If I’d had more days on San Cristobal, I definitely would’ve returned for more snorkelling!
How to get to San Cristobal
Puerto Baquerizo Moreno is the main town on San Cristobal and where you’ll be staying.
By plane
From San Cristobal’s airport, you can either take a taxi or walk to the town centre. A taxi costs a few dollars and walking takes around 20mins. So easy!
By ferry
You can only arrive by ferry from Santa Cruz. They arrive to San Cristobal once in the morning around 9am and once in the afternoon around 4pm. A ferry costs $30* and you can buy a ticket from almost any tour agency. Booking a day or two in advance is normally recommended.
If you’re leaving San Cristobal and going to Santa Cruz, there is once again an early morning and afternoon departure.
Also, to get on the ferry (small boats!), a water taxi will take you to where its anchored. This costs $0.50 so have some coins on you!
*There is one place on Santa Cruz Island where you can get ferry tickets for $25. It’s opposite the main dock on the waterfront to left of the church.
Tip: Head to the CPN ATM next to the police station for free money withdrawals!
Final thoughts
I loved San Cristobal island. There’s plenty to do for a couple of days and I loved how accessible the beaches were. I’d go to a beach or the dock every evening for sunset!
Seeing the blue footed boobies on the cliff at Playa Lobería was great, snorkelling at Tijeretas was fun, sunsets at Playa Mann and Punta Carola were beautiful, I ate some great food (at Playa Mann and Cri’s Burgers!) and overall Kicker Rock was still a good tour!
It’s been a wonderful island to start my stay on the Galápagos! Loved it!! Almost wish I was flying out of San Cristobal, instead of Baltra, so I could go back!!
I’ve now got a day of ferries for my journey to Isabela!
P.S. Got the first sunburn of the Galapagos trip – on the feet and behind the knees! Definitely redder than I’d hoped but all under control! Note to self wear more suncream and top up more frequently!
