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Genovesa Island and a Red footed booby
One of the jewels of the Crown

GENOVESA ISLAND

“Genovesa Island” is now part of our itineraries. Genovesa is one of the most precious islands to visit in a Galapagos cruise! Genovesa is also known as the “Bird Island“, and it most certainly lives up to certain standard in a spectacular way. Passenger will have the opportunity to enjoy the most representative birds of Galapagos as: Puffball–chicks, white both yellow–crowned and lava herons, Red footed boobies contrasting with the Nazca booby and also the Sawllow–tailed gulls, the only nocturnal gulls in the world that will be nesting at the cliff’s edge.

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VISITOR SITES

Darwin Bay
El Barranco, Prince Phillips's Steps

Darwin Bay

Sandy coral beach with a great viewpoint of the bay. From within the flooded caldera of Tower Island, we set foot onto a sandy beach to be greeted by swallow-tailed gulls often said to be the most beautiful gull in the world. Our short, flat, trail leads us past stands of mangroves and saltbush on which we have our best possible look at nesting red-footed boobies and great frigatebirds. At the tidal lagoon, we may also see the rarest gulls in the world, our very own, endemic lava gulls.

Two passengers in Darwin Bay, a pthe red lace where you can find a red footed booby

  • Disembarking: Wet.
  • Type of Terrain: Sandy.
  • Difficulty: Low.
  • Activities: 45 min kayaking / 25 min glass-bottom boat / 1-hour deep or beach snorkeling / 1 hour 15 min hike.
  • Highlights: Swallow-tailed and lava gulls, frigatebirds (minor & magnificent), mockingbirds, yellow-crowned night herons, large beaked cactus finch, the smallest marine iguanas of the islands.

Wildlife by visitor site

Red Footed icon
RED FOOTED BOOBY
nazca booby icon
NAZCA BOOBY
Fragatebird icon

GALAPAGOS FRIGATE

Marine iguana icon

MARINE IGUANA

Sea Lion icon
SEA LION

Gallery

Flock of Red footed Boobies flying on Genovesa Island Galapagos
Tourist photographing a red-footed booby on the Genovesa island Galápagos
Photographer taking pictures of a Red footed booby on Genovesa Islands Galapagos
Genovesa Island view
Kayaking at Genovesa Island, and the Galapagos Legend in the back

El Barranco, Prince Phillips's Steps

A paradise for bird lovers, about 200,00 Red-footed boobies in their nesting site.

Prince Philip´s Steps are named after a visit by the British Monarch in 1964. The 81-foot stairway leads to a narrow stretch of land that opens out onto the plateau surrounding Darwin Bay, that extends forming the north side of the island.

Riding our dinghy to the far side of the caldera, red-billed tropicbirds display vociferously overhead while Galapagos fur seals can be seen on the shoreline. Once at the top of the rocky stairway we are immediately met by Nazca boobies, red-footed boobies, mockingbirds, and finches that line our way through a palo santo forest until we arrive at an expansive open lava field. Wedge-rumped storm petrels swarm above the lava where we keep our eyes peeled for short-eared owls.

Two tourist doing kayaking in El Barranco, and two nazca booobies at the picture

  • Disembarking: Dry.
  • Type of Terrain: Rocky.
  • Difficulty: Medium.
  • Activities: 2-hour hike / 45-min dinghy ride[:es]2 horas de caminata / 45 min paseo en panga.
  • Highlights: Petrified lava field, nesting tropicbirds, lava heron, swallow-tailed gull, Galapagos petrel, red-footed boobies, short-eared owl, Nazca boobies, Warbler Finch, Large ground finch, Large cactus ground finch, vampire finch.

Wildlife by visitor site

Red Footed icon
RED FOOTED BOOBY
nazca booby icon
NAZCA BOOBY
Fragatebird icon

GALAPAGOS FRIGATE

Land Iguana icon

LAND IGUANA

Gallery

Sea lions resting on Genovesa in Galapagos with tourist on panga
Pair of Nazca boobies pruning the plumage
Juvenile red footed bobbies flying over Genovesa island
Red footed booby Resting on the branch of a tree in Genovesa
Photographer taking pictures of a Red footed booby on Genovesa Islands Galapagos
Genovesa Island and their birds
Blue footed booby at the Genovesa Island

Suggested items

Camera icon
CAMERA
Glasses icon
GLASSES
Shorts icon
SHORTS
Snorkeling icon
SNORKELING
Cap
CAP

Location map

Loaction Map

CHARLES DARWIN JOURNEY

This is the first Island visited by Charles Darwin, and his first impression of the dry coast he saw was of a deserted and isolated place. He did not find the tropical richness he expected, but he had the chance to collect the first specie that later on would be the start of his Theory of Evolution, the San Cristobal Mockingbird.

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