Santa Cruz is the second largest island in the Galapagos. The small town of Puerto Ayora is the economic center of the archipelago, with the largest population of the four inhabited islands (approx. 10,000). Tourism, fishing, boat building and commerce are the major productive activities. Santa Cruz is also the only island where six different zones of vegetation can be seen: Coastal, Arid, Transition, Scalesia, Miconia and Pampa Zones.

     The Charles Darwin Research Station and the Galapagos National Park offices are based here. Scientists, park rangers and park managers make huge efforts to preserve and protect the Galapagos Islands, a UNESCO World Heritage site. The Station is also a tortoise breeding and rearing center, where tortoises of different subspecies are prepared for reintroduction to their natural habitats.

     The lush greenery of the Santa Cruz Highlands is a definite contrast with the arid scenery of the smaller, lower islands. A point of interest is the famed lava tunnels, a fun and geologically informative visit. The trip to the highlands ends with a visit to the Twin Craters

At Black Turtle Cove, the panga will take you into a tidal lagoon to see three kinds of mangrove plants, red, white and black.  White-tipped sharks, spotted rays, mustard rays and Pacific marine turtles frequent the waters here.

     Las Bachas is a white sand beach that is a major egg-laying site for sea turtles.  Las Bachas refers to the indentations left in the sand by laying turtles or departing hatchlings.  On the shore there are marine iguanas and in the lagoon flamingos are common

A newer visitors site, Dragon Hill (Cerro Dragon) offers a brackish water lagoon, flamingoes, common stilts, pintail ducks and other species of birds.  There is a short walk to the hill, which rewards with a great view and a nesting site of iguanas.