Galapagos Islands cruises visitor site - Puerto Egas (James Bay)

A visit to Puerto Egas begins with a wet landing on the dark sand beaches of James Bay. The visit begins with a walk along the rocky coast giving visitors the opportunity to view some of the Galapagos Island's best tide pools. Sponges, snails, hermit crabs, barnacles and fish including the endemic four-eyed blenny can be seen. The walk also presents visitors with a variety of shore birds, marine iguanas, sally light foot crabs and sea lions.

There are two  interesting excursions normally visited from Puerto Egas.  The first is a short walk from the landing site brings visitors to the site of one of the Galapagos Islands' first entrepreneur endeavors. For decades salt was extracted from a local salt crater. The industry was abandoned in the 1950's leaving behind a variety of rusted old machines and parts of buildings. The trail follows the path once used by wagon trains to the crater cone.

The steep trail is easy, but can often seem one of the hottest hikes in the islands. Feral goats prune the arid vegetation, which lines the trail. The goats feed on any leaf within reach leaving little left for the endemic island creatures. Bird lovers will be delighted with the opportunity to catch a glimpse of one of Darwin's Finches, the endemic Galapagos Hawk, or the colorful Vermillion Flycatcher.

Finally reaching the crater rim presents an incredible vista. Looking into the crater you are able to see this extinct volcano whose floor has sunken below sea level. Salt water seeps into the crater creating a small salt lake. The sun evaporates the water, leaving the salt that many have tried to mine without success.

Looking away from the crater are the older orange lava fields supporting vegetation including the Palo Santo trees and the younger desolate black lava fields.

The second excursion begins just a short distance beyond the tide pools is the fur seal grotto. Fur Seals and Sea Lions can be seen swimming in the rocky lava ringed pools. This may be the only opportunity visitors have to see and swim with fur seals.

Fur seals were once hunted to near extinction for their coats. The Galapagos Islands Fur Seal is the smallest of the Fur Seals found in the Southern Hemisphere, now compare in numbers with the sea lions. During the day they hide from the hot equatorial sun in shelves or caves of the rocky lava cliffs. At night they feed on squid and fish avoiding the sharks, which are their natural predator.

The crystal clear water, volcanic bridges, fur seals and sea lions make this a magnificent place for swimming and snorkeling.