One of the last experiences we took while staying in the Galápagos Islands was a North Seymour Island tour. I’m going to take you on a journey of what to expect during a day trip to North Seymour Island, so keep reading if you are deciding if a tour is worth it or not.
This bird-filled island is located just north of Isla Baltra which is where the airport is. Because of its closer proximity to Santa Cruz, we were able to leave at 8am instead of 6am like our previous tour to Bartolome. This was much appreciated. 😃
As with many things on the Galapagos, it required a bus ride to the other side of Santa Cruz island, boarding a dinghy to be taken to the sailboat, the inevitable spotting of sharks in the shallower water, and seeing seals lounging on the buoys.
We had been booked by our Airbnb host with Nature Galapagos Tours. It was the same tour company we used for our previous tour to Bartolome Island, so we boarded the familiar sailboat, The Nautilus, and we were on our way.
While we were sailing to our first stop, we met our new naturalist guide. Every tour in the Galpagos Islands includes a guide. The guide is there to make sure tourists respect the natural beauty of the Galapagos and in addition to teach visitors about the ecology and geology of the islands.
In our conversation, Isaac excitedly kept interrupting and telling her facts that he had already learned about the Galapagos. She said that he was like a little nature guide, and all throughout the tour she had him explain or answer questions about the flora and fauna. It was great that she included him in the tour, and he was able to learn even more from her!
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Tips For Booking Tours In The Galapagos
For the best price, we recommend speaking with your hotel or Airbnb host to find out which tours they recommend. They will know which ones have the best reputation and the best prices. This is how we booked our tours and while we thought they were a little expensive, because honestly everything is there, compared to prices we were seeing online, they were good.
We have been told by others that booking your tours in advance online can be more expensive. I don’t have first hand experience with this, but would recommend speaking with a local to find out if it is true.
I believe our tour was $190 dollars per person. Things to consider though. It was in 2022, so it has been a few years. It was also the off season. We were there in October. If you are visiting in mid-December to mid-January or June through August, I would expect higher prices.
What To Expect On A Day Trip To North Seymour Island
The tour to North Seymour didn’t just include the island but a few other stops along the way. This gave the trip some variety and allowed us to see even more animals and learn more about the natural beauty of the Galápagos Islands.
Las Bachas Beach
Our first stop on the North Seymour Island day tour took us to a very beautiful beach called Playa Las Bachas off the coast of the island of Santa Cruz. This is the island where we were staying, but this beach is on the opposite side and only accessible by boat.
We walked down the beach with our guide while she pointed out different ecological facts. We learned that the majority of the sand we were walking on was actually parrotfish poop! 😳 We had no idea!
The water at this beach was also one of the most beautiful we had ever seen.
Besides the education component, we of course looked for animals. We searched for turtles off the coastline and flamingos in the lagoons. We didn’t spot any flamingos but did see some turtles, crabs, pelicans flying overhead and the famous blue footed boobies.
In addition to this, we could see tracks of where the sea turtles came up on land to lay their eggs.
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Snorkeling On The North Seymour Island Tour
The next part of the day trip to North Seymour Island took us snorkeling. When we went to Bartolome Island previously, the snorkeling was absolutely incredible. So much so that we got the kids excited enough to give it a shot this time. (Read about our day trip to Bartolome here.)
Unfortunately, where we snorkeled off the coast of North Seymour wasn’t ideal for children. It was choppy water.
Levi lasted maybe 2 minutes. Those two minutes were incredible but it may have scared him too much to want to try again for a little while. (Please note, he was fine, but got a little panicked when the water got in his breathing tube and his mask slipped off.)
Isaac did very well snorkeling for a little while. Then, when Mike left him with me so he could go try and get Levi back in the water, something happened and he wanted to get out of the water.
I am not too strong of a swimmer, so to lift him up and calm him down while swimming wasn’t going to happen. He just got out after that and so did I.
What did we learn? Don’t go snorkeling when it’s wavy and it is your kids’ 2nd time snorkeling ever! 🙄
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North Seymour Island Ecuador – The Main Attraction
The last, and most memorable, stop was on North Seymour Island. Remember the choppy waters? Well, the coastline is rocky here. No sand to be seen.
I guess it hasn’t been deemed necessary to build a dock here either. So, our boat driver timed the waves to ensure the front of our dinghy elevated enough to slide on top of a relatively flat rock on the shore. He then kept the motor going so the dinghy didn’t rock backwards off of the perch.
In the meantime, our guide did all she could to have us not think about how precarious this position was. She grabbed each person’s hand as they stumbled to the front of the boat and timed their jump onto the rocky shore correctly. Easy peasy.
Everyone made it to shore fine and back to the boat as well. There was a woman who didn’t time her jump back onto the dinghy correctly. She didn’t get hurt but it was a little awkward. If you have mobility issues, this is not a good tour for you.
Landscape Of North Seymour Island
As soon as you step onto North Seymour Island, it feels as if you’ve entered a different world. It is a desert-like island with minimal vegetation except some short bushes and small barren trees.
A mix of rock and sand make up the elevated terrain. The light somehow appears different on this landscape. A reddish brown that is accentuated by the non-stop screeches of the native birds.
It is eerie and beautiful at the same time. It feels ancient and untouched. The landscape makes it very easy to see the birds and their nesting places.
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Frigates And Their Nests
North Seymour island is where the remarkable frigate birds mate and nest. Frigates are the large black birds that have inflatable red chests. The males are the only ones that have the red chests and they balloon out only when they are searching for a mate.
You can see frigates on other islands flying around, but we never saw them land anywhere else. This was the only place.
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Seeing Blue Footed Boobies
Other birds that use the island for nesting are the blue footed boobies. We learned that they get their foot color from the carotenoid pigments obtained from the fresh fish they eat. Because of this, the young birds don’t have blue feet.
The bird on the right is a young blue-footed booby whereas the ones in the left photo are adults. The juvenile bird was surprisingly not scared of us as we walked right by it. It is one of the advantages of the animals that live in the Galapagos. Because of their protections, they don’t have anything to fear from humans.
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Land Iguanas
We also were able to see the land iguanas that live on North Seymour Island. They are different from the marine iguanas that you see all over other parts of the Galapagos in many ways.
One is the coloring. Land iguanas are a lighter shade of brown and blend into their environment, while marine iguanas a black and a strong contrast to the sand they sunbathe on.
Also, they do not like to be near each other unlike the marine iguanas which are commonly hanging out in groups and sharing body warmth.
After becoming used to only seeing the marine iguanas, it was interesting to catch some of the land iguanas climbing the trees and shrubs during the North Seymour Island tour.
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Summary Of Our North Seymour Island Tour
Overall the North Seymour Island day trip was incredible and I would highly recommend it. It is hard to even compare it to Bartolome. How can you compare frigates to penguins, stunning landscapes you have never seen and likely will never see anywhere else? I could, but it wouldn’t feel right. I guess you will just have to go and decide how to compare them yourself!
Also Visiting Quito? Here are some resources:
- 24 Hours In Quito: The Ultimate 1-day Itinerary
- Ultimate Quito Ecuador Travel Guide for A Memorable Family Vacation
- The Top Spots To See In Historic Downtown Quito
- How To Visit The Middle Of The World In Ecuador
- The Best Views – Advice For Taking The Teleférico In Quito
- A Must Visit To The Pristine Lagoon Of Quilotoa
- “The Best” Day Of Adventures: Cotopaxi National Park Tour
- Uncover The Surprising Cost Of Visiting Quito, Ecuador
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