What is one animal in the Galápagos no one wants to miss? The giant Galápagos tortoises of course! And our first outing when we arrived was to see these amazing creatures. This post dives into where to see giant tortoises on Santa Cruz Island. Keep reading to find out more.
The Galapagos tortoises live on most of the islands. Since we were staying on the island of Santa Cruz, the easiest way for us to see them was to take a taxi up to the highlands. This is their natural habitat.
Surprisingly to us, there was more to see than just Galapagos giant tortoises on this part of the island, so we made a day of it.
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How We Arrived And Other Ways To Get To The Highlands
There are multiple ways to get to the highlands of Santa Cruz, where the giant tortoises live. Here are your options.
By Taxi
The most convenient option to get to a giant tortoise reserve is by taxi, and this is what we did. We arranged ours with the taxi driver who drove us from the airport ferry to our Airbnb in Puerto Ayora on the day we arrived.
Ask your hotel or Airbnb host for a reliable taxi driver’s phone number to book. Juan Carlos is a local and he knows all about the island of Santa Cruz, so we thought it best to ask him where to see giant tortoises.
For $50 he drove us around for 3+ hours. This was in 2022, so I’m sure prices have gone up since then, but it should be around this amount. We not only got to see many Galápagos Islands tortoises, but we also explored a lava tunnel, saw gigantic sink holes and took a short hike.
Since the tortoises are located in the middle of the island, he stayed with us the whole time and drive us wherever we liked. This, we found out, is very normal for anyone visiting the Galapagos tortoises on Santa Cruz and getting there by taxi.
Take The Bus
If you are on a budget, the best way for seeing the Galapagos tortoises in the Highlands of Santa Cruz is to take the local bus. You can catch the bus from the main road in Puerto Ayora and get off in Santa Rosa.
From Santa Rosa it is about a 30 – 40 minute walk to get to either of the two ranches. From what I read, the bus is cheap, about $1 dollar each way. So if you want to see the Galapagos tortoises without spending a lot of money and don’t mind walking, this is the way to go.
Rent A Bike
Another adventurous option to get to the highlands of Santa Cruz is to rent a bike. It can be hilly, so unless you are really in shape or like torturing yourself, I would recommend an e-bike. You can rent an e-bike for between $40 – $65 dollars a day. Regular bikes can be rented for $15 a day.
You can also take a bike tour, but there’s really only one road up to the highlands, so you won’t get lost! You can do this one on your own!
Check out Bike and Smile Galapagos to rent an e-bike and explore the island on two wheels.
Take A Tour
The Galápagos Islands is well set up for tourists and there are plenty of options for tours to where the giant tortoises live.
Like I mentioned before, I don’t think this is necessary, but if want a more hands off approach where someone plans it all and guides you along the way, this could be a great option for you!
Here are some tour options to see the Galápagos Islands tortoises:
- Galapagos: Giant Tortoises, Lava Tunnels, and Craters Tour
- Puerto Ayora: The Galapagos Giant Tortoise Shared Experience
- The Galapagos Giant Tortoise Experience + Los Gemelos | Shared
Where To See Giant Tortoises: Which Reserve Is Best?
There are two reserves where you can see the Galapagos tortoises on Santa Cruz Island, El Chato Ranch and Rancho Primicias. We had read reviews of both of the ranches, and they seemed fairly similar.
Most of the blogs we read referenced El Chato Ranch, but Rancho Primicias had slightly better reviews. We weren’t sure, so we asked our taxi driver for advice on where to see giant tortoises.
Juan Carlos had told us he has lived on Santa Cruz Island his whole life, so we knew he would know the difference between the two reserves and be able to give us a good recommendation. He told us that the two ranches are very similar, with the only real difference being their lava tunnels.
Both reserves have lava tunnels that you can explore, but the one at Rancho Primicias is longer and grander. There are 3 lava tunnels at El Chato, but they are supposedly much shorter.
We ultimately decided to explore Rancho Primicias for this reason, but I think either reserve would be a good option for seeing the tortoises. Both of the ranches were built in the natural habitat of the tortoises and are there to preserve the flora and fauna of the Galápagos Islands. The tortoises can freely come and go. They just like it there!
Another option to see the Galapagos Tortoises: You can also visit where some tortoises are bred and see baby turtles near Puerto Ayora on Santa Cruz Island.
Read more about the Charles Darwin Research Station here.
Seeing Los Gemelos Sinkholes
Driving up the hill, we were soon enveloped in clouds and a light mist. How quickly the climate changes depending on where you are on the island! The first stop on our adventure to see the Galapagos tortoises was at Los Gemelos (the twins).
These are two sinkholes or volcanic craters were formed when large lava tunnels collapsed. They were massive and incredible to see from above.
You can follow a short trail that weaves around the outer edges of the sinkholes and through magical looking trees while birds sing around you. It was a pretty area to hike and it wasn’t a very long trail.
It is not an activity that deserves a separate trip up to the highlands, but it is nice as an addition to seeing the tortoises.
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Exploring The Lava Tunnel At Rancho Primicias
After the stroll, we hopped back in the taxi to go to the lava tunnel at Rancho Primicias. Along the drive we saw tortoise crossing signs and sure enough we saw them grazing in the fields and even a couple snoozing on the road.
We descended into the lava tunnel by way of a staircase leading roughly 30 feet below ground. The tunnel opened up and revealed itself to be much larger and more magnificent than expected.
Since the blogs we read before visiting never made much mention of them, we thought they’d disappoint. On the contrary, we really enjoyed them.
The kids were a bit hesitant walking in the lava tunnels. “Are they going to collapse on us?” they asked. Fair question after just seeing two enormous sinkholes that were formed from just that.
We also walked past significant piles of debris that clearly resulted from portions of the ceiling and walls collapsing. We continued on despite the risk and navigated the tunnel without issue. They are set up for tourists, so I wouldn’t worry too much about this!
Next stop, Galapagos giant tortoises!!!
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What To Expect At The Giant Tortoise Reserve Santa Cruz
In 2022, Rancho Primicias was $10 per adult and $5 for each child. This included a naturalist guide (which is required and should be tipped) and rubber boots.
They don’t have their prices listed on their website, so I’m not sure if they have raised them or not. I did check El Chato and it is still $10 to enter their reserve.
After being fitted for your boots, you start the tour with your guide who talks about the flora and fauna of the area. We learned that October, when we were visiting, is the cool and dry season. During the hot season, it is much warmer, obviously. It also rains a lot more, and there are many more blooming flowers.
We act engaged as our guide points out everything around us including trees, birds, and cows. Everything except the Galapagos tortoises! It was interesting, but we really wanted to see the tortoises by this time!
Eventually we are led further into the property, and that is when we see the big one. The large tortoise in the photo on the left is a male and is well over 100 years old!
We explored around the ranch and saw many different tortoises. Here are some of the interesting things we learned along the way:
- The larger ones are males and the smaller ones are females.
- The females travel for 2 weeks to lay their eggs, and then they leave them and walk back. See ya and good luck babies!
- The lines on their backs show approximately how old they are. When they are over 100 years old, the lines start to disappear, and they become darker in color.
- They can’t hear. They know someone is coming by feeling vibrations.
- They sleep with their legs sprawled and their head on the ground.
Visiting the ranch was extremely enjoyable. Look! We even got our pictures taken in some tortoise shells. If you want, you can also have lunch at a restaurant there and there’s a small gift shop.
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