Floreana is one of the four inhabited Galapagos islands and boasts an interesting history dating back to its settlement by whalers. Here you’ll discover many intriguing sites as well as some of the finest snorkeling opportunities. With Galapagos Cormorant 4 day Itinerary, you can visit Floreana Island.
Puerto Velasco Ibarra, Floreana’s port town, is a small village with approximately two-thirds of its residents residing along its coastal area and one-third scattered amongst its highlands. Additionally, this village houses its only hotel – run by Wittmer family descendants from one of the first families that settled Floreana, who still live here today.
Floreana’s most iconic attraction is Post Office Bay, where whalers first installed a wooden barrel as an unofficial post box for letters sent from passing ships back home in 1793. Today visitors can still peruse its contents at this historic site.
About 45 minutes from the port is Asilo de la Paz, an impressive 1,4776-foot volcano cone featuring an underground cave where pirates would hide, as well as a vital freshwater spring that provides Floreana residents with drinking water. There’s even an enclosed corral where giant tortoises of Floreana were originally kept!
Floreana Island boasts one of the world’s greatest attractions – The “Devil’s Crown.” Once an extinct volcanic crater, most of this reef has since been eroded away over time, leaving only scattered spears protruding out from its waters in a rough semicircle formation. These spears provide shelter to an assortment of seabirds, such as red-billed tropicbirds and frigatebirds, which nest there.
Cormorant Point on Floreana Island offers another highlight for bird-watching enthusiasts, featuring an exquisite flamingo lagoon where visitors can watch Galapagos Islands flamingos wade through brackish waters in search of food. Furthermore, this spot provides great viewing of pintail ducks, stilts, large-billed flycatchers, and many other species of finches as they wade about searching.
Floreana by Cruise offers an exciting way to discover its natural beauty and rich history. A full-day cruise allows visitors to access areas that cannot be reached on day trips alone.
On this tour, you can ride along the coast in a panga dingy to search for wildlife before walking along the beach and swimming or snorkeling before making your return trip home.
Along with visiting beaches and other sights, this tour also features a delectable buffet lunch featuring some of the region’s best seafood!
Floreana by Cruise offers an unforgettable experience you won’t soon forget! A must-do if you want to see all that the Galapagos Islands have to offer!
Why Visit Galapagos Floreana Island?
Floreana Island in the Galapagos Islands stands out as an incredible island experience, from its charming little hamlet setting to the incredible activities that are offered here. You can enjoy a visit to this island with Galapagos Cormorant 4 day Itinerary.
One of the most fascinating attractions at Cormorant Point is an olivine-rich golden-greenish beach filled with olivine crystals. This crescent-shaped beach provides an excellent place to observe Pacific green Galapagos turtles mating and blue-footed boobies building nests in its soft fine sand.
Floreana Island is a verdant natural paradise with black-sand beaches, misty highland peaks, sparkling lagoons, lava tunnels, sea lion rookeries, and top snorkeling spots such as Devil’s Crown and Punta Cormorant, making this destination must-see on a Galapagos Islands tour for nature enthusiasts.
This island boasts an interesting history, with pirates and whalers frequently frequenting its fresh water source from Mt. Asilo de la Paz’s 450-meter peak.
Galapagos history features another intriguing chapter with early European expatriate settlers like Friedrich Ritter and Dore Strauch – vegetarian nudist couples from Germany; Wittmer family; Baroness Eloisa von Wagner Bosquet with three of her lovers as settlers – in their early settling.
Floreana Island remains remote and isolated, maintaining its unique charm while simultaneously safeguarding Floreana’s unique biodiversity – which the Galapagos Conservancy considers among the highest conservation losses across all islands in its archipelago. Visits by Charles Darwin Foundation provide annual surveys that monitor any changes or new threats, such as invasive species.
Floreana cuisine is heavily influenced by coastal Ecuador, featuring ingredients such as yucca, potatoes, fruit, and fish as staples in many dishes. Bolones – savory plantain dumplings often served with cheese or eggs – are especially beloved breakfast treats in Floreana.
Nearly two-thirds of the island’s residents reside in its port town, while one-third live in its volcanic highlands. There is one hotel on the island: Pension Wittmer is run by one of the first families that settled here; their descendants now manage it.
Highlights of Santa Cruz Island include Post Office Bay, where whalers established the first post office on Galapagos in 1793, and Devil’s Crown, an eroded volcanic crater popular among snorkelers. If you want to visit these sights on your Galapagos cruise itinerary, an itinerary tour would be an excellent way of experiencing them first-hand.
Floreana stands out among the Galapagos islands for its fascinating human history. Whaling ships would stop by Floreana regularly to resupply with food and water supplies before returning home.
In 1793, whalers installed a wooden barrel here on the beach as a post office for visiting seamen to deposit letters addressed back home in hopes that someone passing would pick them up and deliver them directly back home.
Visitors still visit this charming beach, using it to drop off postcards for loved ones or sort through current piles of mail to see if there’s anything they can take back home with them.
In the 1930s, three distinct groups of settlers came to Floreana searching for their own Robinson Crusoe paradise: Friedrich Ritter of Berlin and Dore Strauch from his dating pool; an individual known only as Nudist Dentist Dentist with all his teeth removed by him, and finally, Wittmer family from Austria.
Floreana Island stands alone among the Galapagos as being home to approximately 150 people who make a living through farming and fishing. Floreana has an expansive and interesting past as the original settlement on Galapagos Islands, which naturalist Charles Darwin visited in 1835.
In the 1930s, three diverse groups of independent settlers settled on Floreana Island, seeking a simpler life: Friedrich Ritter and Dore Strauch – two German doctors; the Wittmer family; and Eloise Wagner de Bosquet (a baroness).
At that time, there was a murder mystery scandal known as The Galapagos Affair that created unease throughout Floreana and left its residents disoriented and troubled. Furthermore, Floreana witnessed several disappearances and castaways that left Floreana with an unsettled feeling.
