South Plaza Island
South Plaza Island
4.5
About
Duration: 1-2 hours
Meets animal welfare guidelines
Suggest edits to improve what we show.
Improve this listingTours & experiences
Explore different ways to experience this place.
Full view
Revenue impacts the experiences featured on this page, learn more.
Top ways to experience South Plaza Island
The area
Reach out directly
Contribute
Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.
Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as waiting time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.
Popular mentions
We perform checks on reviews.
Tripadvisor’s approach to reviews
Before posting, each Tripadvisor review goes through an automated tracking system, which collects information, answering the following questions: how, what, where and when. If the system detects something that potentially contradicts our community guidelines, the review is not published.
When the system detects a problem, a review may be automatically rejected, sent to the reviewer for validation, or manually reviewed by our team of content specialists, who work 24/7 to maintain the quality of the reviews on our site.
Our team checks each review posted on the site disputed by our community as not meeting our community guidelines.
Learn more about our review moderation.
4.5
36 reviews
Excellent
28
Very good
6
Average
1
Poor
1
Terrible
0
VOLUNTEERMOM
Illinois99 contributions
Aug 2022 • Family
Just beautiful! Gorgeous color and views. Lots of wildlife. Sea lions, iguanas, birds. Really enjoyed our hike with the naturalist. Hesitated on booking this tour, but it was so much more than we expected. Some of our best pictures.
Written 11 September 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
County-Hunter
Tacoma, WA3,743 contributions
Aug 2021 • Couples
This was one of the smaller islands that we visited in the Galapagos, but there a lot of different animals and birds as well as some stunning seascapes. What we found interesting was how many different species would cluster in the shade of a cactus. You would see a sea lion and an iguana and a swallow tailed full all hanging out together. Our guide was thorough and so we spent two hours on our nature walk. I would recommend a visit to South Plaza Island.
Written 2 August 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Robin P
Sydney, Australia369 contributions
Nov 2019
Of the two uninhabited Plaza Islands, South Plaza Island accepts visitors. Located (+ two hours by boat) off the east coast of Santa Cruz Island, it is one of the smallest islands in the archipelago covering an area of 0.13 sq km with a maximum elevation of 23 Meters. It is covered in red Sesuvium, a ground vegetation which changes color from green in the wet season. Very flat but with an incredibly rough terrain, we walked across this island - rated intermediate level! If you have access to a walking pole, take one. The Island has a dry landing.
Mostly land iguanas are found here but South Plaza is also the only island where the hybrid Galapagos iguana is found. Bird species are plentiful and include the Nazca, Blue footed Boobies, swallow-tailed gulls and red-billed tropicbirds. We saw hundreds of birds flying near the cliffs, including pelicans and some smaller varieties trying to land in the wind, one I watched must have made a dozen attempts to land and kept missing.
Rejoining our boat, which had to stay some distance from the coastline as there is a large amount of submerged volcanic rock which I could see (when snorkling later in a lovely sheltered cove) very close to our feet but we’d been told not to touch it as lots of barnacles which are very sharp.
Our Boat then cruised along northern side of Santa Cruz (which is always clear) up the coast, passed several small beaches and left us at top of Santa Cruz and we took a bus the 42 km back to Puerto Aroyo (nearest town to our hotel) on an almost dead straight road.
Mostly land iguanas are found here but South Plaza is also the only island where the hybrid Galapagos iguana is found. Bird species are plentiful and include the Nazca, Blue footed Boobies, swallow-tailed gulls and red-billed tropicbirds. We saw hundreds of birds flying near the cliffs, including pelicans and some smaller varieties trying to land in the wind, one I watched must have made a dozen attempts to land and kept missing.
Rejoining our boat, which had to stay some distance from the coastline as there is a large amount of submerged volcanic rock which I could see (when snorkling later in a lovely sheltered cove) very close to our feet but we’d been told not to touch it as lots of barnacles which are very sharp.
Our Boat then cruised along northern side of Santa Cruz (which is always clear) up the coast, passed several small beaches and left us at top of Santa Cruz and we took a bus the 42 km back to Puerto Aroyo (nearest town to our hotel) on an almost dead straight road.
Written 27 March 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Christopher M
Jersey, UK121 contributions
Dec 2017 • Couples
We pre-booked and paid Viator weeks ahead and were notified of a confirmed reservation. We travelled to Santa Cruz, but our hotel front desk was advised the night before the tour that it was cancelled. There was a story about a boat repair but we do not believe that story. December is low season with plenty of available replacement boats around and fewer tourists. We believe this confirmed tour was cancelled at short notice for commercial reasons, as they realised they could not make up a full boat and bank the expected massive profit at the high prices charged.
We will now be very warey in future of any Viator priced and branded tours.
Viator is linked commercially to Tripadvisor, so will this honest feedback be published or suppressed?
We will now be very warey in future of any Viator priced and branded tours.
Viator is linked commercially to Tripadvisor, so will this honest feedback be published or suppressed?
Written 15 December 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Mishka F
Brisbane, Australia171 contributions
Jan 2018 • Couples
We added this day trip on at the end of a 12 day (5 + 7) itinerary. The island is unique and well worth a visit - including watching sharks trying to ambush seal pups and extraordinary flora on the island itself. But in December don’t book ahead- there are so many options to choose from Puerto Ayora, from as little as $100US per person. We booked in advance and paid $264USD per person - it was not good value. Snorkelling is poor compared with what you become accustomed to on a cruise. Definitely, the cruises are much better value.
Written 9 January 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
RazorRen
Poole140 contributions
Mar 2016 • Couples
A small cactus isle located east of Santa Cruz, it hosts a variety of wildlife especially the Land Iguana which are a common sight here. Other species I seen were the Swallow Tailed Gull and some Sea Lions especially pups.
This is a good day tour to take if you want to see lots of animals.
This is a good day tour to take if you want to see lots of animals.
Written 27 May 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
BLtrvl
Glenview, IL1,376 contributions
Apr 2016 • Couples
Saw many large sea lions as well as land iguanas, pelicans and small finches - partially white sand beach, partial volcano rock
Written 8 May 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
lightningboy
Vancouver, Canada2,930 contributions
May 2018 • Family
Our boat departed Itabaca Channel at approximately 9am. The water was slightly choppy but not huge swells. We reached Plaza Sur after about 70 minutes and the dry landing was easy. There are many sea lions, land iguanas, and many birds including lava gulls, red-billed tropic birds and frigates. The hike to the top is over loose lava rock and the entire loop is an easy 1km walk. On the south side of the island are magnificent cliffs where birds soar and perch on the rocks. Plaza Sur is an easy island to get to if you’re staying on Santa Cruz and the wildlife sightings are good.
Written 17 May 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Bruce H
Brisbane, Australia1,479 contributions
Aug 2017 • Couples
The turquoise waters contrasted brilliantly with the white sand and black lava of the shoreline. We noticed a carpet of scarlet succulents which serves as ground cover but these were in contrast to the luminescent green prickly-pear cactus beyond The island is populated by yellow-grey land iguanas. Along the coastline we found many sea lion colonies, while seabirds along the cliffs were plentiful. The small but spectacular island of South Plaza is a must visit.
Written 7 October 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
K. CHAE
Seoul, South Korea195 contributions
Aug 2017 • Solo
South Plaze island is small. And doesn't have much fame compared to some bigger islands in Galapagos. However, this little piece of land is special, even in Galapagos standards. I traveled Galapagos for 15 days, visiting almost all the islands. So you know I know what I'm talking about when I tell you South Plaze is something else. Its landscape is unique, yellow land iguanas are easy to be spotted, and it's just all in all a mesmerizing place. It's a easy day trip out of Puerto Ayora as well, so why miss it? I highly recommend you take time to check it out.
Written 27 August 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
No questions have been asked about this experience
Revenue impacts the experiences featured on this page, learn more.
Is this your Tripadvisor listing?
Own or manage this property? Claim your listing for free to respond to reviews, update your profile and much more.
Claim your listing