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20-511: Puerto Ayora has a protected location, along the shores of Academy Bay , where a refreshing breeze often provides pleasant weather. Temperatures vary between 18 and 29 °C (64 and 84 °F). The hot season usually runs from December to May. Puerto Ayora has the best developed infrastructure in the archipelago. The larger of the two Galápagos banks, Banco del Pacifico, is located in Puerto Ayora. The walkable downtown area of Puerto Ayora

40-537: A colony of sea lions, lies about ten minutes by bus from the town. Local boat tours also take visitors to two popular nearby dive sites. "Kicker Rock" (the Spanish name is "León Dormido") is the remains of a lava cone, now split in two. Isla Lobos (" Sea Lion Island") is also a nesting site for blue-footed boobies. San Cristóbal Island has a tropical climate with warm, dry winters and hot, humid summers with more precipitation than in winter. The following table shows

60-532: A military base for Ecuador and export center for the island's products including sugar, coffee, cassava, cattle, fish and lime. In April 1888 USS  Albatross , a Navy-crewed research vessel assigned to the United States Fish Commission , made landfall at an abandoned settlement on Charles Island. San Cristóbal has an area of 558 km (215 sq mi) and its highest point rises to 730 metres (2,400 ft). The population

80-632: A sports center were built. Most of the shops, hardware stores and grocery stores there can be found in Calle Baltra and Calle Durán. The stadium is in the northwest of the center close to the bus station. Fresh water is at a premium on the island and in this town. Locals practice water conservation and typically collect rainwater during the rainy season. There is a desalination plant on the island. Many facilities have separate water systems with varying degrees of use/quality. For example, water used for cleaning/showering may not be drinkable. Home to both

100-605: Is a small strip of hotels, restaurants, tour companies, gift shops, clothing stores, marine stores, tourist shops and night clubs. The main Avenue is named Avenida Charles Darwin and begins on the main dock of Puerto Ayora and finishes at the Charles Darwin Research Station. The Town Hall ( Alcaldía ) is on Avenida Charles Darwin as well. Puerto Ayora is the best place in Galápagos for communicating with

120-522: Is an hour away by boat and has a wide array of animals with no people living on the island. Flights from continental Ecuador fly into either San Cristobal or to Baltra Island just off the north end of Santa Cruz. Two airlines that provide this are Avianca and LATAM Ecuador . The typical means to reach Puerto Ayora from the Baltra airport is a bus ride to the Itabaca Channel where a ferry ride

140-735: Is approximately 6000. San Cristóbal is the most fertile island of the archipelago and is the second most populated after Santa Cruz . The capital of the archipelago, Puerto Baquerizo Moreno , lies at the south-western tip of the island. The island is served by San Cristóbal Airport , with daily flights from Quito and Guayaquil. This island hosts frigatebirds , Galápagos sea lions , Galápagos tortoises , blue and red footed boobies , tropicbirds , marine iguanas , dolphins and swallow-tailed gulls . It has been recognised as an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International . Its vegetation includes Calandrinia galapagosa , Lecocarpus darwinii , trees such as Lignum vitae , Matazarna . In

160-429: Is bordered by the town of Puerto Ayora , the largest town in the Galápagos. Wildlife includes sea lions , and lava flows come up to the edge of the water. Scuba diving is particularly popular, as water temperatures remain comfortable year round (18–25 °C) and visibility is generally excellent (10–20 m). Academy Bay is an example of a graben structure: a down-dropped block bound by faults. This kind of structure

180-472: Is characteristic of extensional deformation of the Earth's crust. 0°45′S 90°17′W  /  0.750°S 90.283°W  / -0.750; -90.283 This Ecuador location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . San Crist%C3%B3bal Island San Cristóbal Island ( Spanish : Isla San Cristóbal ), also known as Chatham Island , is the easternmost island in

200-404: Is home to the oldest permanent settlement of the islands and is the island where Darwin first went ashore in 1835. A small lake called El Junco is the only source of fresh water in the islands. The availability of fresh water is what led to the early settlement of San Cristobal. A penal colony was built on San Cristóbal Island in 1880 for prisoners from mainland Ecuador. This later turned into

220-497: Is taken to Santa Cruz Island . Then another bus, courtesy vehicle or taxi is taken to Puerto Ayora. From the Puerto Ayora docks water taxis wait to take passengers to their boats or to west Puerto Ayora. The municipal bus station ( Terminal ) is in the northwest of the town. There are also daily speed boats which take passengers to or from Puerto Ayora and the other inhabited islands of San Cristóbal or Isabela . Academy Bay Academy Bay ( Spanish : Bahía de la Academia )

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240-771: Is the natural harbor of Santa Cruz Island in the Galápagos Islands archipelago . The bay was named for the California Academy of Sciences, which sent an expedition here in 1905. It is home to the Charles Darwin Research Station , founded in 1959 to preserve and study the Galapagos wildlife. It was here that the crew of the Norwegian ship Alexandra was rescued in 1906. Popular with sailors and tourists, Academy Bay

260-449: Is used by water taxis who take people from Baltra to Santa Cruz. Academy Bay is a busy harbor, normally full of boats cruising the islands, passing private yachts and local fishing boats. This bay is a good location to spot brown pelicans , golden rays , Marine iguanas , herons , lava gulls , Frigatebirds , Galápagos sea lions , and large numbers of Blue-footed boobies , which fish by spectacular plunge diving. North Seymour Island

280-556: The Charles Darwin Foundation and the Galápagos National Park , Puerto Ayora is the center of the Galápagos conservation efforts. Island visitors may visit the Charles Darwin Research Station to learn the history of the islands and future conservation plans. Iglesia de San Francisco is a modern church which was built in 1968. Iglesia de Edén and Iglesia de la Calle E are modern churches in

300-538: The Galápagos archipelago , as well as one of the oldest geologically. It is administratively part of San Cristóbal Canton , Ecuador . San Cristóbal is Spanish for Saint Christopher , reckoned in Catholicism as the patron saint of sailors. The English pirate William Ambrosia Cowley named it Dassigney's Island in 1684, later shortened to Dassigney or Dassigny Island, in honor of Philip Dassigny,

320-547: The member of Bartholomew Sharp 's crew who translated the Spanish atlas that saved the captain from being hanged for piracy. The British captain James Colnett renamed it Lord Chatham Island in 1793 after John Pitt , 2nd Earl of Chatham and First Lord of the Admiralty , on the specious claim it had never been previously charted. San Cristobal Island is composed of three or four fused volcanoes, all extinct. It

340-495: The northern part of Puerto Ayora with colourful wall paintings which are worth a visit as well. Tortuga Bay is a short walk from center of Puerto Ayora where you can view Marine Iguanas , birds, Galapagos Crabs and a natural mangrove where you can spot Whitetip Reef Sharks and the gigantic Galápagos tortoise . The Itabaca Channel is located between two islands in the Galápagos , Baltra Island , also known as South Seymour Island, and Santa Cruz Island . The Itabaca Channel

360-399: The outside world via numerous cybercafes with Internet access or telephone offices. Puerto Ayora emergency medical facilities include a new hospital opened in 2006 and the island's only hyperbaric chamber. There is a Health Center ( Centro de Salud ) in the northern part of Puerto Ayora as well. Most of the locals live in the northern part of the town where various schools, a market hall and

380-601: The residents of San Cristóbal live in the port city of Puerto Baquerizo Moreno , which is the capital of Ecuador′s Galápagos Province . Island tourism sites nearer the town of Puerto Baquerizo Moreno include the Cerro Tijeretas , a nesting colony for frigate birds , and a statue of Charles Darwin , marking the original site where he first disembarked in the Galápagos Islands during the second voyage of HMS Beagle on 16 September 1835. La Loberia ,

400-519: The waters nearby are sharks , rays , and lobsters . The largest fresh water lake in the archipelago , Laguna El Junco , is located in a crater in the highlands of San Cristóbal, in the southern half of the island. The lake harbors a large population of birdlife, but reaching the lake requires a short uphill walk. Nearby, La Galapaguera is a breeding station and sanctuary for giant tortoises. Most inhabitants of San Cristóbal Island make their living in government, tourism, and fishing. The majority of

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