Puerto Baquerizo Moreno is the capital of the Galapagos Islands, it's on San Cristóbal.

Get in

TAME has flights twice weekly (Wednesday and Friday) from the mainland (see Galapagos Islands Get In for more info).

Icaro just started flights to the islands.

There are daily boats from Puerto Ayora in Santa Cruz. The two hour boatride is rough and noisy and cost $25 one-way.

EMETEBE has flights to Baltra-airport and Isabela if there is enough demand.

Get around

The island is small enough that unless you want to go to Puerto Chino for the day or don't feel like hiking to Progreso you can walk whereever you need to be. From one end to the other Cristobal is about a 20-30 minute walk.

If you don't feel like walking, hail a taxi (hold your hand out, palm sideways and point your arm towards the ground) It should be $1 anywhere in town or $2 to the airport. Progreso and Puerto Chino will cost more, negotiate prices before you leave. There is frequently a "gringa tax" and forgeiners are charged more then locals. Most prices cannot be bargained down.

See

Do

There are several touragents offering boattrips to Kicker rock, Isla Lobo or other visitor sites. It's also possible to do scubadiving. There are three scuba shops on the island; GalaKiwi, Chalo Tours, and Galapagos Expeditions. GalaKiwi is better for experienced divers, the guide tends to swim fast and not point out too many things. Chalo Tours speaks English, Spanish, Danish, and German. They have reasonable prices and all the guides are great. Galapagos Expeditions wasn't open very often when I was there so I don't know much about them. The main guide for Expeditions was trained by Chalo Tour's main guide.

Renting a moutainbike is also possible and cost around $10 per day. Most bieks are not mountain but are sufficient for around town and on the roads up to El Progreso (the other town on the island)

A taxi can be rented to drive to Puerto Chino, considered one of the best beaches on the island. It will cost between $40-50 but we always grabbed a crowd and split the price. This is a gorgeous beach with soft white sand and is the further point into the island that one can go without a special researcher/scientist permit.

There are several excellent places to surf around the island as well. During off season there are frequently waves at Punta Carola and Tonga Reef. As the season picks up, El Canyon and a few other places have "buenas olas". Check with the locals about where the waves are daily and to ask for directions. IF there are waves, someone is almost guarenteed to be going surfing and most will invite you to follow them.

Money

There is a Banco de Pacifico with ATM. It only accepts mastercard/meastro. *Update* The ATM accepted my Visa card without any problems and most cards with the Cirrus symbol should be ok. If not, walk in the bank and talk to David about a Visa advance. He's a nice guy and speaks English.

Buy

There is a series of souvernirshops on the Malecón (Av. Charles Darwin). Galapagos coffee is always a popular item with prices ranging from $6.50/lb for vacu-packed coffee to $15/lb if you want it in a cute tin or box.

Eat

For a snack or internet, check out the Mockingbird Cafe. Diana, the owner, speaks English and makes a mean batido (milkshake). It's a family run place with great service and fun conversation. Find the GalaKiwi sign and turn up that street. Mockingbird is across the street from Chalo Tours.

There are several restaurants in town. The price for the usual setmeal of soup, rice and chicken is around $2.

• Restaurant Calypso (Plaza Civil), More western food like pizzas, hamburgers, sandwiches and delicious desserts. Not cheap though.
• Mi Grande, has decent breakfast for $2.50. The fruitjuices here are delicious.
• La Playa is also a favorite with great shrimp dishes and a good variety of food offered.
• Bambu is $2 for a set meal with a choice of chicken, beef, or fish along with juice, menestra (beans), rice, and the daily soup.

Drink

There are three main bars on the island; Polo's Bar, Iguana Rock, and Voqui Bar. Generally people start at Polo's (directly up the street from Calypso) and then head to Iguana Rock to dance (up the street from Polo's, hang a left when you hit the market). When Iguana's closes, head to Voqui for some late night pool (located in the back room of Calypso) or the sole Discoteca of the island, above Calypo's.

Sleep

• Mar Azul, Av. Alsacio Northia. Rooms are clean and have fan, private bathroom with hotshower and television. Price $15 pppn.
• Hotel San Francisco, Av Chales Darwin, This hotel is conveniently located at the Malecón and is a cheap option if cleanliness isn't your highest priority. Uninviting rooms have television, fan and private bathroom with cold shower. Price $8 pppn.
• Hotel Shijomar, right next to hotel San Francisco is about the same price, but a bit better.
• Casa de Nelly, Populair with foreign volunteers. Price about $10 pppn

Get out