CNH Tours has just completed the first ever quantitative analysis of Galapagos visitor site quality. For years, people have been asking us: “ Which is the nicest visitor site? ”; “ Where’s the best snorkeling? ”; “ Is this itinerary better than that one ”. Our answers have always been very much based on our own judgement and limited experience – taking into consideration the fact that we have not been to each of the 54 visitor sites surveyed in our analysis. How did we do it? We asked 12 naturalist guides, with a combined 231 years guiding experience in Galapagos, to rate visitor sites on a scale of 1 to 10 (1 being the poorest) against 5 specific criteria: Iconic species : The likelihood of seeing relatively rare but iconic Galapagos species (e.g. giant tortoise in the wild, penguin, flightless cormorant, flamingo, land iguana) Biodiversity : The abundance and diversity of plant and animal life, not necessarily iconic. Striking vistas : The likelihood that visitors will be taking pictures of the landscape at a particular site. Beach quality : The quality of a beach for playing in the sand, sunbathing, swimming, relaxing. Snorkel quality : The likelihood of seeing rich and diverse underwater life. It’s important to note that the results paint a broad, general picture, and contain plenty of “wiggle room” in terms of actual visitor experience, with some variability due to seasonal wildlife fluctuations and to simple chance of seeing, or not seeing some species on a particular day (Punta Suarez’s iconic waved albatross is a seasonal visitor, for example), or simply due to personal preferences. For this reason, it is better to use the ratings as a general indication and not as an absolute measure. For example, the #4 site is not necessarily worse than the #1 site, but you can be confident that it is among the top sites for a particular critera. The ratings do not take into consideration cultural or historical attributes of the sites. Some sites might have little appeal for wildlife, but are steeped in history (Post Office Bay, Floreana Island for example). In the lists below, those sites presenting cultural or historical interest are demarked with an asterisk. Based on our painstaking work (3 years in the making!), here are some results of interest: TOP 10 SITES FOR ICONIC SPECIES: Española Island, Punta Suarez Fernandina Island, Punta Espinoza North Seymour Island Genovesa Island, Darwin Bay Genovesa Island, Prince Phillip’s Steps Isabela, Punta Vicente Roca Santa Fe Island Floreana Island, Champion islet Santa Cruz Island, El Chato South Plaza Island Isabela Island, Albemarle Point TOP 10 SITES FOR BIODIVERSITY Española Island, Punta Suarez Fernandina Island, Punta Espinoza Genovesa Island, Darwin Bay Genovesa Island, Prince Phillip’s Steps North Seymour Island Isabela, Punta Vicente Roca Marchena Island, Punta Mejia Floreana Island, Devil’s Crown Floreana Island, Champion islet South Plaza Island TOP 10 SITES FOR STRIKING VISTAS Bartolomé Island Fernandina Island, Punta Espinoza Isabela Island, Sierra Negra Isabela Island, Tagus Cove Española Island, Gardner Bay Isabela, Punta Vicente Roca Genovesa Island, Prince Phillip’s Steps San Cristóbal Island, Cerro Brujo San Cristóbal Island, Punta Pitt Española Island, Punta Suarez TOP 10 BEACHES Española Island, Gardner Bay Santa Cruz Island, Tortuga Bay San Cristóbal Island, Cerro Brujo Bartolomé Island San Cristóbal Island, Lobos Island Rábida Island Santa Fe Island Santa Cruz Island, Bachas Beach Santiago Island, Puerto Egas San Cristóbal Island, Galapaguera TOP 10 SITES FOR SNORKELING Marchena Island, Punta Mejia Floreana Island, Champion islet Floreana Island, Devil’s Crown Isabela, Punta Vicente Roca Rábida Island North Seymour Island Sombero Chino Island Bartolomé Island Fernandina Island, Punta Espinoza San Cristóbal Island, Leon Dormido TOP 10 SITES OVERALL: Fernandina Island, Punta Espinoza Española Island, Punta Suarez Isabela, Punta Vicente Roca Genovesa Island, Prince Phillip’s Steps North Seymour Island Floreana Island, Champion islet Floreana Island, Devil’s Crown Marchena Island, Punta Mejia Española Island, Gardner Bay Santa Fe Island South Plaza Island
