The next day, we decided to hit the road again for another tour, taking advantage of a small discount from our driver that included a few extra stops. This time, we didn’t visit the same cave. Instead of turning right at Bella Vista like we did yesterday, we turned left and drove a bit further into the lush hills.
Our driver brought us to what the local sign proudly claimed to be the longest lava tunnel in the Americas. The entrance looked familiar, but inside, this tunnel was significantly narrower and far wetter than the first one. Mud quickly became our main companion. That said, this place was “five stars,” as a friend of mine would say—it actually had electric lighting installed along the path! A sign at the entrance informed us that we had a 2.2-kilometer trek ahead of us underground.
Having learned my lesson from yesterday’s dark adventure, I brought a small tripod and a flashlight in my backpack, though the lighting inside meant the torch wasn’t strictly necessary. The tunnel twisted, widened, and squeezed down, forcing us to scramble over massive boulders that had been carried by ancient lava flows and left behind. Looking up at the ceiling, it didn’t look like these rocks had fallen from above; they were frozen in time.
At one point, the ceiling dipped so low that we literally had to lie down flat and crawl under a massive rock on a wet wooden board placed over a muddy puddle. By the time we emerged on the other side, we looked like pigs that had been rolling in the muck, but hey—that’s all part of the adventure! After that obstacle, the path flattened out, and within half an hour, we reached the exit where our driver was patiently waiting. Even though we stopped a few times to take photos, we made quick work of it. It was another fantastic experience under our belts.
Next on the itinerary were “The Twin Craters,” or Los Gemelos. If I understood the driver correctly, these are two massive volcanic craters sitting right next to each other. When the volcano originally erupted ages ago, all the molten lava drained through underground tunnels out to the other side of the island, which is why Puerto Ayora remains safe today if an eruption were ever to happen again.
A short drive brought us to Los Gemelos. They are entirely covered in dense green forest, with a neatly maintained walking path running along the rim. We walked the loop, snapped a few photos, and listened to the story. The microclimate inside the craters supports unique plant and animal species found nowhere else. Interestingly, these craters weren’t formed by explosive volcanic cones, but rather by the catastrophic collapse of empty lava tunnels underneath them.
Afterward, we followed the well-trodden tourist route. On Santa Cruz, the taxi system is remarkably organized: drivers pick up tourists in town every morning, drive them to the key attractions, and seamlessly coordinate with each other so the spots never feel overcrowded.
We bumped along a dusty dirt road until we reached the El Chato Tortoise Reserve. It was a great spot to grab a coffee, walk around, and see the famous giant tortoises roaming freely in their natural habitat. You can walk right up to them, but touching them is definitely a bad idea—they are extremely jumpy, and a bite from those powerful jaws could easily take off a finger. We wandered through the reserve, taking a few photos alongside these ancient giants. The area was also buzzing with various endemic birds, though I’m not much of an ornithologist, so I kept my focus on the tortoises.
After wrapping up the tour, we headed back to town to grab lunch and, most importantly, book our long-awaited dive with hammerhead sharks.
We checked out several dive shops in Puerto Ayora to see who was running a trip to the shark spots in two days. While prices everywhere were locked at $200 per person for a two-dive day trip, our neighbor Gabriel suddenly walked into the exact same shop! It turned out he was also looking to book the dive. When the shop owner realized we were all together from the anchored boats, he offered us a group discount: $180 per person. We jumped on the deal, signed up, and were told to be in front of the shop at 6:30 AM sharp—no delays!
With the dive booked, we had checked off almost everything on our list except an excursion to Isabela Island, but with our free visa days rapidly running out, we’ll have to figure out how to squeeze that in.
We hit the local market before heading back to the boat as night fell. We picked up some frozen burger patties that turned out to be surprisingly delicious—easily some of the best store-bought burgers we’ve had on the trip. To put costs into perspective: two mediocre pizzas and two Cokes in town cost a mind-boggling $100, which made these frozen burgers feel like a steal. In comparison, food back in Panama City or Colón was at least five times cheaper and infinitely better, but… this is the Galapagos. You pay for the location!