Espanola Island

Espanola is the oldest of the main Galapagos islands at around four million years, worn flat and low, and its isolation at the southern edge of the archipelago has produced species found nowhere else: the Espanola mockingbird, a distinct marine iguana that turns red and green in the breeding season, and above all the waved albatross, which breeds here and essentially nowhere else on earth, arriving around April and leaving by December. The Punta Suarez trail passes albatross nesting ground, a blowhole that fires spray twenty metres up, and colonies of boobies and gulls. Gardner Bay on the other side is a long white beach with sea lions and good snorkelling.

What you actually see

• Waved albatross colonies - a bird that breeds on this island and nowhere else.
• Red and green marine iguanas - the distinct Espanola form in breeding colour.
• The Punta Suarez blowhole - spray driven high through the lava.
• Gardner Bay beach - white sand, sea lions and snorkelling.

When to go

April to December for albatross, which are absent the rest of the year. A day trip from San Cristobal or a cruise stop. Seas here are among the roughest in the islands.

Honest expectations

The crossing is long and rough and day trips are tiring. Albatross are simply not there between roughly January and March. Landings are guided, timed and strictly on-trail. There is no shade on the Punta Suarez walk.

Nearby

San Cristobal is north-east; Floreana lies north-west.