No cruise ships are scheduled in Baltra Island today, Saturday 7 November 2026. The next is MV Santa Cruz II Galapagos on Thursday 12 November. Over the next 12 months, 120 calls bring about 11,000 passengers.
Next 10 calls · all times local (Galapagos Time)
Showing 10 of the next 50 calls
Today and the next 7 days · all times local (Galapagos Time)
Thousands of people in port, guests plus crew. Crowd level compared with a typical Baltra Island day.
The crowd calendar shows every ship and how busy the port is, hour by hour, plus the quietest and busiest days for the next 90 days.
There is no cruise terminal or berthing pier at Baltra. Ships anchor off a small passenger dock on the west side of the island, and tenders carry guests between the dock and the ship. Most passengers fly in to the Galapagos Ecological Airport, about 3 km away by road, where guides meet them and take them by bus to the dock in about 8 minutes.
Baltra is an airport and military island with no town or hotels. Santa Cruz lies across the narrow Itabaca Channel to the south, reached by bus and a short ferry, with Puerto Ayora about 50 minutes away.
3.1 km · 7–8 min by car
The island's airport is the main gateway to the islands and the meeting point for cruise embarkation. It is about 3.1 km by road to the dock, around 8 minutes, where tenders take guests out to the ship.
Typical prices, approximate. Fares change with demand, traffic and time of day.
Typical prices, approximate. Fares change with demand, traffic and time of day.
Most cruise guests fly in to Baltra and are taken from the airport to the dock by their line, so no other transport is needed. Galapagos visitors pay a 20 USD transit card before flying and a 200 USD national park fee on arrival. There are no taxis on the Baltra side of the channel.
Pick the area first. Typical nightly prices, approximate.
Pre-cruise nights and town life
Typical hotel
Choose the main town of the islands for a night or two before or after the cruise, with restaurants, the waterfront and day trips, about an hour from the airport by road and ferry.
There are no hotels on Baltra itself. Rates are approximate for one weeknight in early December for 2 adults and change with the season; times to the dock and airport include the Itabaca Channel ferry.
Prices are in US dollars, the currency of Ecuador, and some menus add tax and service on top.
The seafront avenue of Puerto Ayora and the streets just behind it have many cafes and restaurants, from coffee bars to seafood grills.
A few cafes and snack bars inside the airport terminal on Baltra are the only places to eat on the island before boarding.
Baltra is a small, flat and dry island in the middle of the Galapagos, best known as the main gateway to the islands and the starting point for many cruises. Unlike most of its volcanic neighbours, it was lifted up from the seabed, and its rocky ground supports only low scrub.
During the Second World War the United States built an air base here to help guard the Panama Canal. Today the island is shared by an Ecuadorian military base and the Galapagos Ecological Airport, built with recycled materials and certified carbon neutral. Land iguanas, which had disappeared from Baltra, were brought back from a neighbouring islet and live here again.
For most visitors it is a short stop between plane and ship, with the beaches, highlands and town of Santa Cruz just across a narrow channel.
