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Exploring Punta Cormorant on Floreana

April 2019

Post Office Bay is Floreana’s most famous attraction, but certainly not the only one. Punta Cormorant is nearby and offers great wildlife and a beautiful view over Floreana.

How to get there?

Punta Cormorant is located on the north side of Floreana, not far away from the Post Office Bay. It is accessible by a cruise ship and can also be visited during day trips which start from Santa Cruz and San Cristobal. You can even stay on Floreana as it is one of the four inhabited islands of the archipelago. We were on board of our cruise ship Santa Cruz II when we reached Punta Cormorant in the afternoon shortly before sunset.

Observing flamingos in the salt water lagoon

From our cruise ship we hopped on our panga, a small speed boat. After a wet landing on a dark sandy beach, we followed a small path. Therefore, put on your flip-flops or water shoes. After a few minutes we reached a salt water lagoon where we could see many flamingos. Afterwards the path led slightly uphill and we enjoyed a breathtaking view over Floreana. We continued our walk which ended on a gorgeous white sandy beach surrounded by volcanic rocks.

Observing the wildlife at the beach

We reached this secluded, beautiful beach. However, you can see that the damage we inflict on our environment reaches the most remote places in the world. Although I sure that the tourists have not left any trash there, unfortunately, you see microplastics on the beach which is really sad.

We walked along the beach where sea turtles emerge from the sea at night to nest. Then the baby sea turtles hatch and run back into the sea. We have seen numerous birds and one of these birds has found small baby sea turtles, much to their disadvantage. Although difficult to observe, our guide told us that nature works that way and it is actually quite common.

We have also seen blue-footed boobies which plunge into the sea at breathtaking speed. It wasn't easy to capture this with our camera, but we managed a few times. It's fascinating to watch them fly around and then suddenly change direction and plunge into the water.

In total, we stayed on the beach for an hour before returning to our panga. On the way back we saw the beautiful light of the sunset over Floreana and the golden glow of the sunset seemed to cover everything.