Baltra, Galapagos Is

Baltra Island, or Isla Baltra, is a small island of the Galápagos Islands. Also known as South Seymour, Baltra is a small flat island located near the center of the Galápagos.The island is very arid and vegetation consists of salt bushes, prickly pear cactus and palo santo trees. It is the only island of the Galápagos which is not part of the national park, but navy territory. This is also the reason why there are no visitor sites on the islands.

The main airport of the Galapagos Islands is located on Baltra island. There are a few souvenir shops near the airport, however most people just stay long enough to take the bus to Puerto Ayora on Santa Cruz (Galapagos) or to the docks to go to their cruiseboat.

Cruise Season - Jan - Dec
Currency - U.S. dollar2 (USD)
Language - Spanish
Population - 40,000 approx (Galapagos islands)
Electricity - 2 perpendicular flat pins USA style
Time - GMT minus five hours
International Country Telephone Code - + 593

Port Location - The dock is located in a small bay, a short bus ride from the Baltra airport.

Transport Links - Flights to the Galapagos are relatively easy to arrange and depart from Quito and Guayaquil on a daily basis for the Isla Baltra airport, about two hours by public transport from Puerto Ayora, the main settlement of the Galapagos, on the central island of Santa Cruz.

On arriving into Baltra, all visitors are immediately transported by bus to one of two docks. The first dock is located in a small bay where the boats cruising the Galápagos await passengers. The second is a ferry dock which connects Baltra to the island of Santa Cruz via the Itabaca Channel.