South Plaza Island Cruise Port

South Plaza is a small island just off the east coast of Santa Cruz in the Galápagos Islands. It has a distinctly rugged character, with cliffs along the southern side and lower shores to the north. The island was formed by lava rising from the ocean floor, leaving the rocky landscape visitors see today.

There is no cruise ship docking at South Plaza itself. Ships anchor at Puerto Ayora, the port town on the southern coast of Santa Cruz Island, and visitors make an excursion from there. For cruisers, the island is therefore one of those places where the wildlife and landscape are the real focus of the day ashore.

Wildlife is the main reason to visit. Prickly pear cactus trees provide an important food source for a large colony of Galápagos land iguanas, which are found only on South Plaza. The island is also known for its hybrid iguanas. Here, the breeding territory and season of the Galápagos land iguana overlap with those of the marine iguana, resulting in a population of hybrids found on South Plaza.

Sea lions are another part of the wildlife scene, with an estimated 1,000 inhabiting the island. The sea cliffs are home to birds including nesting red-billed tropicbirds and swallow-tailed gulls. The vegetation changes with the seasons too. Sesuvium ground vegetation is green during the rainy season, then turns orange and purple in the dry season, giving the island a changing backdrop for a visit.

South Plaza is the only one of the Plaza Islands open as a tourist site. North Plaza Island is restricted to visitors apart from researchers, so South Plaza is the island cruisers can visit when exploring this small group.

Visitors can also log the actual route taken by their ship on The Cruise Globe, keeping a record of the cruise alongside the places visited along the way.