Land area: 558 sq km Highest peak: 730 m

This island is one of the few that has permanent settlements. At the south end of the island there is the capital of the province Galápagos, Puerto Baquerizo Moreno (8000 inhabitants). But this town resembles more a fishing village and there are not as many tourists as in the main tourist center Puerto Ayora. Already at the dock you are greeted by loud calling of the sea lions. If you look closely you can see sally lightfoot crab, marine iguanas, frigatebirds and the endemic Chatham mocking bird not far from the town. The village offers also a modern info center where you gain insight of the most interesting evolution, history and unique flora and fauna of the archipelago.
Parts of San Cristobal are used for livestock farming as well as fruit growing. That is why this island has unfortunately lost some of its nativeness.

The first visitors site Frigatebird Hill is only about 1.5km outside of Puerto Baquerizo Moreno and is easily reached by walking. From this hill you have a good view of the town, the bay and up here the great and the magnificent frigatebird. Up in the highlands in the southwestern part of the island the crater lagoon El Junco is situated. It is about 700 m high and from there you have a great view to the deep blue ocean. White-cheeked pintails, common gallinules and frigatebirds gather at this unique lagoon. It is surrounded by endemic tree ferns and miconia vegetation and represents one of the few permanent fresh water bodies on the islands.

To the northwest is the turtle reservation Los Galápagos where you can admire the giant tortoise in its natural surroundings. When you observe those unhurried animals you get the impression that time passes more slowly up here.

Punta Pitt is a visitor site with interesting volcanic tuff formations. It stands out because it is the only site where you run across all 3 kinds of boobies (blue footed, red footed and masked booby). The red-footed booby only exists here and on Española. Even though there are far more red-footed boobies than blue-footed boobies, you mostly encounter the last. This is due to the fact, that red-footed boobies go fishing far off shore and usually use places for nesting that can only be visited by few tourists.

After a 1-hour boat ride from the port you reach the tiny island Isla Lobos. It was named after the many sea lions that live there. Here you can watch the sea lions in their daily lives, playing or fighting. There are also blue-footed boobies. On its east coast Leon Dormido (also called Kicker Rock) is located. This is a gigantic rock whose name comes from its similarity to a sleeping lion. It is separated into two parts by a narrow crevice and that it why it is compared to the sound of Gibraltar. Its cliffs are the nesting sites of many seabirds that observe the boats that go through this narrow passage. Especially when a boat passes the crevice or the sunsets behind it, you can take beautiful pictures.

Two more interesting sites of the island are Cerro Brujo and Turtle bay at the northeast end of San Cristóbal. It is an easy guessing that you can encounter, next to flamingos, turtles in this bay. Cerro Brujo is a volcanic crater with very interesting lava formations.