The twin islands of North and South Plaza lie just off the east coast of Santa Cruz.
North Plaza is reserved for scientific research and is closed to visitors, while South Plaza has plentiful wildlife and makes an excellent day trip from Puerto Ayora. If you are on a cruise boat it’s better to visit South Plaza in the early morning or late afternoon to avoid other day-trippers. South Plaza’s best-known resident is a huge, bad-tempered gentleman by the name of Charlie who jealously guards his harem. Charlie sometimes sits on the landing dock in an attempt to keep visitors away, but a few loud hand claps should be enough to make him let you pass. Charlie’s entourage of females and pups are a playful, frolicsome bunch who play chicken with snorkelers by swimming up close to them underwater and veering off at the last moment. Such an encounter makes for one of the most breathtaking Galapagos experiences, but isn’t dangerous unless Charlie himself mistakes you for a competing male. Sea lions from a bachelor colony live above the cliffs on the other side of the island, sharing their rocky home with a host of seabirds from blue-footed and masked boobies to frigate birds, tropic birds, pelicans and swallowtail gulls. Large, brown-yellow land iguanas lumber over the lava rocks in search of fruit from colossal prickly pear cacti. Also yellow-tailed mullets and audubon shearwaters are presented.

|Article contributed by Dominic Hamilton|||