Recommend April 2013 - (Page 71)

at the resort, which is a member of the Small Luxury Hotels of the World, range from mountain biking and hiking to day cruising on the lodge’s own touring yacht, the M/Y Pikaia I. The lodge will be offering all-inclusive packages for three, four and seven nights, covering transfers, accommodations, all meals, and daily land and marine excursions. Three-night packages start at $3,230 pp sharing. Most Santa Cruz hotels are found in and around the main port of Puerto Ayora, where Finch Bay Eco Hotel is the only beachside property. To its 21 garden rooms, the award-winning property (World Travel Award’s “Leading Green Hotel” in South America) has added six new oceanview rooms; other guest facilities include a pool, indoor and outdoor dining areas, and two yachts for island day cruises. Priced from $250 dbl with breakfast; many all-inclusive packages are available. Also on Santa Cruz, tucked into a mangrove forest and directly facing Puerto Ayora Bay, is the Red Mangrove Aventura Lodge, a charming red-adobe inn with 14 guestrooms—standard, superior, suite—with air conditioning, TV and private bath. Common areas have hammocks, jacuzzi and complimentary WiFi in the restaurant. Red Mangrove was a pioneer in offering island-hopping itineraries linking its properties on two other islands: the 8-room, oceanfront Isabela Lodge on Isabela Island and on Floreana Island, the 10-cabin Floreana Lodge, a 5-minute walk from town—tiny Puerto Valesco Ibarra—and three minutes from the loberia, a sea lion habitat. Rates for the Aventura Lodge start at $225 dbl. Isabela, the largest Galapagos Island, offers land-based visi- tors not only profuse bird and wildlife on shore, and whales and dolphins circling offshore, but trekking in the highlands, snorkeling with sea lions, and kayaking among ﬂamingos. Major attractions on this island are the Sierra Negra Volcano (with the second largest crater in the world), and the Giant Tortoise Breeding Center. The only settlement, Puerto Villamil, has 2,220 inhabitants. Among some dozen lodgings on Isabela is La Casa de Marita, a lovely, Italian villa-style property with a family ambiance, located on a white-sand beach. There are 15 Art Deco-style, airconditioned suites and standard rooms, spacious gardens with hammocks, good food and great views. Rooms start at $68 with breakfast. A more recent and more upscale addition is the stylish Iguana Crossing Boutique Hotel, which, in addition to sitting on a 3-mile beach, has 14 oceanfront guestrooms and suites, a pool, jacuzzi and its Tres Hermanos restaurant that serves the best and most creative food on the island. The boutique property has joined Guy Harvey Outpost Resorts as a member of its Expedition Properties portfolio. And the company has big plans for a project on San Cristobal, the second island receiving ﬂights from Quito and Guayaquil. According to Outpost president Mark Ellert, the company plans a 2016 opening of “a cutting-edge ecolodge,” which will have 30 casitas and four residences. Part two of the project calls for the establishment of a Discovery Center to showcase environmental and marine research underway in the Galapagos. Priced from $300 dbl with breakfast. Nonstop ﬂights aboard Aerogal, LAN and TAME from the mainland boosted San Cristobal into the second most important april 2013 71 68-72 LA Galap,Easter.indd 71 3/20/13 8:47 AM http://www.copa.com http://www.copa.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recommend April 2013

Editor's Notes
The Islands of Tahiti
Hotel Desk: Song Saa Private Island, Cambodia
Tour Talk: Islands in the Sun
A Med Escape: Greek Isles & Cyprus
Set Sail
The Seychelles' Private Island Resorts
Portrait of Israel
Booking 2 on the Isles: Easter Island & Galapagos
Island-Hopping in Mexico: Cozumel, Isla Holbox & Isla Mujeres
The Pulse of Poipu, Hawaii
Florida's Islands: Amelia, Captiva & Sanibel
The Real Caribbean: Grenada & Martinique

Recommend April 2013