North Seymour is a great option for a day trip if staying in or near Puero Ayora on Santa Cruz. This is a popular option for people who are doing a land based (non-cruise) trip to the Galapagos islands. It can be booked through travel agents in Puerto Ayora, although some days were sold out when I booked so it's probably best booked in advance. The trip may also include a snorkeling excursion at a nice beach. The beach was scenic, but the snorkeling was less than spectacular. The real reason to book the trip is the amazing wildlife that can be seen on the island.  The first views are likely to include marine iguanas, sealions, and swallow-tailed gulls.

​

The island also contains many land iguanas which dig borrows and roll the cactus pads to remove the spines before eating them.

Everyone loves the blue foot booby! While there are many places to see them, the mating, and nesting behaviors are a joy to see up close on North Seymour.
​

The frigate birds are also very entertaining as the expand their large red throat patches. 

What to bring: You won't need much equipment for North Seymour, it's an easy walk after the boat ride. I would recommend bringing your own snorkeling equipment if it is a combined island and snorkeling tour for cleanliness. Otherwise, a camera, memory card, water, sunscreen, and batteries should be all you need. Lunch is likely to be included with the tour. During my trip the boobies and land iguanas were quite close, but some of the frigate birds were hanging back further from the trail. For this reason, I would recommend bringing a superzoom point and shoot or longer lens for your DSLR camera on this trip for when you reach the frigate bird breeding area. For these photos, I used a Canon SX series superzoom, here's a link to a current model here