White-sand beaches and a large population of waved albatrosses have made this southern island (also called Hood Island) a frequent stop for visitors. Most excursions head first to Punta Suarez, where you'll walk over rugged volcanic rocks to see colonies of sea lions and throngs of marine iguanas sunning themselves. (Look for the Christmas iguanas, which get their name from their red and green markings during their mating season.) As you stroll along the trail to an overlook, you'll see a lot of sea birds, including fork-tail frigate birds, hawks and mockingbirds. Lurking farther inland and thus rarely seen by tourists are saddleback tortoises native to the island. Unique to the island of Espanola is the Espanola Mockingbird, perhaps one of the most curious birds you'll ever see. Guard your water bottle.
The stars of this island, however, are the waved albatrosses, the largest birds in the Galapagos. Their landings and takeoffs aren't particularly graceful, but once they're airborne, they're majestic. If you visit late March-December, you can usually watch the birds' elaborate courtship ritual: They bow, click their bright yellow bills, circle and honk at one another before mating for life. It's quite a show. After raising their young, the birds head out to sea, where they often spend three or four months without touching land. Between January and early March, waved albatrosses follow the cooler waters back to the west coast of South America and the South Pacific.
The beautiful white-sand beach at Gardner Bay is another popular stop—the sea lions are so comfortable with visitors that it's a good place to snap photos with them and observe their behavior. The swimming is good, and you can snorkel in the bay near Gardner Rock and be assured of seeing a variety of colorful fish, rays, baby sea lions, starfish and an occasional whitetip reef shark.
