Cerro Brujo, San Cristóbal

Cerro Brujo at a glance

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   San Cristóbal — Cerro Brujo

   Cerro Brujo is a white coral-sand beach on the north-west coast of San Cristóbal, below an eroded tuff cone. Darwin came ashore near here in 1835 on his first landing in the archipelago. It is reached by boat, usually as part of a day trip that also takes in Kicker Rock.

How you get there

Day boat from Puerto Baquerizo Moreno

The standard trip pairs Cerro Brujo with a snorkel at Kicker Rock. The crossing is open water along the coast.

On a cruise

Appears on eastern itineraries, often as an afternoon landing after a morning elsewhere on San Cristóbal.

It sits on San Cristóbal, so how you reach the island decides how you reach this.

What you actually see

The beach

Fine white coral sand, shallow turquoise water, and the tuff cone behind it. It is one of the beaches people photograph and then do not believe was not edited.

The lagoon behind

A brackish pool behind the dunes where shorebirds feed and, at times, flamingos. Most groups walk past it.

The history you cannot see

Nothing marks the landing and nothing should. What matters is standing on the coast that made no impression on Darwin at all, and knowing the idea came two years later in London.

What goes wrong

We run these trips, so we know what people complain about afterwards. Better to read it here than find out on the day.

The glare

White coral sand at the equator reflects hard. People burn here who did not burn anywhere else.

It is a beach, and some people want more

There is no trail and no big wildlife event. If the history does not interest you, it is a very pretty stop and nothing else.

Wet landing in surf

The dinghy comes in through small breaking waves. Dry bags for anything that matters.

Who this is not for

Saying this costs us bookings and saves the trip. If any of these is you, tell us and we will build the day differently.

• Anyone who cannot manage a wet landing through surf.
• Visitors who need shade — there is none on the sand.
• People uninterested in the historical angle; without it this is only a beach.

What lives here

• Galápagos sea lion — Resting along the sand.
• Blue-footed booby — Diving offshore and on the cone above the beach.
• American flamingo — Sometimes in the lagoon behind the dunes. Not reliable.
• Marine iguana — On the rocks at either end.

Nearby

Every visitor site we have written up → · San Cristóbal, the whole island →