We awoke to the view of a wonderful blue water bay and white sandy beach off the coast of Espanola Island. After breakfast, we had a wet landing and explored Gardner Bay. This visitor site had a large colony of sea lions which allowed us to get photographs of these marine mammals.

Some of us chose to go deep water snorkeling and we encountered a large variety of species of fish. We saw a couple playful Galapagos sea lions and we even spotted a couple of blacktip reef sharks.

After an incredible morning, we headed towards Punta Suarez, where we went on a Zodiac ride along the cliffs of Espanola. We were lucky to see a couple of waved albatrosses flying over the coastline. This species of albatross is unique to Espanola and only nests on this island. We spotted a large variety of sea birds as well as marine iguanas on the coast.

We returned to National Geographic Islander II after a wonderful sunset in the enchanted archipelago.