Why Baltra Island
Baltra Island, also known in Spanish as Isla Baltra and historically as South Seymour, is a small, flat landmass situated near the center of the Galápagos Archipelago in Ecuador. Formed through geological uplift, the island features a very arid terrain. Its natural vegetation is adapted to dry conditions, consisting primarily of salt bushes, prickly pear cacti, and palo santo trees.
The island received the name South Seymour in 1845 in honor of George Francis Seymour, a British naval commander. It was later surveyed in 1910 by Lieutenant Humberto Baltra Opazo of the Chilean navy, leading to the name Baltra Island being incorporated into international hydrographic charts. During World War II, the United States Air Force established an air base on the island to patrol the Eastern Pacific against enemy submarines and protect access to the Panama Canal. After the war, these installations were transferred to the Ecuadorian government.
Today, Baltra serves as a main entry point for the region via Seymour Airport. The modern airport was built over the historic airfield and underwent extensive updates between 2011 and 2013 under a management concession with ECOGAL. Designed with environmental features such as rainwater harvesting, waste recycling, and reduced energy consumption, it is promoted as an ecological airport. In addition to commercial flights, the site continues to function as an Ecuadorian Air Force base and is the only airport in the archipelago providing overnight accommodations for private planes.
Although Baltra Island is not formally part of the Galápagos National Park, it plays an important logistical role for travelers. Upon arrival at Seymour Airport, visitors are transported by bus to one of two docking facilities. One dock is situated in a small bay to accommodate tour boats, while a second dock on the Itabaca Channel provides ferry service to nearby Santa Cruz Island.
Environmental conservation efforts on Baltra include habitat protection and species restoration alongside visible remnants of the historic military base. The native Galápagos land iguana population was wiped out on Baltra by 1954 due to human development. However, iguanas that had been moved to North Seymour Island in the 1930s were later used in a successful captive breeding project, allowing land iguanas to be successfully reintroduced to Baltra starting in the 1990s.
01 Weather
79°
78°
81°
77°
81°
76°
82°
74°
81°
74°
83°
75°