Definitely worth a visit while on San Cristobal! The trail through the facility was very nice and pretty. It was cool to see and learn a little about the young tortoises. We went to the breeding centers on Isabela and Santa Cruz as well. This was the only one that was free and did not require a guide. While having a guide in the other places was nice to learn a little more information, we appreciated being able to walk through at our own pace. They do feedings on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings and I would definitely recommend going during one of those times. It was very cool to see all of the tortoises gathered together to get to the greens.

This is a must do. It's a nice quiet, little tortoise hatchery about a 30 min taxi ride from PBM. Taxi will cost about $25 and park entry is free. Lots of tortoises roaming around. Very worthwhile and interesting.

This was one of the highlights of our stay in Galapagos. I suggest going with a guide. It’s not that you need a guide to navigate the park — you just follow the trail — but they can add a lot of context. Our guide knew so many things about the wildlife and plants. He was able to tell us how old each tortoise in a group was. He knew the feeding spots to take us too. Even more cool — he could identify Genesis, the first tortoise confirmed as being born in the island — and knew the places she was most likely to hang out at/rest. So we were able to see her! If you were without a guide, you would have just thought she was just some random tortoise. You will get within feet of the tortoises. It’s amazing to be up close with them! And although they must be accustomed to seeing humans, they still act like wild animals — for example they will often hiss and tuck themselves inside their shell if you get too close or move too fast. You’ll also get to see the area where they put baby tortoises until they get around ~6 years old, I think. There are different areas for the tiny ones, and as they get older they are put into open air enclosures that mimic the rest of the island so they can practice being a turtle in the wild. This is also where the guide comes in handy because he can identify the age groups of tortoises. There’s no information posted so you figure it out on your own. Our guide also had us take the trail in reverse, probably because the “start” of the trail has you navigating a rock path downhill which is not great for non-outdoorsy people. It’s not necessarily a challenging trail, but if you’re out of shape or don’t have great balance, some of the parts may be challenging. no parts of the trail are what I’d consider steep, but there are some gradual uphill climbs. I AM out of shape and am not the most coordinated person, so I was red faced and out of breath and tipped over once. But it was so worth it. A more in shape person would have been fine. I’d suggest wearing closed toe shoes with a good tread for the rocky parts. Bring water. Most of the trail is under shade, but sunscreen and a hat never hurts.