There are strict rules for the National Park in Galapagos and one of the rules is about the number of people in an area at any one time. What this means is that all cruises must register, and get approval, for their itineraries including times and number of people on the tour. Generally this didn't affect us apart from this morning. Breakfast was brought forward to 6:30am so that we could do our tour of Punta Moreno before another cruise did their tour.

On the way to the shore, we went via mangrove forest. Much like yesterday, it is a place where turtles and rays will go to rest relatively safe from predators. It wasn't particularly sunny when we left but we had wisely opted to take our sunglasses with us. The polarized lenses of the glasses cut out the reflection on the water and we were able to see clearly what was below the surface.

There was rays galore - big huge stingray, half a dozen spotted eagle rays and most spectacular, was a group of about 20 golden rays. As usual, there was also an abundance of sea turtles.

Once on shore, we took a walk on an old lava flow. It was fascinating seeing the formations and being able to imagine the hot lava slowly creeping down from the volcano before solidifying. We would have had views of the Cerro Azul and Sierra Negra volcanoes if it wasn't for them being shrouded in cloud. There was next to no vegetation as far as the eye could see except for the odd cactus which grew directly from the lava bed. The wildlife was limited too; apart from the odd lava lizard, we only saw a couple of Galápagos snakes.

In the middle of the lava, there was a small oasis where the lava had collapsed and tunnels ran out to sea. There was lush green vegetation surrounding the pool but just one solitary flamingo - it was hoped there was going to be a flock of them.

Walking further round we came to a tide pool, similar to the oasis but with sea access large enough for sea turtles and sharks to swim in for resting. There were a couple of turtles and a few fish but no sharks.

Our snorkeling was earlier than normal today and psychologically that made the water colder even if it was sunny. There were some big sea turtles though, heaps of reef fish, a marine iguana eating algae from the sea floor and some flightless cormorants swimming below the surface.

The highlight of today's snorkeling though, was the sea horses. There were two, about 3 metres deep, clinging onto the seaweed with their tails. They were much bigger than the ones you might normally see in an aquarium, instead of being a few centimetres tall, these guys were about 12cm tall.

The crew had some hot chocolate and fresh empanadas waiting for us when we got back on board to warm up. While we were tucking in, the crew were busy pulling the two dinghies out the water. We had a seven hour journey ahead of us and needed to reach Puerto Villamil before dark because of the shallow waters.

Lunch was early as well today and not because breakfast was early, it was in case we encountered rough seas when we rounded the corner of Isabella Island. We tried sitting up on the sun deck for a while but it got a bit cold in the wind and then it started to get a bit rough. The easiest place to be on a rough sea journey is in bed so that's where we spent the afternoon.

We arrived in Puerto Villamil shortly before dusk allowing the captain to anchor safely. Everyone started to emerge from their cabins, happy that the journey was over, grab a coffee or beer and wait for the day's briefing to discover what was in store tomorrow.

During dinner we realised that we were looking at first houses and lights we had seen since arriving in Galápagos.