Egas Port named in honor of Jorge Egas, an entrepreneur who explored the island in the 1930s and opened a salt mine at the foothill of “Sugarloaf” Volcano. The site was actually visited in 1835 by the HMS Beagle and Charles Darwin, who described in his journals, a group of Spaniards salting tortoise meat with the salt extracted from the area.

The first part of the trail is comprised of volcanic ash (a tuff cone) and the other half of the trail is partially uneven terrain, comprised of volcanic basaltic rock that lounges the shoreline.

Along the shore, you can also find various bird species such as pelicans, blue-footed boobies, lava herons, yellow-crowned, night herons (locally called huaques), semi-palmated plovers, willets, yellow warblers, finches, and the highly territorial American oystercatchers, which usually lives in pairs that can occupy large extensions of the shoreline. We can also see sally light-foot crabs and large colonies of marine iguanas sunbathing on the volcanic rocks.

You have the option to visit the Salt Mines a trail of an approximate distance of 4 mi (8 km) round trip. It is a salty lagoon that’s located inside a crater.

• Disembarking: Wet
• Type of Terrain: Flat & Semi-rocky
• Physical Conditions Required: Medium
• Activities: 2 hour 30 min hike / 1 hour 30 min beach snorkeling
• Highlights: Volcanic black beach and wonderful landscapes, fur seal grottos, sea lion colonies, herons, hawks, oystercatchers, finches, doves, white-tipped sharks, sea turtles. We will be able to see the vegetation from arid to humid climate zones, but they have been seriously affected by intensive foraging by introduced goats, now eradicated. The surrounding area is a prime place for spotting and observing hunting herons-namely Great Blue Herons, Yellow-crowned Night Herons, and Lava Herons- as well as oystercatchers. Visitors will enjoy the sight of marine iguanas grazing upon algae beds at low tide, sharing space with the crimps on red Sally light-foot crabs and other wading birds.