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Santiago is the Galapagos' fourth biggest island, with an area
226 square miles. It is more elongated than some of the other
islands, about 22 miles in a northeast-southwest direction and
14.5 miles wide.
James Bay is the most visited point on the west side of the
island. Puerto Egas carves out a corner of James Bay.
It is named after Hector Egas, the owner of an ill-fated salt-mining
company during the 1960s. You can see the salt lake crater beyond
the shiny volcanic fields that make up the coast at Puerto Egas.
Most visitors to this area of James Bay come to see the
shoreline south of Puerto Egas, with its striated yellow, brown,
and black cliffs of hardened volcanic ash, which has also been
melded and polished by the sea into coves and elaborately patterned
rocky beaches. The dominant feature of the James Bay region
is a volcanic cone called Sugarloaf, which rises almost 1,300
feet.
Tidal
pools reveal a profusion of octopus, starfishes, and other undersea
life. The rare fur sea lions, once on the verge of extinction,
swim through underwater tunnel between the open sea and two
small, clear pools. You can often spot oystercatcher, blue heron,
and yellow-crowned night herons.
 You
can also visit Espumilla beach with its flamingo lagoons.
On the eastern coast of James Island is Sullivan Bay.
There you can admire a large area of fresh pahoehoe (ropey)
lava flows dating from an eruption in 1897. A walk over this
glazed black rock gives the impression of the still-molten lava,
as every ripple, swirl, and bubble in its surface has been preserved.
Tiny fragile Mollugi plants can be spotted growing out of fissures
as they begin to colonize the arid terrain.
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