Floreana Island, Galapagos: How to Visit and the True Story Behind Eden

Floreana Island has about 100 residents, one small town and one of the strangest stories in the Pacific. It is the island where a wooden barrel has served as a post office since the whaling days, and where the disappearances of the 1930s inspired Ron Howard's film Eden. Most visitors come for one long day from Santa Cruz. Here is what you can see, how to get there and whether it is worth your time.

How to visit Floreana Island

Floreana has no airport, so everyone arrives by sea. You have three options.

The first is a day tour from Puerto Ayora, which is what most people do. Boats leave the pier early, around 6:30 am, and you spend the day between the town, the highlands and a sea lion beach. Tours we have seen listed run about $150 to $250 and usually include the boat, a guide, lunch and snorkel gear. We can add this day to our 4 day Santa Cruz tour, subject to availability.

The second is a cruise. Ships on southern routes land at the sites day boats do not usually reach. Those are the only trips that reliably include Post Office Bay.

The third is to stay overnight in Puerto Velasco Ibarra. There are only a few places to sleep, including the hotel still run by descendants of the Wittmer family, so book early and expect a very quiet evening.

What you see on a day trip

Puerto Velasco Ibarra

The town is a few sandy streets and a black beach, with sea lions on the dock. There is little to buy, so bring cash and whatever you need for the day.

La Lobería

A trail of about 900 meters over sand and rock leads to a sea lion colony, with marine iguanas on the lava. It is also a common stop for snorkeling. The water can drop below 20°C from September to December, so a wetsuit helps.

Asilo de la Paz

Up in the highlands, this is where the story becomes real. You see the freshwater spring that made settlement possible, caves used by pirates and early settlers, and giant tortoises in an enclosure nearby.

What the cruise ships see

Post Office Bay

Whalers began leaving letters in a barrel here so that homeward-bound ships could carry them. Visitors still keep it going: you leave a postcard without a stamp, look through the pile, and take any addressed near your home to deliver by hand.

Punta Cormorant and Devil's Crown

Punta Cormorant has a lagoon where flamingos often feed, along with an unusual beach. Devil's Crown is a sunken volcanic cone offshore, known for its snorkeling. Both are normally visited from a cruise, so check the itinerary if they matter to you.

The true story behind Eden

Floreana's first well-known settlers came from Germany in 1929: Friedrich Ritter, a doctor with strong ideas about living apart from society, and Dore Strauch, who left her husband to join him. They wrote letters that reached newspapers in Europe, and those letters drew others.

In 1932 Heinz and Margret Wittmer arrived with their son, looking for a healthier life. Later that year came Eloise von Wagner Bosquet, who called herself a baroness, with two lovers and plans for a luxury hotel. The three households did not get along. There were arguments over food, water and the attention of passing yachts.

In 1934 it all fell apart. The baroness and one of her lovers, Robert Philippson, disappeared, and Margret Wittmer said they had left for Tahiti. Nobody ever saw them again. Her other lover, Rudolf Lorenz, left the island by boat, and his body was found on the beach at Marchena. Ritter died that same year, reportedly from eating spoiled meat, although he was a vegetarian. Strauch went home to Germany and wrote her own version of events.

The Wittmers stayed, and Margret told hers in a book of her own. No crime was ever proved. The story became the 2013 documentary The Galapagos Affair and then Ron Howard's Eden, which premiered in Toronto in September 2024 and reached US cinemas in August 2025, with Jude Law, Vanessa Kirby, Ana de Armas and Sydney Sweeney. The film takes some liberties, so treat it as a version of the story, one more on top of those the survivors left behind.

Floreana today

Charles Darwin landed here in September 1835 and found the native tortoise already gone. Today Floreana is the site of a large restoration project to remove invasive rats and mice and bring back species the island has lost. By February 2026, 185 selectively bred tortoises had been released to take the place of the extinct Floreana giant tortoise. It is one of the most hopeful things happening in the archipelago. Our page on the history of the Galápagos has more background.

Is Floreana worth a day trip?

Go if the story is what pulls you. Standing at Asilo de la Paz after watching the film is a strange feeling, and few people get to do it.

Think twice if you only have a few days and came for animals. Floreana means about four hours on a boat. A yacht to Santa Fe or a trip to Pinzón gives you more wildlife for less time at sea. Our list of things to do in Galápagos compares them all.

Add a Floreana day from one hotel on Santa Cruz

4 Day Galapagos Tour on Santa Cruz

Tortoises, Tortuga Bay and the Bay Tour

• 4 days
• Medium effort

From $569 per person

View itinerary

To build Floreana into a longer trip, send us your dates and we will check boat availability.

Floreana Island: questions we get