Casa Tortuga is 5/10 minutes from the main shops and restaurants. It is also near the beginning of the footpath to Tortuga Bay and beach, it is a wonderful beach, but be prepared to walk for an hour to get there. There are no roads to it, but a boat does go there for $10 a trip on busy days. Our stay at Casa Tortuga was great; we often sat on the veranda to relax before going out. The cottage is in an enclosed garden of trees and shrubs, with the owner’s house in one corner and another two smaller chalets. Being a shareholder of FT guesthouse/lodge/backpackers near to the Victoria Falls in Zambia, I feel that I can make some useful comments. A few more pictures around the place would make it look nice. The twin bedroom could do with a cupboard for hanging clothes, and a bedside table and light would be very useful. There is no hot water to the two basins upstairs, but the shower has hot water. A plug for the basins would be useful, especially as they often talk about saving water on the Galápagos Islands. We spent eight days over Christmas there, and enjoyed it very much.

Casa Tortuga is a gem. Making the hard decision either to do day cruises or to spend all our time on one cruise, we opted for the day cruises with Casa Tortuga as our base. We couldn't have made a better decision. It is a delightful house, in an especially beautiful garden. Yet a stone's throw away from the life of Puerto Ayora in the central island of Santa Cruz. And you won't find a closer place to the magical Playa Tortuga. It was a refuge of beauty and tranquility at the end of amazing days exploring the Galapogos. Thank you for your warm welcome and attention during and before our visit.

Casa Tortuga shared the grounds with two other villa in a large enclosed garden just off the beach road. It was a short walk into town which made it the ideal location. The house was quirky and had everything we needed including washing machine and dryer. There's a small upper balcony where it's nice to sit in the evening and a large covered veranda at ground level. Very comfortable and the hosts, Justin and Tatjana were great to deal with and very helpful to the point of recommending bars, restaurants and trips (The Seafinch was a great boat for a day tour to Bartolome ). Would definitely recommend.

This home is a wonderful getaway, only four blocks from the center of town. My husband, son and I really enjoyed the outdoor seating/patio areas and the movies and DVD player. It feels very private in the garden, which is completely hidden from the roads. It is also close to the entrance for Tortuga Bay (see photos). María, the caretaker, was fantastic and made us feel at home immediately. We would have loved to stay here longer. I can't believe I didn't take any photos of the home while there -- I must have been too relaxed!!

Casa Tortuga is a delightful home for three on a visit to this amazing group of islands.THe house is well equipped, very clean and simple.. The owners live in the same walled compound and were welcoming and helpful. Easy access to all that we sought.

No hair dryer. Only one set of key for the door. Very inconvenience and ridiculous. Stay for 5 night. The towels are Wear Out and Stain are every where and smell. ( you have to put them close to your skin to dry your body after shower, very disgusting). The cooking pot are Rusty and Stain all around. The pan are in bad condition. My bed sheet has a big stain too. How you can expect you will have a good health to stay there to enjoy your vacation. I shot the photo complain to Tatjana. And she said that's her mothers house. And no one send us some new towel to replace the bad one. Very disappointed. I won't recommend to anyone to stay there until they correct all the mistakes. I don't want to next person waste their money like me.

casa tortuga exceeded our expectations and was a great value. it's an attractive, clean, comfortable, spacious, and functional vacation rental that would even pass for a honeymoon destination (unless you need ultra luxury). the building is a fairly new single-family home that's walled off from the street on the west edge of puerto ayora (i.e., not much traffic). it shares a huge, dense, flowering garden with two other houses on the property that's a little smaller than a u.s. city block. the other houses have their own gates far away and are basically out-of-mind-out-of-sight thanks to the large garden. we felt like we were on our own hacienda surrounded by nature. tatjana was super responsive while i had to make last-minute reservations. she also responded right away w/ a couple questions while we were at the property and even arranged for a taxi to pick us up on our last day to take us to the airport. the beds slept great – firm but soft. the master bedroom has what i think was a queen bed. the other bedroom has a raised, twin-size bed that's as good for a kid as well as a 6' adult. both bedrooms have lots of closet and storage space, extra bedding, ceiling fans, and access to a second-floor balcony w/ chairs and a hammock overlooking the garden. the second floor bathroom is roomy and has a great shower, toilet, two sink areas, bath and beach towels, and plenty of shelving. the first floor's half bathroom has a toilet and sink. the kitchen is adequately equipped, including a refrigerator, stove top (not oven), toaster oven, coffee maker, microwave, and water cooler w/ free, bottled water. free laundry machines are on side patio and work well. the kitchen, dining area, and living room are three spaces but all open. the dining area table seats at least six, and a bar w/ stools separates the kitchen and dining area. the living room has a couch (that would be sleepable if needed), loveseat, and tv for watching dvds. wifi worked fine throughout but wasn't especially fast, as tatjana noted. the ground-level patio off the living room is great for relaxing by the garden. it has another dining table w/ four chairs, lounge furniture, and a ceiling fan. at first i was worried casa tortuga wasn't close enough to the center of puerto ayora, but it was just right while far enough away from the busier streets but still easily walkable (commerce, dock, and a great grocery store are about 500 meters away). tatjana's binder of info re: the property and puerto ayora (in english and spanish) was helpful. i'm hard-pressed to think of anything critical to say about the property. if pressed, my only heads-up for super light sleepers is to consider bringing ear plugs since the building's roof is metal, which can make small things like rain or seeds and leaves blowing off the trees audible. that said, my light-sleeping wife had no issues once she had ear plugs in. overall, we couldn't have been happier. thanks, tatjana!

Tatjana was extremely accommodating and helpful. The property was clean and spacious and had very nice amenities -- like a king sized bed, big fridge, nice kitchen, washer/dryer, nice shower with hot water, and bottled water. It was very homey and we loved the welcome wagon -- which was a super friendly and sweet small flock of chickens in the yard. The porch overlooked a well-appointed garden and we were within walking distance of everything. We enjoyed the property so much that we gave contact information to another traveler we met while we were there so when they come back, they can stay. Thanks Tatjana! We had a wonderful week!

Very nice home from which to visit the Galapagos. As long as you realize it is a third world country and are prepared for the usual headaches (power failures, internet glitches, water shutoffs, etc.) I cannot think of a better base from which to explore the islands. Our problem was the extreme (and unusual) heat we faced during our week there. The air conditioning was a godsend for that reason. Owners were very helpful with advice and dealing with any problems that arose. We very much enjoyed our stay there.

Thoroughly agree with all the positive reviews. We found the accommodation convenient, quiet and spacious. The owner Tatjana was very helpful and replied to e-mails exceptionally fast. We particularly liked the light master bedroom with windows on 3 sides overlooking the lovely garden, and the verandahs. We found all the facilities we needed to make us very comfortable. In Sept we didn't require the air conditioning and the windows and ceiling fans made the house airy. No problems with insects. Only regret was not staying longer.