Montemar Eco Villas
Their hospitality is slow, thoughtful and grounded in place and community – a community that includes tortoises, finches and the people who share the island. Families thrive here: nature becomes a playground, and days fill with cooking classes, bonfires, treasure hunts and experiments inspired by Darwin. Reyna and Roberto shape each stay around ages and interests, with gentle adaptations for grandparents, ensuring everyone finds their rhythm.
Location
Located in the quiet El Carmen neighbourhood, Montemar sits just 20 minutes from Puerto Ayora and around an hour from Seymour Airport on Baltra Island. From this serene base, guests can easily explore highlands, dry forest, beaches, mangroves, volcanic landscapes and nearby uninhabited islands on guided day trips.
Villa Tortuga is the larger home, welcoming up to eight guests. Its four bedrooms and three bathrooms give everyone room to breathe, while the kitchen, living and dining areas merge into a generous, easy‑flowing space.
A minute’s walk away, Villa Lechuza offers an intimate, light‑filled setting for up to four guests. Sliding windows open onto teak floors and an outdoor deck made for slow afternoons; reading in a hammock, sharing a meal outdoors, or watching the tortoises shifting in the changing light.
Though nature will keep you busy, meals become an important part of the day’s rhythm: breakfasts cooked to each person’s preference, farm‑to‑table dishes prepared in the open kitchens, and ingredients grown biodynamically on the property. Even the coffee is harvested and roasted at Montemar, grounding each day in the flavour of the land itself.
Experiences
- Spend unhurried time among the tortoises, wandering through ponds, woodlands and the nearby lawns where they feed and move with quiet purpose, letting their presence shape the pace of the day.
- Visit the Charles Darwin Research Station with a naturalist, observing finches up close and discovering how small shifts in beak shape and behaviour reveal a defining evolutionary story.
- Bike, kayak, hike or navigate by boat as you move through coastlines, forests, lagoons and volcanic terrain, meeting the Galapagos’ iconic species in their natural settings.
- Set sail from Santa Cruz to Santa Fe, Bartolomé, Plazas or North Seymour, exploring each island’s distinct wildlife with hand‑picked yachts on shared or private charters.
- Walk through Montemar’s sustainable plantation, harvesting, fermenting and roasting coffee alongside the team, tasting the red‑bean brew born from the highland soil.
- Share a meal in a fisherman’s home, meet artisans in their workshops, or join local recyclers to understand how the islands protect their fragile environment.
- Restore mind and body in the open‑air Yoga Shala, practising yoga, meditation and healing treatments while the Pacific horizon sets the tone for deep calm.
Why We Include Montemar Villas in Our Journeys
It’s ideal for families and multi‑generational groups, with space to roam and the quiet magic of spending time among the tortoises. Day trips to nearby islands are easily arranged, and exclusive use of both villas is possible. Sometimes we use Montemar as a gentle beginning or end to a cruise, adding breathing space that elevates the journey.
Talk to us about designing your journey >
From the Team
“When Reyna and Roberto began their Montemar journey, the land held barely fifteen tortoises. After restoring the ponds and nurturing the habitat, around a hundred now wander here with quiet confidence. It’s just one of the many inspiring stories of vision and patience you’re likely to hear over dinner.”
Why Plan with Journeysmiths
Every journey we design begins with listening. Whether you’re travelling as a family, a couple, or across generations, we take time to understand how you want to feel – not just where you want to go. From there, we carefully weave together exceptional places, trusted guides, and seamless logistics to create journeys that flow naturally and feel entirely your own.Every journey we design begins with listening. Whether you’re travelling as a family, a couple, or across generations, we take time to understand how you want to feel – not just where you want to go. From there, we carefully weave together exceptional places, trusted guides, and seamless logistics to create journeys that flow naturally and feel entirely your own.
Positive Impact
We prioritise working with properties that address location-specific needs from education to conservation and environmental sustainability. We assess our partners to ensure the people we work with share our values of ensuring our trips continue to act as a force for good. Here we share some of the positive impacts your stay here contributes to.We prioritise working with properties that address location-specific needs from education to conservation and environmental sustainability. We assess our partners to ensure the people we work with share our values of ensuring our trips continue to act as a force for good. Here we share some of the positive impacts your stay here contributes to.
Great Places to Combine with Montemar Villas
Staying at Montemar Villas works beautifully as part of a wider Galapagos or Latin American journey. We often pair it with contrasting environments to create a sense of flow and variety.Staying at Montemar Villas works beautifully as part of a wider Galapagos or Latin American journey. We often pair it with contrasting environments to create a sense of flow and variety.
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