14 Best Snorkeling Spots in Santa Cruz, Galapagos

General Info

Santa Cruz, like all the other islands, is part of the Galapagos National Park, and therefore it has a number of things you should know:

• Most of the activities have to be done on a tour with a Naturalist guide.
• All the agencies have the same prices (although you can barter if you book more than one tour).
• Most beaches have opening and closing times (turtle nesting reasons).
• You should book your tour at least one day in advance (or you might risk not having a place on the best ones).
• Bring Seasickness Medication for the tours on the water.
• Always use strong sunscreen (Sun in the Equator line burns more).
• Have mosquito repellant with you, especially at sunset. There are horseflies in the Galapagos.
• Drones are not allowed for tourists in the park.
• You can’t rent a motorcycle or a car, everything has to be done by taxi, bus, boat, bicycle, or on foot.
• You can’t and shouldn’t touch the animals on the island.

If you want more information please check the Galapagos Conservancy’s website about Santa Cruz Island.

Top Picks for Snorkeling Tours in Santa Cruz

1. Tortuga Bay Beach

The Tortuga Bay beach is the best place to go snorkeling in Santa Cruz itself, it is for me the most beautiful beach that I’ve visited in the Galapagos islands. Its name comes from this being the place where many turtles come and lay their eggs on the beach. This white-sanded paradise is home to many marine iguanas and baby reef sharks. 

Here you can surf, sunbathe, kayak and for sure relax. It is located roughly 3 km southwest of Puerto Ayora town on Santa Cruz island. Tortuga Bay consists of two beaches, the longest one, with waves called Playa Brava (Brave beach), and a smaller and quieter one without waves called Playa Mansa (Tame beach).

View the full blog post here: TORTUGA BAY BEACH IN SANTA CRUZ

2. Station Beach

There are two main beaches part of the Charles Darwin Research Station complex. Station Beach is one of them. Both have lots of rocks and little sand next to the water. There aren’t usually many people here, thus it is a place to consider spending the day in you can also easily park your bike at the entrance.

You can usually find a couple of marine iguanas disguised as rocks around the beach. It is one of the few places to swim and go snorkeling in Santa Cruz. Apart from the Alemanes beach (which is on the other side of Puerto Ayora’s town), there isn’t any other nearby beach for a short dive on a hot day. It’s free and it’s the perfect refreshment after spending some hours at the research station.

View the full blog post here: CHARLES DARWIN RESEARCH STATION

3. La Ratonera Beach

La Ratonera Beach is the most distant beach on the Charles Darwin Research Center complex. For that reason and from being a bit closer to the open sea, it is especially famous for its surfing-quality waves, and probably as far as snorkeling in Santa Cruz goes, is should also be a nice place to try. 

This beach has lots of rocks and little sand next to the water and there aren’t usually many people here, it is free and it’s the perfect refreshment after spending some hours at the research station. You can usually find a couple of marine iguanas disguised as rocks around the beach.

View the full blog post here: CHARLES DARWIN RESEARCH STATION

4. Las Grietas

Las Grietas or “The Rifts/Crevasses” is a canyon-like structure filled with water, a lava rock formation of two cliffs separated by an ocean water fissure. Here you can swim and snorkel. The underwater formations are amazing so please bring your snorkel kit.

It’s usually crowded and lately, a minimum price of 10$ USD must be paid at the entrance even if you come without a tour. If you do come with a tour, the most famous one is called “Bay Tour” or “Tour de Bahia” and it also includes the Love Chanel, Playa de Los Perros beach, and Las Tintoreras baby reef-shark pools.

View the full blog post here: BAY TOUR IN SANTA CRUZ

To book this tour: Check the local company Galapagos Dream’s website, or book it online on Viator here: Half Day Bay Tour in Santa Cruz Island

5. Playa de Los Alemanes Beach

Playa de Los Alemanes or Germans Beach is located right next to Las Grietas and it’s the perfect place to come if you want to relax with your family. It is possible to come here for 1$ USD by water taxi from the main port of Puerto Ayora. Try to come on low tide cause the sand almost disappears on high tide. The water is usually very calm and shallow and it’s the perfect spot for snorkeling.

You might be lucky your hotel is nearby and you can come here whenever you want. If it’s not and you come on the Bay Tour you can ask your guide to stay on the beach and later just pay for a water taxi to go back.

View the full blog post here: BAY TOUR IN SANTA CRUZ

To book this tour: Check the local company Galapagos Dream’s website, or book it online on Viator here: Half Day Bay Tour in Santa Cruz Island

6. El Garrapatero Beach

El Garrapatero is another nice alternative beach you can go for snorkeling in Santa Cruz if you’ve already been to Tortuga Bay. This white-sanded beach has a lagoon next to it usually with many flamingos. On the beach you can swim, kayak, sunbathe and relax. The beach is located 20 km northeast of Puerto Ayora town and to reach it you have to take a taxi and then walk a short path to the beach.

View the full blog post here: EL GARRAPATERO BEACH IN SANTA CRUZ

7. Bartolomé Island

The Bartolomé Island Tour is the most iconic tour you can do on the Galapagos islands. In theory, it shouldn’t count as a place to go snorkeling in Santa Cruz, as it is on another island, but the main way to get here is through Santa Cruz so for organizational purposes I’ve listed this and the other islands possible to visit from Santa Cruz on this guide.

You will go on a gorgeous sailing ship starting at Santa Cruz island, passing through the Daphne islands, and arrive at the beautiful Bartolomé island, almost an islet from Santiago island. With luck, you might spot some penguins as we did and then you go snorkeling on one of the paradisiac beaches in the near.

The name of the island comes from Charles Darwin’s friend Bartholomew James Sullivan who was the principal surveyor and second lieutenant aboard the HMS Beagle. Bartolomé is a volcanic tuff islet on the east side of Santiago island. It is the most photographed place in the Galapagos archipelago.

View the full blog post here: BARTOLOMÉ ISLAND TOUR

To book this tour: Check the local company Galapagos Dreams’s website, or book it online on Viator with any of the tours underneath:

8. North Seymour Island

North Seymour island is located on the north part of Santa Cruz island, over Baltra island (aka South Seymour island). You will see just like in Cerro Dragon hill and on Baltra island a lot of wildlife. From beautiful orange land iguanas, blue-footed boobies, frigate birds, marine iguanas, and probably sea lions.

To end up the tour you usually get to go to Las Bachas Beach and do some more snorkeling.

Both North and South Seymour Islands were named after the British royal navy officer of the late 18th century, Admiral Lord Hugh Seymour. If you’re more fond of scuba diving, I wrote a full article on my dive here that I’ll link underneath.

View the full blog post here: DIVING IN NORTH SEYMOUR AND MOSQUERA

To book this tour: Check the local company Galapagos Dreams’s website, or book it online on Viator with any of the tours underneath:

9. Isabela Island

Isabela island is the third main island of the archipelago and it happens to be the biggest one of the three. If you have time I do recommend you to actually go and sleep there and start your tours from there, Isabela island’s landscape is wonderful. Two-thirds of the island is unoccupied and you can’t visit it unless you go on a National Geographic expedition or some scientific research trip of a sort.

Most of the Isabela day tours include the Tintoreras islets activity, there you will snorkel next to Puerto Villamil town (Isabela’s “capital”) and you will probably see some penguins and reef sharks. Personally, I would suggest you speak to the Galápagos Dreams travel agency and tell them you’d prefer to go to Los Túneles instead of Tintoreras Islets, for there you can see amazing underwater lava structures and wildlife.

They can probably organize it and you pay a little more (the Los Tuneles tour is more expensive and far away than Tintoreras, but is so worth it). If you don’t have the time or don’t want to bother here are a couple of Isabela days tours you can book from Santa Cruz.

To book this tour: Check the local company Galapagos Dreams’s website, or book it online on Viator with any of the tours underneath:

10. Floreana Island

The Floreana Island Tour is the most mysterious and at the same time beautiful tour, you can do on the Galapagos Islands. From tales of piracy, an Austrian baroness and her love trio, a crazy German toothless doctor, and murder this island has it all.

This tour has to be done with an agency or you can alternatively take a boat to Floreana island and spend multiple days there, as there is some infrastructure on the island (not like in Bartolomé Island where you can only visit it on a tour).

The name of the island comes from Ecuador’s first president Juan José Flores, whose administration officially recognized the Galápagos islands as part of Ecuador’s territory. Previously the island was called Charles island (after King Charles II of England) and Santa Maria island (one of Columbus’s caravels). Floreana is the 4th and last island with human settlements in the Galápagos archipelago.

View the full blog post here: FLOREANA ISLAND TOUR

To book this tour: Check the local company Galapagos Dreams’s website, or book it online on Viator with any of the tours underneath:

11. Plazas Islets

These are two of the many uninhabited islets in the Galapagos. They were formed by an uplift of the seabed giving it its flat but very unique shape. They are located on the northeastern side of Santa Cruz island. 

The visit is in the channel between the North and South Plaza islets, in the part where the islet slopes a little towards the water. There are many opuntia cacti and very beautiful red low-ground vegetation. On this tour, you will see many iguanas, swallow-tailed gulls, and blue-footed boobies. You end up on the tour snorkeling at Punta Carrion where you will see a plenitude of marine life.

To book this tour: Check the local company Galapagos Dreams’s website, or book it online on Viator here: Day Trip to South Plaza Island from Puerto Ayora

12. Daphne Mayor Island

On this snorkeling tour, you will go near Daphne Mayor island and to Bahia Borrero. You will find a great concentration of birds and sea lions, as it is a natural fishing area. Here you will have the chance to fish your lunch, if you can’t fish anything there’s always the normal lunch menus available. While snorkeling you might spot eagles and manta rays and also some reef sharks.

To book this tour: Check the local company Galapagos Dreams’s website

13.Pinzon Island and La Fé

On this snorkeling tour, you will go to Bahia Pinguino in Pinzon island and then to Dumb islet in the near. On the way back you will go to a beach in Santa Cruz only accessible by boat, called La Fé beach.  Pinzon is only possible to visit on a snorkeling tour. And due to its proximity to Santa Cruz, you can find many tour agencies that do it.

While snorkeling in Pinzon you will find on the beautiful clear turquoise water, many tropical fish, baby and adult sea lions, white-tip reef sharks and turtles, usually huge ones, and blue sharks. At La Fé beach you can relax or go snorkeling again. Here you might see marine iguanas, puffer fish, manta rays, and starfish. 

To book this tour: Check the local company Galapagos Dreams’s website, or reserve it online through Viator below:

14.Santa Fé Island

Santa Fé is one of the biggest islands in the Galápagos and it’s located just 20 km away from Santa Cruz. For that reason, it’s usually part of the daily tours available from Santa Cruz. Santa Fé has very calm currents and turquoise water. Here you will be able to swim with sea lions and find starfish, tropical fish, and turtles. With a bit of luck, there might even be manta rays.

In the end, you will visit a hidden beach inside a beautiful bay only accessible by boat where you can relax and take nice photos. If you’re interested there are also land and scuba diving tours to Santa Fé.

To book this tour: Check the local company Galapagos Dreams’s website, or book it online on Viator with any of the tours underneath:

Where to Stay

Santa Cruz Island in the Galapagos has a variety of accommodation options to choose from, and we’ve narrowed down the top three choices for you.

For the ultimate luxury getaway, Finch Bay Galapagos Hotel offers a range of amenities, including an outdoor swimming pool, fitness center, and hot tub. Hotel Acacia is a comfortable and serene environment to unwind in the heart of Puerto Ayora, with lush gardens, a shared lounge, and a terrace. And Suites Hermosas offers two fully furnished apartments with breathtaking views and fully equipped kitchens.

To learn more about these options and other accommodation choices, check out the full article:

All the Articles About The Galapagos

San Cristobal Island - The easternmost island of the Galapagos, the “Isla Bonita”

Santa Cruz Island - The island with the best tourism infrastructure.

Isabela Island - The most adventurous and less explored island of the main three.