39 Best Snorkeling Spots in The Galapagos
Snorkel Guide 2024
- Last Updated: September 22, 2024
Snorkeling in the Galapagos is literally the dream of many many people. From Liveaboard cruises to land-based snorkeling tours and beaches, I’ve listed the 39 best spots for snorkeling in the Galápagos. I’ve tried most of the snorkeling spots myself and written detailed articles about them, which I will link together.
While land-based in any of the three main islands, there are 11 places to snorkel starting from San Cristobal, 14 from Santa Cruz, 7 from Isabela, and another 7 only doable as part of liveaboard experiences (snorkeling in Fernandina island, the western part of Isabela, Genovesa Island, Rabida Island, Marchena Island, and Santiago Island).
Table of Contents
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Snorkeling in The Galapagos
General Info
All the Galápagos islands are part of the Galapagos National Park, and therefore there are 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 a strong sunscreen (Sun in the Equator line burns more).
- Have mosquito repellant with you, especially at sunset. There are horseflies in the Galapagos.
- You can’t fly a drone here unless you have a special permit from the National 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.
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Snorkeling in The Galapagos
San Cristobal Island
1. Puerto Chino Beach
Puerto Chino beach is a great place to go snorkeling in the Galapagos and is one of the most beautiful and secluded beaches on the island. There are almost no tourists here, you can snorkel, sunbathe, and even surf. If you’re lucky you might even find sea lions.
In order to visit it you must hire a taxi, for that reason, it’s usually included in a tour where the taxi takes you to multiple destinations. This tour is called “The Highlands Tour” or “Tour Parte Alta” and takes you to El Junco Crater Lake, The Giant Tortoise Reserve “La Galapaguera” and Puerto Chino beach.
View the full blog post here: HIGHLANDS TOUR IN SAN CRISTOBAL
Also, if you’re interested in beaches: BEST 5 BEACHES IN SAN CRISTOBAL
2. Muelle Tijeretas Dock
It is a very nice alternative place to swim and snorkel. There is a cave full of sea lions right on the right of the dock and you will probably find them also in the water or at the dock with you (as you can see in the photo). If you’re in the Interpretation Center, you either go right to the Cerro Tijeretas Hill or go left to Muelle Tijeretas Dock.
It’s free and it’s the perfect refreshment stop on your way to Cerro Tijeretas or Playa Baquerizo beach. I went here on my way back from Playa Baquerizo beach and also wrote an article about it.
View the full blog post here: CERRO TIJERETAS AND PLAYA BAQUERIZO HIKE
Also, if you’re interested in beaches: BEST 5 BEACHES IN SAN CRISTOBAL
3. Playa Baquerizo Beach
To reach Playa Baquerizo beach you need to hike there and it’s the only hike you can do on the island that is free and not part of a tour. You can actually continue further to another beach but I would say for a normal hiker this is enough, especially on a hot sunny day.
It’s a nice long white sandy beach with almost nobody since it’s a bit hard to reach it, and you can snorkel in the water. I saw turtles many fish and a white-tip reef shark. On the sand and in the water marine iguanas can also be found here.
View the full blog post here: CERRO TIJERETAS AND PLAYA BAQUERIZO HIKE
Also, if you’re interested in beaches: BEST 5 BEACHES IN SAN CRISTOBAL
4. Bahia Rosa Blanca Beach
You can snorkel in Bahia Rosa Blanca Beach if you do the 360º Tour, it is without a doubt the most famous tour on the island. If you are an adventurous soul and you like the water this is the tour for you. Here you will literally go on a boat ride around the entire island.
The highlights are Bahia Rosa Blanca beach (on the photo underneath), a huge and gorgeous white sandy beach with turquoise water, snorkeling in Kicker Rock, birdwatching at Punta Pitt, inland exploration, and many other stops. It is definitely the most complete tour you can do for snorkeling in San Cristobal.
View the full blog post here: 360 TOUR IN SAN CRISTOBAL
Also, if you’re interested in beaches: BEST 5 BEACHES IN SAN CRISTOBAL
Book your tour: Full Day Tour 360 San Cristobal – Best of the Island (great reviews)
5. La Loberia Beach
This was the first activity I did on the island, it’s a long free beach full of sea lions and marine iguanas. When I went into the water a baby sea lion started playing with me, we raced together and I saw some beautiful turtles swimming around. If your dream is to go snorkeling in San Cristobal, playing with sea lions while on the water is probably a nice introduction to it.
There is a National Park guard taking care of the beach and some minor facilities such as the guard’s tower where you can hide if it starts raining.
You need to take a taxi to reach it or rent a bicycle and cycle your way there. I did a whole post about it and added the numbers of some taxi drivers you can call to take you there.
View the full blog post here: LA LOBERIA BEACH IN SAN CRISTOBAL
Also, if you’re interested in beaches: BEST 5 BEACHES IN SAN CRISTOBAL
6. Punta Carola Beach
This is for me the best beach in San Cristobal. It’s free, it’s long and beautiful, you can relax, there are not many people and its perfect location allows you to watch amazing sunsets from there.
To reach it you have to walk perhaps 15 mins from Puerto Baquerizo Moreno’s downtown. You can surf here, it’s actually one of the best places to do it on the island and you can also swim with sea lions and marine iguanas if you’re lucky.
View the full blog post here: PUNTA CAROLA BEACH IN SAN CRISTOBAL
Also, if you’re interested in beaches: BEST 5 BEACHES IN SAN CRISTOBAL
7. Playa Mann Beach
If you have a group of friends or you are with your family and don’t want to be just with nature, this is the place to come. There are kiosks where you can get some snacks and drinks, you can play music on the beach, watch the sunset and relax next to some sea lions.
This beach is literally 10 minutes away from downtown and it’s also on the way to Punta Carola beach, so if you find it too busy you have a close-by alternative.
View the full blog post here: PLAYA MANN BEACH IN SAN CRISTOBAL
Also, if you’re interested in beaches: BEST 5 BEACHES IN SAN CRISTOBAL
8. Kicker Rock
Diving in Kicker Rock is the favorite activity in the Galapagos for divers from all around the world. Here, if you’re lucky and you’ve good visibility you can find dozens of hammerhead sharks, eagle and manta rays, Galapagos sharks, turtles, everything.
If you’re not a diver, you can go for a lower price on the same boat as your friends and snorkel here. The snorkeling group on my tour actually saw more things than we did. So it’s a spectacular tour in both ways.
View the full blog post here: DIVING IN KICKER ROCK
9. Española Island
Española Island is home to many endemic species in the Galapagos. They only exist on this island. It’s a day tour and it’s the only big island (not counting Santa Cruz island) you can visit on a day trip from San Cristobal.
Here you can find a special marine iguana with green and red coloration, a waved albatross colony (it’s their only breeding site in the world), the Española mockingbird, the Española lava lizard, sea lions, blue-footed boobies, and many other unique species. There is a part of the tour where you snorkel or dive in Gardner Islet and find many underwater wonders.
To book this tour: Check the local company Wreck Bay’s website, or book it online on Viator with any of the tours underneath:
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10. Lobos Island & Ochoa Beach
Lobos island tour is a mixed tour, both on water and on land.
You have a 1-hour stroll on the island where you can spot sea lions, frigate birds, and blue-footed boobies and also do some snorkeling and find rays and turtles. In the end, you will go to Playa Ochoa for some beach time.
I visited Lobos island on the way to Kicker Rock for my first dive in San Cristóbal. Here is where you do the test dive to check your skills.
To book this tour: Check the local company Planet Ocean Galapagos website, or book it online on Viator here: Tour Lobos Island from San Cristobal
11. Punta Pitt
If you’ve done the 360 Tour then you probably recognize this place. It’s where you do the birdwatching on that tour. It is the northeasternmost point of San Cristóbal and the turning point from the wild to the calm sea (protected by the island), it is therefore packed with marine life and birds and it’s an incredible last alternative in San Cristobal to go snorkeling in the Galapagos.
On this tour, you have two dives or you can snorkel if you aren’t a certified diver. In the end, you go to Cerro Pitt hill for some birdwatching and inland exploring or just stay at the beach relaxing.
Check the Punta Pitt dive/snorkel trip on Wreck Bay’s website.
Snorkeling in The Galapagos
Santa Cruz Island
12. Tortuga Bay Beach
The Tortuga Bay beach is for me the best beach on Santa Cruz island, and it is for me the most beautiful beach that I’ve visited in the entire archipelago, and a great place to go snorkeling in the Galapagos. 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 roughly 3 km southwest of Puerto Ayora 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
13. 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
14. 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
15. 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. This is one of the many lava landscapes you can find while snorkeling in the Galapagos.
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
16. 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
17. 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
18. Bartolomé Island
The Bartolomé Island Tour is the most iconic tour you can do on the archipelago and this is one is no doubt of the coolest tours to enjoy snorkeling in the Galapagos.
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:
19. 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 (on the northern part of Santa Cruz) and on Baltra island, beautiful orange land iguanas, blue-footed boobies, frigate birds, marine iguanas, and probably sea lions.
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:
20. 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 Galapagos 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:
21. 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 Galapagos 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.
The last part of the Floreana tour adds up to the snorkeling in the Galapagos experience as it takes you to Loberia Beach where you have this beautiful islet with turquoise water and many green sea turtles, sea lions, and much tropical fish. One of the most idyllic beaches of the Galápagos.
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:
22. 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
23. 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
24. Pinzon Island
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 book it online on Viator with any of the tours underneath:
25. Santa Fé Island
Santa Fé is one of the biggest islands in the Galapagos 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. This is considered to be one of the best tours to go snorkeling in the Galapagos.
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:
Snorkeling in The Galapagos
Isabela Island
26. Concha de Perla Lagoon
The Concha de Perla Lagoon in Isabela is a beautiful lagoon full of mangroves that you can visit just a short walk from Puerto Villamil town. You don’t have to pay for the entrance and is great for a family escape or snorkeling adventure.
You will definitely see marine iguanas on the wooden deck before entering the water and exotic beautiful fish. With luck, you might spot some turtles and perhaps some reef sharks and rays.
View the full blog post here: CONCHA DE PERLA LAGOON
27. Puerto Villamil Beach
The Puerto Villamil beach or Playa Isabela in Isabela island is a gorgeous 4 km beach that runs alongside the entire seaside of this cute little town.
This white-sanded beauty with turquoise water is the perfect place to relax on Isabela island. Here you will see many pelicans fishing and marine iguanas and on the east side, there’s a great place to surf.
View the full blog post here: PUERTO VILLAMIL BEACH
28. La Playita Beach
La Playita beach is the main alternative to Puerto Villamil’s beach and it stands right at the beginning of Los Humedales Park and some meters after the main beach. Here you can come at the end of your Wall of Tears bicycle ride or to say that you went to a different beach in Isabela.
Honestly, it is nice and it has more like a bay feeling but with a giant beach like Puerto Villamil’s beach next to the town where there aren’t almost people you don’t necessarily need to find a remote beach on this island. In any case, if you look for alternative beaches this is it.
View the full blog posts here: WALL OF TEARS IN ISABELA or PUERTO VILLAMIL BEACH
29. Los Tuneles - Cabo Rosa
The Los Tuneles or Cabo Rosa tour in Isabela island is the coolest water tour you can do in the archipelago and the best snorkeling in the Galapagos. You will see so much wildlife you won’t believe it.
We saw on the surface blue-footed boobies, penguins, sea lions, marine iguanas and orange crabs and underwater reef sharks, turtles, a sea horse, a sea lion, an eagle ray, a stingray, an octopus, a lobster, and beautiful schools of fish.
Apart from the wildlife, the lava structures underwater are mind-blowing, you can dive through infinite tunnels and caves, and to top it we saw like in Angelita’s cenote in Mexico, an hydrogen sulfide cloud. What an experience!
View the full blog post here: LOS TUNELES TOUR IN ISABELA
To book this tour: Check the local company Coral Blanco Tour Operator (click on the icons), or book it online on Viator with any of the tours underneath:
30. Las Tintoreras
Las Tintoreras islet is the most common tour to go on Isabela island and it’s the only one you get if you come from Santa Cruz on a daily trip to Isabela. It is an area on the water, 10 minutes by boat from Puerto Villamil’s town that was formed when the lava of Sierra Negra’s volcano got in contact with the oxygen forming a solid outer shell, like a lava tunnel’s carcass, and because it is on the water it formed some canals where daily hundreds of baby reef sharks (tintoreras) tend to go to.
Here you will also see blue-footed boobies, marine iguanas, and with luck some penguins. After the land tour, there is some time for snorkeling where you might find turtles, rays, and sea lions. Personally, if this is the only day you have to go snorkeling in the Galapagos I would definitely suggest you try first the Los Tuneles tour, and only if you don’t have an entire day or lack the money try Las Tintoreras.
To book this tour: Check the local company Coral Blanco Tour Operator (click on the icons), or book it online on Viator with any of the tours underneath:
31. Tortuga Island
Tortuga Island or Brattle Island is probably one of the places I’d visit if I’d want to see Hammerhead sharks and manta rays while snorkeling in the Galapagos, especially land-based in Isabela. It is a small islet located on the southeast of Puerto Villamil town and it has a shape of a half-moon clearly being the crater’s rim of an extinct volcano.
After a 45 minutes speed boat ride you reach the island and there is some birdwatching time to try and spot blue-footed and Nasca boobies, frigate birds, and other species, and then it’s snorkeling time where you will hopefully find hammerheads and manta rays, then there is some deep-sea fishing and you eat lunch at Loberia beach, after lunch and after some more snorkeling, you go back to Puerto Villamil.
To book this tour: Check the local company Pahoehoe Galapagos’s website.
32. 4 Hermanos & Cartago Bay
Los 4 Hermanos islands is another great place to see some hammerheads, Galápagos sharks, and even manta rays. It is located 1 hour away by speed boat to the northeast of Puerto Villamil’s town. Here like in the Tortuga Island snorkel tour you’ll have a chance to do some deep-sea fishing and fish your own tuna with the crew that will later prepare it as ceviche for lunch.
After Los Hermanos the tour takes you to Cartago Bay where you can snorkel a bit more and see some green turtles, tropical fish, rays, and sharks.
To book this tour: Check the local company Pahoehoe Galapagos’s website.
Snorkeling in The Galapagos
Cruises & Liveaboards
33. Floreana Island
Floreana has one of the most famous places for snorkeling in the Galapagos while on a cruise, and its name is Devil’s Crown. This is the remains of an old submerged volcanic crater.
It has some currents so be aware while snorkeling, nevertheless this current brings in visitors like morays, golden rays, and sometimes eagle rays, wrasses, snappers, and groupers and if you have an eye for it you might even find scorpionfish.
If you’re a certified diver you can also scuba-dive here.
To book this tour: Check out the Devil’s Crown snorkeling spot on the company Galapatours’s website (they have mostly good reviews, but since I didn’t do any tours with them I would recommend you take your own conclusions).
34. Rabida Island
Another stop on some of the liveaboards is Rabida Island. The snorkeling spot on the island is on the rocky shore just south of the famous red-sanded beach. While snorkeling here you will probably encounter green turtles and then many types of tropical fish like king angelfish, parrotfish, goatfish, hawkfish, and huge schools of razor surgeonfish.
This is not a typical spot for snorkeling in the Galapagos, but it’s possible to do it so if you want to see all the underwater spots of the archipelago in all the different islands, you will only need to do Pinta Island after this one (which is usually not allowed).
To book this tour: Check out Rabida Island’s snorkeling spot on the company Galapatours’s website (they have mostly good reviews, but since I didn’t do any tours with them I would recommend you take your own conclusions).
35. Fernandina Island
The snorkeling spot of Fernandina is called Punta Espinosa, and it’s located on the northern point of the island, relatively close to Tagus Cove in Isabela island. It’s considered by many as the top place to go snorkeling in the Galapagos.
If you want to swim with marine iguanas, this is the place for you to do it. There is a huge colony of them around here and the warm water areas of this place together with its algae make it the perfect place for them to be. If you’re lucky you might also swim with Galapagos penguins and if you’re very lucky you might see dolphins, orcas, humpbacks, and pilot whales.
To book this tour: Check out the Punta Espinosa snorkeling spot on the company Galapatours’s website (they have mostly good reviews, but since I didn’t do any tours with them I would recommend you take your own conclusions).
36. Isabela Island
On Isabela Island, the two most famous spots for snorkeling while on a cruise are Tagus Cove and Punta Vicente Roca (where you can also scuba-dive). Just to the right side of Punta Espinosa, you have Tagus Cove, a beautiful bay whose rock bed is completely covered with green algae, where marine iguanas, flightless cormorants, penguins, and green turtles come often to feed.
The day you snorkel in Tagus Cove you also kayak and hike on the island and have the chance to see the Tagus Cove from above which is beautiful and the crater lake in the near, remnants probably from the eruption of Darwin Volcano.
The Punta Espinosa snorkel point, also one of the best places for snorkeling in the Galápagos is located at the edge of Ecuador Volcano’s crater, also on the western coast of Isabela Island and it’s another amazing place to see marine wildlife especially due to its cold waters. Here you can find sea lions, green sea turtles, sea horses, mola mola, frogfish (if you have a good eye to find them hidden on the rocks), hinge-beak prawns, and the famous red-lipped batfish. Sometimes you can also find bullhead sharks around.
To book this tour: Check out the Tagus Cove snorkeling spot on the company Galapatours’s website (they have mostly good reviews, but since I didn’t do any tours with them I would recommend you take your own conclusions).
37. Santiago Island
There are two main snorkeling spots on Santiago Island, the Chinese Hat, and James Bay. The Chinese Hat, also known as Sombrero Chino is a small islet with a volcano in the middle that stands on the southeast shore of Santiago Island and has its name for its shape resembling a Chinese hat.
While snorkeling here you will see white-tip reef sharks, green sea turtles, baby sea lions, and Galápagos penguins. On James Bay, located on the northwestern coast of Santiago Island you will be able to see sea lions, and sometimes Galápagos penguins and golden cownose rays.
To book this tour: Check out the Chinese Hat snorkeling spot on the company Galapatours’s website (they have mostly good reviews, but since I didn’t do any tours with them I would recommend you take your own conclusions).
38. Marchena Island
The main highlight for snorkeling on Marchena Island is called Punta Mejia. The special thing about Punta Mejia is its deep clear water and calm sea, where you will probably see many types of sharks, green sea turtles, and with luck many types of rays, whales, and dolphins. This island is only possible to visit on a snorkeling tour. You can’t do any land tours here so even scientists rarely come ashore.
To book this tour: Check out the Punta Mejia snorkeling spot on the company Galapatours’s website (they have mostly good reviews, but since I didn’t do any tours with them I would recommend you take your own conclusions).
39. Genovesa Island
On Genovesa Island, one of the most visited islands on the northern cruises, the main snorkeling spot is called Prince Philip’s Steps, named after Queen Elizabeth II’s husband Prince Philip who visited the islands on two different occasions.
Prince Philip’s Steps’ usual visit apart from snorkeling also includes a hiking trip inland and some kayaking. Regarding the snorkeling part, this is a protected partly opened, and flooded caldera whose seabed is filled with corals and seaweed and is often a place where hammerhead sharks and manta rays choose to pass through. Even if you don’t find these highlights this place is always full of many different beautiful tropical fish.
To book this tour: Check out the Prince Philip’s Steps snorkeling spot on the company Galapatours’s website (they have mostly good reviews, but since I didn’t do any tours with them I would recommend you take your own conclusions).
Where to Stay in The Galapagos
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.
