What to see on Isabela

Isabela is the biggest of all islands. Nevertheless it has only two villages on it, of which the bigger one is called Puerto Villamil. It is also the center where all the tours start and where the boats arrive. On Isabela you need to stay at least two days to see most of the things.

When arriving at Isabela I was surprised that the watertaxi was double the price as elsewhere. Furtermore you have to pay a port tax of 10$ upon arrival. I took Gladel/Cally for crossing over and can only recommend them (I booked at Expogar).

Los Túneles

Los túneles is a tour I highly recommend for those who want to see as many animals as possible. On this tour you go to a bay in the south of the island, where you will snorkel for more than an hour and make a small walk on the coast after a break. One can see seahorses, turtles, rays, sharks, sea lions, boobies, penguins and other birds. Besides you see the amazing landscape of lava tunnels entering the sea. Recommended agencies are: Rosedelco, Capricornio, Tour Ocean. Agencies that are not recommended are Tropical and GalaTour. They have guides that are disrespectful to the animals.
For this tour it’s best to have low tide, so check the tide times before booking. A tour costs between 100$ and 120$.

Las Tintoreras

This is a smaller tour where you explore the islands in front of the port. Here you also go snorkling, but for a shorter time. You walk on the islands to observe the animals from ashore. You can see penguins, boobies, sea lions, sharks, rays and iguanas. This tour costs between 40$ and 50$. On this tour as well low tide is better as the sea is clearer to see the animals.

The Volcano

There is another half day tour where you drive to the crater of el cura. There you do a walk and can see the Volcano Chico. At the moment (August 2018) this Volcano is active, but you already can’t see the lava anymore.

A Cycling tour

It is also worth to rent a bike (3$ per hour) and go cycling along the coast. This can be done on a morning or as a full day, depending how long you stay at the spots. It is recommendable to go to the last point first and roll up the tour from the back, even though then you can’t really read the signs. But if you have to be back on time you can control your schedule better. Recommendable spots are: Cerro Radar, El Estero, Tunel del Estero, Playa del Amor and Poza redonda.

The Lagunas and the Centro de Crianza

This visit will take about 2-3 hours. You can walk. There is a nice path along the lagunas to the tortoise center on which you can see flamingos. The tortoise center has some similarities with the Charles Darwin Foundation, however there are different tortoise species to see.

Concha de Perla

This is a nice bay next to the port for snorkling on your own.

I stayed at the Posada del Caminante, the only hostel on the Galapagos Islands. It has hammocks and free fruits and a small but dirty kitchen. Therefore I highly recommend to eat in the Shawarma hot a delicious and vegan friendly restaurant.