Day Tour to Isabela Island with Tintorera Islet, Snorkeling Wetlands & Flamingos
Description
This tour allows you to get to know the beautiful island of Isabela with all the species it is famous for in only one day; you will see the Galapagos penguins, the blue-footed boobies, the flamingos, the whitetip reef sharks, marine iguanas, sea turtles, sea lions and much more as well as Galapagos' most beautiful coconut palm beach along which the cute little town of Puerto Villamil is built. This tour is the perfect combination of land & water, as during the (short) snorkel activity you will get to know the abundant wildlife underwater, while the disembarkation on Tinterera Islet plus the tour to the flamingos and tortoises allows you to observe all the land species from as close as possible. The tour includes lunch in one of the best ocean front restaurants. You will be provided with high quality snorkel equipment and wetsuits. Please note that the only way to get to Isabela for the day is by PUBLIC SPEEDBOAT - we work with the best one but if the sea is rough it can get choppy!
Tour Options
Itinerary
During this boat tour, together with a naturalist guide you will be exploring the beautiful bay of Isabela Island, to see the Galapagos penguins from close as well as the blue-footed boobies. There will be a disembarkation on "Las Tintoreras", a little islet inhabited by tons of little marine iguanas a.o. The exploration walk on this island will lead you to the famous shark channel where lots of whitetip reef sharks ("Tintoreras in Spanish, therefore the name of the island") like to rest; often together with sea turtles and sea lions. Before getting back on board, you will also visit a beautiful little white sand beach inhabited by sea lions. There will also be a great snorkel activity, together with sea turtles, sharks, rays, and - if you get lucky - then the penguins might get into the water with you too.
Following a beautiful trail along mangrove trees, you will explore the "Humedales", i.e. wetlands, where you will be able to see the Galapagos flamingos in their natural habitat, many other birds as well as marine iguanas. The trail leads you to the most beautiful coconut palm beach.
Isabela Island is the only island with a stunningly beautiful coconut palm beach. Here you can observe big marine iguanas, sally lightfoot crabs, lava lizarrds, pelicans as well as lots of other birds.
You will also visit the Giant Tortoise Breeding Centre Arnaldo Tupiza, where you cannot only see the baby giant tortoises and differente juvenile stages, but also the oldest one (close to 200 years old). The $10 entry fee to this place is included in the tour price already.
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Infants are required to sit on an adult’s lap
- Not recommended for travelers with poor cardiovascular health
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
Reviews(137)
This was a great tour with lots of animals to see. First we took a boat around the island of Isabella where we saw penguins, a lot of blue footed boobies, sea lions, and other birds. After that we got off the boat to a place called the iguanas day care where we saw a lot of baby iguanas and even saw a white tipped shark and sea turtles relaxing in the canal. After that we got back onto the boat and went snorkeling in the bay near the iguanas day care. The snorkeling gear was provided by the boat and I think that was my favorite part. We snorkeled for around 45 minutes u we saw sea turtles, lots of fish, sting rays, and white tailed sharks. The sharks stayed pretty deep in the water. Our guide Tito was absolutely amazing and can’t recommend him enough. He made sure everyone’s equipment was safe and secured, kept eyes on everyone so that no one was left behind. Was extremely knowledgeable. I was trying to get a good video of one of the sharks but I was unable to dive that far down to get a clear shot. So Tito asked for my go pro and he dove all the way to the bottom and captured a great video for me and I really appreciate him doing that. After the snorkeling we ate an included lunch which we went to a restaurant called Blue Summer and had a three course meal there and it was really good! After lunch we went to a lagoon and saw flamingos and other birds. And then finally went to the tortoise hatchery and got to see little baby ones. This was definitely an all day tour that was well worth the money. I recommend doing it especially if Tito is your guide.
We met with Omar before the trip who clearly and patiently explained everything. We did have different guides during the day but they we easy to identify and connect with. The tour was amazing especially snorkeling. The lunch provided was at a local restaurant and very tasty. The boat ride is long and bumpy but the trip was well coordinated and lots of fun.
We found this tour particularly good. We are writing this tour after taking multiple ones and we can say we loved all parts of it. First, pick-up, communication and organisation was done flawlessly over WhatsApp which was not a given with the other tours. The guys were organised and were on time. After that, we took a 2 hour boat to isabella and we found ourselves in the very capable hands of Glenda who was an excellent guide with in-depth knowledge and experience, cant recommend her enough. The experience and variety of wildlife on the island is not to be discussed- absolutely fantastic. This was the best tour we took while we were on the islands. Hotly recommend!
It was indeed a fantastic trip. We found and booked the tour through "Get Your Guide." The correspondence was excellent over WhatsApp. We had a briefing the day before, where we completed the formalities and prepared the equipment. The briefing was very informative and detailed. Simply wonderful. The trip was fantastic; everything, truly everything, was perfect. Transfer, guides super friendly and helpful. Nothing was left to chance. We have seen everything: Sharks, stingrays, sea lions, turtles, and especially the penguins ❤️❤️ On land, we saw the flamingos and visited the turtle breeding station. Simply indescribable.
Had a really great time on this tour of Isabela Island and would absolutely recommend doing if, for example, you are staying on Santa Cruz and want to get a brief taste of what Isabela Island has to offer. This was the second tour I went on organised by Guiding Galapagos Expeditions and I really want to highlight them here as well. Omar helped set up everything for me - for this tour in particular, I wanted to spend a bit more time on Isabela Island so he organised my ferry ticket back to Santa Cruz for the next day. Guiding Galapagos provided me with my own snorkelling equipment, and made sure to reach out the day before the tour to organise the details and fit me for the snorkelling gear. I found them to be really excellent in organising tours around the Galápagos Islands - if you are shopping around different tour agencies in the Galapagos, I would absolutely recommend reaching out to Guiding Galapagos Expeditions.
I toured Isabela Island and overall it was an excellent experience. From the first contact with the agency, the care was very good. The guide was professional and friendly, and the guide at Isabela was simply exceptional. In my case, the tour was practically private (just him and me), which made the experience even more special. He was very attentive, friendly and always willing to help. As for the experience itself, it was amazing: I could see penguins (even swimming very close), marine iguanas, turtles and a variety of fauna. In addition, there is a high probability of seeing blue-footed birds, which makes the tour very complete. As a complement, the tour also includes a visit to giant turtles, so in a single day you can observe many of the most emblematic species of the Galapagos. I highly recommend this tour, but with an important observation: it is essential to bring a good camera, ideally capable of recording underwater. Otherwise, many of the best experiences will remain only in the memory. On the negative side, the organization of water taxi transportation could be improved considerably. Communication was limited, with little guidance for passengers, which at times creates confusion. It would be important to make this service clearer, more organized and more customer-oriented. Despite this detail, the overall balance of the tour is very positive and definitely worth it. I recommend it.
Excellent experience from start to finish. Very communicative and informative guides. Snorkeling was great! Highly recommend Guiding Galápagos Expeditions!!
We didn’t do this trip as described. We are photographers so we didn’t want to snorkel. We had to meet at 6:10 am and then sit on the high speed ferry until it started moving toward Isabela at 8 am. The ferry ride was OK but when we arrived at 9:30 am we had to wait for 30 minutes to meet the tour guide because they don’t start until 10:00 am (which we didn’t know). We went to a lava tunnel which was unimpressive, an overlook of the island, a turtle breeding area (very good although similar to that at Charles Darwin Research Center on Santa Cruz, and a small lagoon with 2 flamingos. Then we ate lunch at a restaurant by the ocean. We ordered our meals in advance and when we arrived at restaurant at 12:30 pm we had to wait 40 minutes for our food. After lunch we had to go back to the pier by 2 pm to catch the 3 pm ferry back to Santa Cruz. We spent a lot of money for a 2 1/2 hour experience. I wouldn’t recommend this tour. Perhaps the snorkeling would make the trip worthwhile but we didn’t find our tour worth the money we paid. The ferry ride back was very hot and uncomfortable. I wouldn’t recommend using The Wolf ferry unless you could not get a seat on any other ferry. The crew was not friendly or helpful.
Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback. We’re genuinely sorry that the experience did not meet your expectations, and we appreciate the opportunity to clarify a few important points for future travelers. First, we would like to note that this tour is designed as a full-day experience combining both land and aquatic activities, with snorkeling being one of the key highlights of Isabela Island. In your case, you specifically chose not to participate in the snorkeling portion. While we fully respect this preference, it does significantly change the structure and overall value of the experience. To ensure you still had a meaningful visit, we arranged a private naturalist guide and curated a custom land-based itinerary from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm, providing approximately 4 hours of guided exploration. During this time, the guide made every effort to showcase the island’s main highlights within the limitations of a non-aquatic program. We’re pleased to hear you enjoyed the turtle breeding center, which is indeed one of the most important conservation sites in the Galápagos. Regarding the timing, the meeting hour and logistics are aligned with fixed ferry schedules across all operators in the region. The start time of guided visits is coordinated with arrival times to ensure proper organization and availability of guides on the island. We sincerely apologize for the delay at the restaurant. Unfortunately, on that particular day they were handling several large groups, which caused slower service than usual. We understand how frustrating this can be and regret the inconvenience. Concerning transportation, The Wolf ferry is considered one of the largest and most comfortable vessels operating between the islands, offering padded individual seating. Typically, our guests are accommodated on the upper deck near the captain for a more enjoyable experience. However, due to rough sea conditions on that day, access to that area was restricted for safety reasons. We would also like to highlight that we specialize in designing fully customized itineraries tailored to each traveler’s interests and preferences. For photography-focused or land-based experiences, a personalized multi-day program is often a much better fit than booking a standard one-day tour online. Platforms like Viator generally offer fixed itineraries where a significant portion of the experience (in this case, around 50%) is centered on snorkeling, which may not align with every traveler’s expectations. That said, we did make a special effort to adapt this particular tour for you by arranging a private naturalist guide and customizing the land-based visits. We are sorry that this effort did not meet your expectations. We truly regret that the experience did not align with what you had hoped for, and we hope this provides helpful context for future travelers. We strongly recommend participating in the snorkeling portion, as it is a unique and essential part of visiting Isabela Island and greatly enhances the overall experience.
Excellent overall experience. Very knowledgeable and helpful staff along the way, each part of the tour was well organized and very enjoyable.
I also did a second tour to Isabela with Guiding Galapagos, and it was just as incredible—if not even more special, as it was a private tour just for me. Jonathan and Nelly were incredibly warm and welcoming, and they gave me a deep insight into the local flora and fauna. They were always attentive, helpful, and made the entire experience feel very personal and unique. I can’t recommend this experience enough—it was truly something special.
