The consensus of all three of us is… We wish we’d stayed longer on Isabela Island. It was the most peaceful, least congested and had the worst internet of all three islands we visited, but the sheer number of things to do on the island definitely outnumbered the activities on the other islands. Most things on the other islands required a tour and a boat. Not only that, it was the cheapest of all three islands too because there are places to go and things to do that are actually free. You can snorkel at Perla de Concha where you’ll have to maybe step over some sea lions and their babies to marvel at spotted eagle rays, penguins, sea turtles, marine iguanas, and black tip reef sharks… Just to name a few. If you have a tight budget and want to spend time in the water able to see some marine life that’s a short walk from the center, this is the place to go. When we first arrived, we had to pay a tourist tax to leave the dock, which was about $10 per person, this is not included in the ferry price and neither is the $1.00 water taxi that you have to pay to get from the ferry to the dock.
We took the morning ferry and arrived around 9:00 in the morning and we were able to check in to our hostel right away. From there we took a walk around the small centro to find out what there is to do on the island. This is the largest of all three islands, made up of 6 volcanoes that erupted and over time, joined to form one big island that is shaped like a seahorse. Sierra Negra is still an active volcano, last erupting in 2018 as of this writing. You can take tours to this part of the volcano and hike around the rim if you like.
After settling in and getting a lay of the land, we ventured out to walk along the beach. The first thing we came across was a massive flock of Blue Footed Boobies. They seemed to be a little aloof, not even worried that humans were nearby. There were some kids that were playing on the nearby rocks and getting within 2 feet of the Boobies, and they didn’t seem to even notice. We rented bikes, and let me just say, do your homework. Go to different places and check the bikes before committing. We didn’t do this and Bronson’s bike didn’t have any brakes (which we didn’t find out until we had to use them), his derailer was practically falling off, clanking with every bump in the road and the chains on all three bikes were so rusted, they could have easily snapped mid ride. Kaden’s chain kept coming off and with each rotation of the pedals came a high pitched squeal, like a pig being butchered. My bike was fine. Good thing we’re all experienced riders, especially Bronson riding with no brakes.
1) Muro de Lagrimas:
We rode out to Muro de Lagrimas, taking in the beautiful coast line and even seeing random giant tortoises on and off-trail in the brush. This island had been a prison post WWII. The prisoners were forced to cut and carry lava rock and to build this wall. Many prisoners died during the “construction” of this wall, which had no other reason to be built than to punish the prisoners. If you’ve ever been snorkeling and cut yourself on lava rock, you know how sharp and unforgiving these rocks can be. Imagine having to physically cut, carry and stack each individual lava rock, with bare hands in the searing sun with high humidity. I can’t help but think “no wonder so many prisoners died.” Malnutrition, dehydration, infection, heat exhaustion. Pick one. Or all of them and more. Standing before this wall, I could feel the energy around it. The angst, the suffering.
Beyond the wall, there is a walking trail to the old area of the radar station used during WWII, built by the US. Beyond that up the hill just a little further, is a view point that gives you an entire view of the island, as far as the eye can see. On a rainy day, it’s not that far. But I digress. From this view point you can see all the way back to the town and the entire surrounding areas. The hike is short, but steep and a little rocky.
On the trail to Muro de Las Lagrimas you can find a lot of other stops along the way. If you want to take your time and hit all of the sites and really take it all in, plan to spend an entire full day either hiking or biking. Hiking obviously will take longer, but just to get to the wall and hike to the radar station will take about an hour and a half by bike. That’s without stopping at the plethora of other points of interest along the way. Plan at least 3 hours and if you take a taxi, just be aware that once they reach the National Park entrance, the taxi can’t go any further and you’ll still have a couple of miles to go. It is hot, muggy and mostly exposed to the elements. Searing sun is most likely going to make the heat feel hotter. Bring lots of water, sun screen, snacks and a hat. I also bring an umbrella that I use as shade to protect me from the sun as I don’t like wearing and having to reapply sunscreen when I’m already sweating.
On the way back to town from Lagrimas, it was mostly downhill, which is where the brakes on Bronson’s bike, or lack thereof, revealed itself. He sped downhill, back to the entrance, leaving us choking on a trail of dust behind him. I’m just glad he didn’t eat it and get hurt. The access to all of the sights is free, but it’s $3 per hour to rent a bike, or $15 per day.
2) Concha la perla:
This is a free snorkeling area where you can see a plethora of marine species including spotted eagle rays, reef sharks, penguins, sea lions and sea turtles. Everyday you go, you’ll get to see something different. It’s a great place to spend a few hours and is easily accessible. You can either walk from town or grab a taxi for $1.50 each. It’s a short 10-15 minute walk, but exposed to the sun the whole way. Umbrella and rash guard with sunglasses was a must. If you need to rent snorkel gear, I think it was $9 for the gear including mask, snorkel and fins. We only needed fins, and it cost about $3 each for the day. Once you get to the footpath out to Perla, you might find that you’ll have to climb over some sea lions or at least walk really close to them. They like to sleep on the foot path, which is a wooden path built over boggy wetlands and through a mangrove forest. Don’t be alarmed, they’re used to it, but do take care and don’t linger. You might piss them off.
3) Snorkeling tour Los Tuneles:
This was such a wonderful experience. The tour operator takes you out first to see the lava tunnels where you’ll snake through some narrow water passages before docking to a lava rock. You’ll climb out and start a short walk and be told the significance of the tunnels. You don’t snorkel here, because the ecosystem is too fragile, but just outside of this area where the snorkeling happens is reportedly one of the best areas to snorkel. Mind you the currents can be pretty significant, so make sure you stay close to your tour guide, it’s easy to get lost amidst the numerous tour groups that are operating at the same time. It takes about 1.5 hours to get to los tuneles from Puerto Villamil, then about 45 minutes from the tunnel formations to the snorkeling area. We were not disappointed in this tour. We saw eagle rays, enormous seahorses (I’ve never seen ones this big in my life about 6 inches long, not including the tail wrapped around a stick to hold it in place, but couldn’t capture it on camera!), penguins, black tipped reef sharks (a whole family of 5), a bazillion tropical fish, too many sea turtles to count and of course, the playful sea lions. This was a wonderful Christmas gift to ourselves and made us really excited to go diving. At this point, the only thing we really wanted to see were hammerhead sharks and whale sharks. However, to see the whale sharks, we would have to go drift diving at Malpeo, and I’m not sure I’m ready for that. The currents out there are legit and not something I am prepared for as an amateur diver. We’ve all got at least 14 dives, and that’s not very many, they recommend to have at least 20 dives to dive Malpeo. Not only that, but I get sea sick, and it’s a 4 hour ride out and 4 hours back. They usually do a multi-day dive package to go that far. Not cheap. Diving here is a minimum of $180/person for a 2 tank dive.
4) Beaches:
Puerto Villamil is really a quiet area where the access to beaches is open and easy. The only thing they ask is not to touch the wildlife and not to bring bikes on the beach. Other than that, access is open and free. You can do a bunch of bird spotting, especially the blue footed boobie, and marine life spotting too. We were able to see Marine Iguanas, Penguins and Sea Lions all playing in the same areas and hunting together. We saw a small octopus, and a few tropical fish. The highlight for us was watching the family of penguins playing in the water together.
5) Sierra Negra Hike:
We met some tourists at our hostel who were in a tour group and went hiking to Sierra Negra. We didn’t actually get to do it, but they said the tour cost about $50 per person and included transportation to the volcano and the guide. It’s an all day excursion and is fully exposed to the sun, so go prepared with water and sun protection. One of the guys we met that took the tour gave us these pictures so we could post them. They got lucky, more often than not, the caldera is covered by thick clouds.
6) Volcan Trizillios:
I really wanted to do the Canyoning here, but we didn’t have enough time and it was Christmas week on the island, so many operations had limited hours and we didn’t discover this tour until the afternoon before we left the island. The tour is $85 includes transportation and a guide. It’s not affiliated with the Galapagos National Parks, so it’s privately owned and operated.
Check out our video here: