Tips 👏
- Less wild than Isabela, more agencies and shops.
- There’s multiples ATMs on the island and an airport.
- Hotels are expensive, count 50£/night for a very basic one.
🏠 Accommodation
We slept at Casita de la Isla. Super basic, not very clean and sad electric shower. However, comes with a common open kitchen and free coffee.
🚲 Getting there
Boat of 1.5 hours from Isla Santa Cruz with La Gaviota, comfy and super fast boat, highly recommend.
⏱ Duration
We stayed 4 nights and 3 days and felt that was good duration.
❌ Miss
We didn’t make it to Punta Pitt since it was very expensive. The famous 360 tours pass by but don’t stop. The only way is with a fisherman boat for 180$/person.
Scuba-dive at Kicker Rock 🦈
Initially, we didn’t planned to scuba-dive since we wanted to take a tour to Kicker Rock and Punta Pitt. After talking to few agencies, we realized the only way was with the 360 tour for 150$/person, meaning a whole day on a packed boat around the island.
A bit desperate, we passed by a dive center and asked some prices. We found out that for 170$/person, only 20$ more, we could do two dives at Kicker Rock, including one snorkelling stop, lunch and equipment. Being more attracted by diving than cruising, we went with that option and dropped the long tour without any regrets. Also, they let us rent a dive computer for 10$.
The next day, we went at the dive center, Galápagos Fan Dive, at 8:30AM. We took our gear and left the pier at 9AM. We were the only divers sharing the big and comfy boat with other 9 snorkellers. After 45 minutes boat, we reached Playa El Manglecito, a pristine beach with some birds and iguanas. We chilled there for one hour, looking at the fauna while sunbathing. We then went back on the boat, tested our scuba gear and headed to the dive site.
We did our first 45 minutes dive at 11AM. The visibility wasn’t great and the streams were quite strong. However, we managed to see a massive fish bank, many medium-sized white tip sharks, few rays, turtles and some hammerhead sharks. We then went back on the boat, got a sad lunch and a well deserved break, before starting our second dive on the shore of the rock. The streams were less strong and we managed to see a pack of 14 hammerheads, turning around us.
After that, we headed back to the pier where we arrived at 4PM. While both dives were quite physical and the visibility not that great, we still managed to see what we wanted and would recommend it. The staff was great, the timing perfect, the boat comfy and the view on the rock beautiful. Make sure to bring some extra snacks and a dry-bag for your belongings.
A day in the island 🏖
On our last day, we decided to take it easy and enjoy the island vibes. After a lazy wake up and a basic lunch in the city, we headed to Playa Mann few minutes walk away. It was a very relaxing place with tons of locals sunbathing around.
Post nap, we went to the Tijeretas Viewpoint, where we could enjoy a beautiful view on the whole island with Kicker Rock in the background. The path was a bit steep but ok in flip-flops. We didn’t stopped to the Interpretation Center on the way, but that looked interesting.
We then made our way to the bottom where we enjoyed a snorkelling session with some playful sealions, to then head back to the city with a quick stop at the rocky Playa Punta Carola, not the best for the bath but great for surfers.
Restaurants 🍲
- El Rincon De Sebas: Great for cheap-ish dinner, grilled fish and empanadas.
- Sabor Cuencano: Little bakery with mille-feuilles, perfect for picnic.
Read Next ⏭️
Our 5 days stay in Isla Santa Cruz, check again Isla Isabela, or go back to the main Galapagos post.