Isabella Island Trip Report

As mentioned in the ferry section of the Galapagos Islands Trip Report, there are sometimes “entrance fees” to certain islands. To start this section off, I’ll mention that Isabella has a $10 entrance fee that has to be paid in cash as soon as you get off the ferry.

With that aside, here’s what Wikipedia has to say about Isabella!

“Isabela Island is the largest of the Galápagos Islands, with an area of 4,586 km2 (1,771 sq mi) and a length of 100 km (62 mi). By itself, it is larger than all the other islands in the chain combined, and it has a little under 2,000 permanent inhabitants. The island straddles the equator.”

The main town where the vast majority of the 2,000 permanent inhabitants live is called Puerto Villamil and is where the ferry from Santa Cruz drops you off. From the ferry, you can walk 1km into town or catch a taxi for $1/person.

LODGING

In 2021, I stayed in Hostal Cerro Azul ($40/night). Overall, it did its job as a place to stay, but I didn’t love it.

In 2024, I stayed in El Rincon del George ($25/night). I will say the reception is rough and I insisted on seeing our room before paying, but the room was completely adequate. There was also a nice rooftop eating area and a public kitchen and fridge which we took advantage of.

Both hotels did their job of giving me a safe and moderately comfortable place to stay, but neither one wowed me. Both would be completely acceptable places to stay, although I’d return to El Rincon del George before I returned to Hostal Cerro Azul. But in reality, next time I go to Isabella, I’ll continue to search for a place to stay that I love!

FOOD

Similar to the other islands, Puerto Villamil has the expensive tourist trap part of town and the local part of town. But Puerto Villamil doesn’t have near the number of options in either category as the other islands.

In the above map of Puerto Villamil, the red denotes generally expensive streets to eat out in. The yellow denotes mid-priced sections of town. And the green denotes generally cheap places to eat out.

My favorite place we ate in Puerto Villamil were the restaurants in the central market. They’re local places, and the food was good and at a fair price.

My second favorite place we ate was Gracias Madre near the Puerto Villamil central park. It was a bit on the expensive side $20-$30/person, but the food was really good and the vibe of the place was great!

My third choice for food, would be the restaurants along the south side of the central park. You’re looking at about $20/person, but the food is good and the location is great.

I would not advise spending much time at the restaurants on the beachfront. I have not tried them all, but at the ones I did try, the price was high and the quality was low.

• Side note: I would classify Isabella as a “developing island.” Since it has no major airport, not a lot of tourists make it to Isabella. The ones who do generally only stay for a day or two. This is one of the things that makes Isabella my favorite island, but it does also mean that the tourism service industry (hotels, restaurants, etc.) is not as varied and high quality as on other islands.

ACTIVITIES

Free Activities

• Hanging Out on the Beach (2021 & 2024) (free) Hands down, Isabella has the best beach for just hanging out. The beach near downtown is big and beautiful. Some of the hotels offer lounge chairs and shade if you are staying there. If you’re not staying at a beachfront hotel (they’re expensive!), I advise checking out the Pink Iguana Bar which has hammocks in the shade of a tree right on the beach. It’s a wonderfully chill vibe and the perfect base for a relaxed beach day!
• Concha del Perla (2021 & 2024) (free) This is a little bay just off of the pier where you arrive on the island. You have to bring your own snorkeling gear here, but it’s a gorgeous little walk out through a mangrove forest, and then, while snorkeling, you can see a variety of creatures depending on the day. I’ve seen marine iguanas, sea lions, rays, turtles, and a wide variety of fish. Definitely worth a chill hour or two.

A marine iguana swims freely in Isabella’s Concha del Perla, 2021.

• Flamingo Lagoon (2021 & 2024) (free) This is a lagoon right on the western edge of town that flamingos call home. Both times I’ve gone, I have indeed seen flamingos there, but never very many. I’ve been underwhelmed both times I’ve gone. I would say it is worth stopping by but don’t plan on spending much more than 15 minutes there.

A flamingo searches for food in Isabella’s Flamingo Lagoon, 2021.

Cheap Activities

• Taxi to Mirador el Mango and Cueva de Sucre (2024) ($50) On this last time in Isabella, we wanted to check out some more inland “attractions” such as The Mango Lookout (Mirador el Mango) and Sucre’s Cave (Cueva de Sucre). To do this, we simply flagged down a taxi in Puerto Villamil (all taxi’s in PV are pickup trucks). Initially, we just wanted to go to Mirador el Mango and he told us he’d take us there and back for $20. We later asked him to also take us to Cueva de Sucre and he added another $20 for a total of $40. We ended up tipping $10, because he was so great, for a total of $50 for the three of us. Mirador el Mango is a lookout platform on top of a small hill, right next to a big mango tree. It gives an excellent view of the town and all the nearby islands. Cueva de Sucre is a small cave system on a private farm. It’s pitch black inside (our taxi driver thankfully had flashlights in his glovebox that he let us use), and is fun to walk around.

Full On Activities

• Half Day Tintoreras Tour (2024) ($70) As the title states, this is a half-day tour. The Tintoreras are very small volcanic rock islands that surround the Puerto Villamil Bay. The tour starts out with a short boat ride to see some birds (penguins, pelicans, blue footed boobies, etc.). In the second part of the tour, we landed on one of the islands and walked, seeing lots of iguanas, to a small inlet where we saw 20-30 sharks basking at the bottom of the inlet. At the moment in time, while we were there, there was also a sea turtle swimming through all the basking sharks, completely unfazed by their deadly potential. The third, and most substantial, part of the tour was snorkeling. We snorkeled for quite some time seeing a variety of fish, sea lions, penguins, and rays. The highlight of the tour was swimming through a lava tube and seeing another 20-30 sharks basking beneath us as we quietly swam above.

From left to right: Two birds rest on a rocky tintoreras outcropping. Two sea lions chase a shark through a Tintoreras lava tunnel. A sea turtle swims mindlessly through a large group of basking sharks in a Tintoreras lava tunnel. All 2024.

Activities I haven’t yet done but want to do next time I go

• Tunneles Looks like a stunning snorkeling experience with a wide variety of creatures to witness!
• Lave Tubes Cave Hike Looks like an incredible hike with absolutely massive caves.
• Sulfur Mines Heat vents coming out of the volcano, spewing sulfur, and staining the ground with beautiful whites and yellows. It looks absolutely gorgeous!

This brings to an end my thoughts and experiences on Isabella. From here, you can return to the Galapagos Islands Trip Report article.

Return to the main article.