🐢 29 Best Galapagos Day Tours for an Epic Vacation (2024)

A Santa Cruz Highlands tour will typically include a visit to one of the highland farms, such as El Chato Ranch, to see wild Galapagos giant tortoises and lava tunnels.

It will also typically include a stop at Los Gemelos (Twin Craters), which are large sinkholes formed following volcanic activity.

The Highlands Tour is a good way to see the rest of Santa Cruz island outside of the one major town of Puerto Ayora.

🐢 READ MORE:
EL CHATO RANCH GUIDE

Isla Bartolome is the most beautiful and photogenic of all the Galapagos islands.

The colorful landscape is fantastic and the photo opportunity from the viewpoint is the main reason people visit.

Beyond the natural beauty, Bartolome is also perhaps the best place to see Galapagos Penguins.

This was our favorite day trip, largely because we got to swim with penguins and saw blue-footed boobies for the first time.

🐧 READ MORE:
COMPLETE GUIDE TO BARTOLOME ISLAND

For those who are SCUBA certified, Gordon Rocks is one of the best dive sites in all of the Galapagos.

Most notably, it is one of the best locations to swim with hammerhead sharks!

You will also likely encounter sea turtles, reef sharks, and a plethora of vibrant fish.

We went with Academy Bay Diving and had a great experience.

Isla Santa Fe is home to the largest variety of endemic wildlife in the Galapagos, including a unique species of land iguana.

The bay is also home to a large group of sea lions, meaning you are all but guaranteed to snorkel with them here!

The island’s landscape is also impressive, with giant prickly pear cactus staged against a backdrop of picturesque turquoise water.

Those interested in island hopping around Galapagos should put a day tour to Isla Pinzon near the top of the list.

While the island itself is not much to look at (landings are not permitted, in fact), the water here is the clearest we snorkeled anywhere in Galapagos.

This unbeatable visibility made for some truly special photos and videos, and Pinzon was one of the few places we got to see Galapagos sharks.

🦈 READ MORE:
COMPLETE GUIDE TO PINZON ISLAND

North Seymour Island is perhaps the best island for bird-watching in the Galapagos.

It is home to the largest colony of magnificent and great frigate birds, famed for the males’ bright red throat pouches.

Blue-footed boobies also nest on North Seymour, making it a great place to witness their hilarious mating dance.

Beyond the avian life, North Seymour also boasts one of the largest sea lion colonies, excellent snorkeling, and a plethora of other wildlife including the endemic Galapagos snake and land iguanas.

South Plaza is home to the largest colony of land iguanas, as well as a new, unique hybrid species of iguana and a host of sea birds.

In addition to impressive wildlife and great snorkeling, you’ll also find a dazzling array of vegetation. This creates a unique landscape unlike any other in the Galapagos.

Vibrant red and purple Sesuvian creates a dense, colorful carpet, contrasting against the prickly pear cacti.

A day tour here will also typically stop for snorkeling at Punta Carrion, just off Santa Cruz island.

Of all the Galapagos islands, Floreana has the richest and most fascinating human history.

As well as being the site of the first “post office”, it was home to the first Galapagos resident from 1807-1809 and was subsequently the first island to be colonized by Ecuador in 1832.

Although its limited freshwater access makes it tough to inhabit these days, Floreana still sustains a population of around 150 people and visitors can stay overnight.

Academy Bay is the natural bay that Puerto Ayora inhabits.

A half-day tour will take you on a boat ride to a number of different locations throughout the bay and give you time for both snorkeling and on-land excursions.

It is one of the shorter trips available for people who want to see more of the island but are limited on time.

If your Galapagos itinerary doesn’t include time to actually stay overnight on Isabela, then a day tour is a great option.

On a day tour to Isabela from Santa Cruz, you will travel to the island by speedboat and then undertake activities from there.

While the exact activities included will depend on your tour, most include:

• Boat ride and snorkeling at Tintoreras where you can see Galapagos penguins and reef sharks.
• A visit to the wetlands to see flamingos.
• The tortoise breeding center to see Galapagos tortoises.
• Time to explore Playa Puerto Villamil.

Las Grietas is a large fissure located near Puerto Ayora and is among the most heralded places to snorkel in Galapagos.

The fissure is comprised of towering dark volcanic rock that runs along both sides, with calm crystal clear water at its base.

Upon arrival at Las Grietas, if you do not have a tour booked, you will pay to join a group tour with a naturalist guide.

While you don’t have to book a guided tour in advance, it is no longer possible to enter without this guide.

Las Grietas is also a common stop in the half-day Academy Bay tour.

🤿 READ MORE:
LAS GRIETAS GUIDE

The 360° Tour began as a way for fishermen to make some money off tourists, but has become perhaps the best day tour available in all of Galapagos.

On this day trip, visitors will be taken by boat around the entirety of San Cristobal island, making stops at some of the most beautiful beaches in Galapagos as well as the famous Kicker Rock.

If you are staying on San Cristobal, this is a genuine must-do.

We consider it THE best day tour in the Galapagos!

Kicker Rock is widely considered the best location for diving and snorkeling in Galapagos and is one of the best places to see Galapagos Hammerhead sharks.

The crystal-clear water makes visibility spectacular and the area is teeming with marine life.

Expect plenty of tropical fish, bait balls, sea turtles, sea lions, and probably hammerheads!

Kicker Rock can be visited as its own day tour or as a stop on the 360° Tour. It is also one of the best diving sites for those who are SCUBA-certified.

A San Cristobal Highlands Tour will take you to three popular sites on the island:

• Galapaguera de Cerro Colorado
• Laguna El Junco
• Playa Puerto Chino

The highlands tour is a great way to see a different part of San Cristobal and provides an opportunity to see giant Galapagos tortoises up close.

While it is possible to book a tour to the San Cristobal Highlands with an English-speaking guide, it is not necessary!

The most popular and easiest way to visit is by booking a taxi “tour”. This can be done through any tour operator or via your accommodation host/hotel staff.

If your Spanish is good enough, you can also just speak to any taxi driver directly.

🐢 READ MORE:
COMPLETE GUIDE TO GALAPAGUERA DE CERRO COLORADO

Just off the coast of San Cristobal, Isla Lobos is named for its thriving sea lion (lobos de marinos in Spanish) population.

In addition to sea lions, the small islet is home to a number of Galapagos birds including blue-footed boobies, Nazca boobies, and frigate birds.

Its crystal clear waters also make it a great place for snorkeling in the Galapagos, with sea lions being the star attraction.

Although most visitors head to Española Island to see the waved albatross that nests here, there is plenty more to see on the island!

With its pristine white sand, Gardner Bay is one of the most beautiful beaches in Galapagos and an excellent place for snorkeling.

It is also home to a unique colorful subspecies of marine iguanas, nicknamed Christmas iguanas due to their green and red colors.

Their colors are particularly pronounced during mating season.

Punta Pitt is most well known for being the only location in the Galapagos where you can see all three species of boobies (Nazca Blue-footed, and Red-footed) nesting in one place.

Additionally, it provides a nesting site for both species of frigate birds, making it a true birdwatcher’s paradise.

As if this wasn’t enough, it is also one of the few places you can walk on an olivine sand beach, often called “green sand beach”!

A day tour to Punta Pitt typically includes a snorkel stop.

It is also often a stop on the 360° Tour but, in this instance, you only sail by it without making a landing.

Assuming you have an interest in snorkeling, Los Tuneles is one of the best day tours in the Galapagos and our absolute favorite on Isabela.

On this tour, you will explore an underwater world surrounding ancient lava tunnels.

On the land, this is the best place in Galapagos for seeing the iconic blue-footed boobies up close and personal.

A host of interesting submarine landscapes and tons of marine life await you underwater.

In particular, the sea turtles here are incredibly plentiful and it is one of the few places to reliably encounter sea horses.

The Sierra Negra volcano hike takes you to the rim of the great caldera of a still-active volcano.

From the rim, visitors will gaze across a black, baron landscape that abuts a lush green mountainside.

The length of the hike varies from 4-10+ miles (6-16+ km). This depends on the tour you select as some stop at the first viewpoint, whereas others continue on to Volcan Chico.

For those that prefer, there is also the option to ride horseback to Sierra Negra.

There are a number of different tours that you can take to Tintoreras, so be sure to select the one that sounds best to you.

These can include kayaking only, snorkeling and kayaking, or a boat ride and snorkeling. Some even include landing on Tintoreras islet.

We highly recommend booking a tour that includes snorkeling and kayaking.

Reaching Tintoreras by kayak is a much more fun way of getting there, but you will also want to get in the water as it’s harder to make out the marine life from your kayak.

During the cold season, Tintoreras is a common spot to see Galapagos penguins. Year-round you have a good chance of seeing sea lions, turtles, white-tip reef sharks, and rays, as well as various birds.

For many years, sulfur was mined here for use as sulfuric acid in many chemical and pharmaceutical processes.

The mines are no longer in use, but they still provide a unique otherworldly landscape of green and yellow rock.

A tour to the sulfur mines starts with a 45-minute drive to the Galapagos National Park checkpoint.

From here, you will hike for around 2 miles (3km) to the mines where you can spot sulfur emissions rising up out of fumaroles.

There is also the option to reach the mines by bicycle or horseback for those who prefer not to hike.

Just a short boat ride from Isabela Island is the small islet known as Isla Tortuga or Turtle Island, supposedly named for its shape rather than inhabitants.

The snorkeling is excellent for spotting hammerhead sharks, Galapagos sharks, blacktip reef sharks, manta rays, eagle rays, and starfish!

It is also a great place to spot a lot of seabirds, including blue-footed boobies, Nazca boobies, frigate birds, and lava gulls.

One hour by speed boat from Isabela are four island rock formations known as Los 4 Hermanos (The 4 Brothers).

This is one of the best snorkeling spots in all of Galapagos. The deep sea site offers a high chance of seeing pelagic fish as well as hammerhead sharks, Galapagos sharks, and manta rays. It is also a popular SCUBA diving sit.

A day tour will also include a stop at Cartago Bay, which offers a sheltered area for shallow-water snorkeling. Here you are likely to swim with sea turtles, rays, sharks, and various fish.

This tour is typically only offered by private charter and the price per person will depend on the number in your group.