The Galapagos Archipelago Islands

Isabela Island

The largest island in the Galapagos, Isabela is four times the size of Santa Cruz and formed by the merging of six volcanoes. As far as islands go, Isabela is a young island at around a million years old and has several active volcanoes. This is due to its close proximity to the hot spot which created this archipelago, the highest being Wolf Volcano reaching 1,707 metres.

Isabela, shaped like a seahorse (if you’re lucky you may also spot one here), lies near the Cromwell Current which is rich with food and nutrients and helps attract the likes of dolphins, whales, blue-footed boobies and the Galapagos penguin.

Plaza Sur

Two small crescent-shaped islands (north and south) located off the coast of Santa Cruz and separated by a channel less than 1km wide. These were formed by uplifted slabs of the sea bed rather than volcanic islands. The North Plaza is reserved for scientific research and closed to the public. South Plaza is open to visitors and here you can view marine iguanas, swallow-tailed gulls, common noddies, red-billed tropicbirds, blue-footed and Nazca boobies.

North Seymour

A fairly small, uplifted lava flow island, 1.9km2 in area and located just 40km from Puerto Ayora. Here you will see the magnificent frigate bird, land iguanas, lava lizard and of course, sea lions.

Santiago

The official name is San Salvador and it is large enough to hold the endemic subspecies of the giant tortoise and the nocturnal rice rat. Puerto Egas is the remains of a salt-mining operation and here you will see Galapagos hawks. If you head to the west of the island, the trail leads to a series of collapsed black lava tubes which have collapsed opening out to sea, forming fantastic grottos. Here you can watch sea lions and green sea turtles playing in the beautiful turquoise waters.

Fernandina

The youngest and most active volcano in the Galapagos erupts every few years. The flat lava of Punta Espinosa offers a stark and barren landscape, but here flightless cormorants build their nests on the point, sea lions laze on the beach or swim in the tide pools and marine iguanas climb over one another.

Espanola

This island is thought to be an uplifted lava flow and one of the oldest islands. Punta Suarez is renowned as the only location on earth that is home to the waved albatross which nests here between March and December. Hood mocking birds, red-billed tropicbirds, brightly coloured marine iguanas and lava lizards are found here, as are nesting colonies of Nazca boobies and blue-footed boobies.

Genovesa

Also referred to as ‘Bird Island’ for its profusion of inhabitants, expect to see blue-footed boobies and, more uncommonly the red-footed boobies, some of the great birding characters on these islands. Frigate birds fill the skies and at night the only nocturnal gulls in the world, the swallow-tailed gulls, keep the air alive with sound. The beauty of this island is that it can only be reached on faster vessels and therefore its remoteness adds to its tranquillity and its enjoyment. Snorkelling here is full of surprises with its nutrient-rich waters.