In the morning, we took a 2-hour ferry to Isabela Island and had time for a pit stop at our breathtaking hotel on the beach before our snorkel excursion.
Travel from Santa Cruz to Isabela Island
Water taxi from the ferry to Isabela
We love a beach hotel
Hotel room with beach view
Snorkeling the mangroves near Los Túneles:
- Baby black tipped reef shark
- White tipped reef shark
- Sea turtle
- Puffer fish
- Angel fish
- Parrot fish
- Seahorse
- Fish eggs
- Eel
Snorkeling Mangroves Near Isabela
Sea lions on the steps by the pier
Eel
Coral
Sea turtle
Eel
At one point on this snorkel trip, we could barely turn without bumping into another hungry sea turtle
Puffer Fish
King Angel Fish
Fish eggs on the rocks
Sea Horse
Baby (black-tipped reef) shark
Baby black-tipped reef shark
Sleeping white-tipped reef sharks
Puffer fish
The most delicious pineapple
Enjoying lunch on the bow
Snorkeling los túneles:
- Lava tunnel formations
- Schools of parrot fish and surgeon fish
- Eagle ray
- Baby sea lion
- Puffer fish
- Lobster
- Urchin
Snorkeling Los Túneles
School of Surgeon Fish
Sea Urchin
Surgeon Fish
Sea lion on the lava rocks
Baby sea lion snout
Baby sea lion joining our swim
The tunnels
On the land tour of los túneles, we had the most amazing experience seeing the blue footed booby up close. We saw baby boobies that were approx. 2 months and 4 months old and were able to see the mating dance (you can hear our guide discussing it in the videos). We watched different males land and start calling and dancing to attract a mate. They’re not afraid of humans, so we were able to observe and get feet away from them without scaring them away or interrupting them.
Blue-Footed Boobies: Los Túneles Land Tour
A male blue-footed booby lands and begins calling and dancing to attract a mate
You can see this male doing a bit of a dance
We watched the end of this pair's dance and then the male led the female to his nest
A parent with its baby
Baby blue-footed booby
Baby blue-footed booby
Baby blue-footed booby
Slightly older baby booby
Really not afraid of us
Sunset view from our hotel capped off a perfect day