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Each island has its own landscape and its own animals. Here is what each one is known for and how you get there.
The Galápagos has 13 major islands, 6 smaller ones and more than 100 islets and rocks, spread across the equator about 1,000 km off Ecuador. Four are inhabited: Santa Cruz, San Cristóbal, Isabela and Floreana. The rest are uninhabited national park.
The inhabited islands are easy to reach by ferry and day tour. The outer islands are where cruises earn their price: Genovesa, Española and Fernandina are generally reached only by boat.
Island hopping covers Santa Cruz, San Cristóbal and Isabela well. To add Genovesa, Española or Fernandina, you’ll need a cruise on the right route.
The busiest island and the easiest base. Puerto Ayora has most of the hotels and restaurants, the highlands have wild giant tortoises, and Tortuga Bay is one of the best beaches in the islands.
| Type | Inhabited · central hub |
|---|---|
| Known for | Giant tortoises, Tortuga Bay, Charles Darwin Research Station |
| How to visit | Base for island hopping; on most cruise routes |
Sea lions sleep on the town beach and benches in Puerto Baquerizo Moreno. Offshore, Kicker Rock is one of the best snorkel and dive sites in the Galápagos.
| Type | Inhabited · has an airport |
|---|---|
| Known for | Sea lions in town, Kicker Rock, Punta Pitt |
| How to visit | Base or day trips; start or end of many cruises |
The largest island, shaped like a seahorse and built from six volcanoes. Puerto Villamil is quiet and laid-back, with penguins, flamingos and the lava tunnels of Los Túneles nearby.
| Type | Inhabited · largest island |
|---|---|
| Known for | Penguins, Sierra Negra volcano, Los Túneles |
| How to visit | Base for 2 to 3 nights; western cruise routes |
A small island with a strange human history. Sailors have left mail in the barrel at Post Office Bay since the 1700s, and Devil’s Crown offshore is a top snorkel site.
| Type | Inhabited · small |
|---|---|
| Known for | Post Office Bay, Devil’s Crown, flamingo lagoon |
| How to visit | Day trip from Santa Cruz; southern routes |
The oldest island and one of the best for wildlife. Waved albatross nest at Punta Suárez, and Gardner Bay has a long white beach full of sea lions.
| Type | Uninhabited · south |
|---|---|
| Known for | Waved albatross, red-and-green marine iguanas |
| How to visit | Cruise only (southern route) |
The bird island. A sunken volcanic crater full of red-footed boobies, frigatebirds, Nazca boobies and short-eared owls. The crossing can be rough, but birders rate it the best site in the islands.
| Type | Uninhabited · north |
|---|---|
| Known for | Red-footed boobies, frigatebirds, owls |
| How to visit | Cruise only (northern route) |
One of the youngest and most volcanically active islands in the Galápagos. Thousands of marine iguanas cover the lava at Punta Espinoza, with flightless cormorants nesting nearby.
| Type | Uninhabited · west |
|---|---|
| Known for | Marine iguana colonies, flightless cormorants |
| How to visit | Cruise only (western route) |
Home of the classic Galápagos view: a short boardwalk climb to the summit overlooks Pinnacle Rock and two curved beaches. Penguins often fish around the rock below.
| Type | Uninhabited · central |
|---|---|
| Known for | Pinnacle Rock viewpoint, penguins |
| How to visit | Day trip from Santa Cruz or cruise |
A short, flat trail near Baltra packed with nesting blue-footed boobies and magnificent frigatebirds puffing out their red throat pouches. Great value for a day trip.
| Type | Uninhabited · central |
|---|---|
| Known for | Blue-footed boobies, frigatebirds, land iguanas |
| How to visit | Day trip from Santa Cruz or cruise |
Walk across a lava flow less than 150 years old at Sullivan Bay, then look for fur seals in the grottos at Puerto Egas. The snorkeling here is excellent.
| Type | Uninhabited · central |
|---|---|
| Known for | Sullivan Bay lava, fur seal grottos |
| How to visit | Cruise; some day trips |
Tell us when you want to travel, your budget and who’s coming. A trip planner will reply with cruise or island-hopping options, usually within one business day.
