Day Tour to Isabela Island with Tintorera Islet, Snorkeling Wetlands & Flamingos
Overview
Available languages
10 hours
Mobile ticket
This tour allows you to get to know the beautiful island of Isabela with all the species it is famous for in only one day; you will see the Galapagos penguins, the blue-footed boobies, the flamingos, the whitetip reef sharks, marine iguanas, sea turtles, sea lions and much more as well as Galapagos' most beautiful coconut palm beach along which the cute little town of Puerto Villamil is built.
This tour is the perfect combination of land & water, as during the (short) snorkel activity you will get to know the abundant wildlife underwater, while the disembarkation on Tinterera Islet plus the tour to the flamingos and tortoises allows you to observe all the land species from as close as possible.
The tour includes lunch in one of the best ocean front restaurants.
You will be provided with high quality snorkel equipment and wetsuits.
Please note that the only way to get to Isabela for the day is by PUBLIC SPEEDBOAT - we work with the best one but if the sea is rough it can get choppy!
Additional Info
Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
Public transportation options are available nearby
Infants are required to sit on an adult’s lap
Not recommended for travelers with poor cardiovascular health
Suitable for all physical fitness levels
Cancellation Policy
All sales are final. No refund is available for cancellations.
What To Expect
Las Tintoreras
During this boat tour, together with a naturalist guide you will be exploring the beautiful bay of Isabela Island, to see the Galapagos penguins from close as well as the blue-footed boobies. There will be a disembarkation on "Las Tintoreras", a little islet inhabited by tons of little marine iguanas a.o. The exploration walk on this island will lead you to the famous shark channel where lots of whitetip reef sharks ("Tintoreras in Spanish, therefore the name of the island") like to rest; often together with sea turtles and sea lions. Before getting back on board, you will also visit a beautiful little white sand beach inhabited by sea lions. There will also be a great snorkel activity, together with sea turtles, sharks, rays, and - if you get lucky - then the penguins might get into the water with you too.
Isabela Island Wetlands Complex
Following a beautiful trail along mangrove trees, you will explore the "Humedales", i.e. wetlands, where you will be able to see the Galapagos flamingos in their natural habitat, many other birds as well as marine iguanas. The trail leads you to the most beautiful coconut palm beach.
What‘s Included
Fee charged for the use of the pier in Puerto Ayora
Lunch menu in a very nice restaurant
Boat Tour "Las Tintoreras" with a Naturalist Guide
Soda/Pop
Transport with a private driver during the entire stay on Isabela Island
Lunch
Use of Snorkelling equipment
Wetsuits (long or short, as preferred)
Boat ride to Isabela round trip on a comfortable and fast speedboat
Fuel surcharge
Entry fee to the Breeding Centre ($10 per person)
Mesh bag to store your snorkel equipment and the wetsuit
Propinas (optional)
Alcoholic Beverages
Water taxis to and from the speedboat ($1 per person)
Isabela Island
Options
Day tour to Isabela Island - Tintorera Islet, Snorkeling, Wetlands and Flamingos
Reviews
118 reviews
Total reviews and rating from Viator & Tripadvisor
Everything was fantastic....
Mara M,,Nov 13, 2025
- Review from Viator
5.00Everything was fantastic. A paradise on the Earth. Our tours guides were very informative. We deeply recommend this tour.
10/10 for authentic experience
Kate H,,Nov 11, 2025
- Review from Viator
5.00Fantastic authentic experience in Santa Cruz! Riding the bikes on the back roads was great fun. Learning all the local knowledge of the fauna and landscape - amazing. The Lava tunnels were out of this world. 10/10 for experience.
It was okay…
Todd Z,,Nov 10, 2025
- Review from Viator
3.00Overall an okay experience. Exceptionally expensive at $370 Canadian ($265 USD) for value received. I’d pay no more than $250 CAD for this trip. Pros: - Lots of wildlife. We saw sea lions, birds, dolphins, white-tipped sharks, sea turtles and tortoises - Lunch was very good. - We saw a lot in one day, considering Isabela is so far from Santa Cruz. - There was always someone meeting us at the meeting point, we didn’t have to wait. - Scuba gear provided was very good. - Snorkling was very good. Cons: -For the price point, I expected to have a larger boat/vessel to walk around, clean restrooms, on the boat for the 2+ hour ride. We used some sort of speedboat, which was a greyhound on the water and not overly comfortable. Multiple tours were mixed together. - the individual activities were a bit choppy. Some people would join some of our activities and leave for others, and we had multiple guides throughout the day. This caused some confusion. I’d say it was organized, but felt choppy. Different tour guides would meet you for different activities. It would have been much nicer to have one guide for the entire experience. -The flamingo stop was a bit underwhelming. They were probably 200 feet away and we looked at them for 3 minutes. Don’t go solely for the flamingos. - people were trying to change out of their swimsuits on a little dingy after snorkling, which seemed weird. We had lunch right after but no place to change or really dry off - We kept having to pay for different things. For the price point, I expected more to be included, we had to pay for 4 different water taxis, plus admission to the island. This seemed a bit chaotic. - We didn’t see penguins or blue-footed boobies. And while I know the tour operator can’t control nature, this was kind of disappointing given these were two of the main reasons we chose Isabela Island. The guide notes that the penguins are generally on the other side of the island at this time of year… so maybe don’t get your hopes up?
100% Reccomend Guiding Galápagos.
sonyabrien,,Nov 8, 2025
- Review from Tripadvisor
5.00We recently did this tour and another one to North Seymour Island with Guiding Galápagos. From the very start to end they were so professional and informative. We felt very looked after and every step of the way they were there to ensure we had the best trip. From my initial queries with Daniel ( who I must have driven mad with all my questions!) to the briefing and fitting with Felipe to meeting for the tours with Omar we felt like we had a private concierge guiding us all the way. The quality of the snorkel gear was top notch as well as the guides and boats. We experienced 2 amazing days giving us such a great Galápagos experience- from snorkeling with a marine iguana to seeing our first pink flamingos we will never forget our time on the Galapagos and its thanks to GG that helped ensure this experience was a wonderful once in a lifetime for us! 5 stars. 🙏🏻
Too expensive for what you get
Jennifer C,,Aug 15, 2025
- Review from Tripadvisor
5.00The guides were very nice and knowledgeable. I wasn’t really impressed with some of the things we did. Our snorkeling area wasn’t that great for the Galapagos. That was very disappointing. The turtle sanctuary was great.i think this excursion was very over priced for what we got. I think $100 cheaper would have been more sufficient.
A wonderful day
Steven D,,Aug 8, 2025
- Review from Viator
5.00This was a great tour. This was my second time visiting Isabella Island, and we were able to see most of the highlights in a short amount of time. If you’re limited on time, and want to see a lot, then I highly recommend this tour.
Best Tour Biz in Galápagos
Tristan W,,Jun 27, 2025
- Review from Tripadvisor
5.00This is the best your company in the Galapagos. They are super friendly and accommodating. I ended up booking multiple tours with them after my first one. I highly recommend you do all of your tours through them. You won’t be disappointed.
Family vacation
lorisF9998ST,,May 28, 2025
- Review from Tripadvisor
5.00Stephanie organized a 9 day trip to Santa Cruz and Isabella islands, with day excursions. Omar and Felipe were amazing, and went above and beyond to make sure our son who has autism was well taken care of. Our guides Nellie and Jose were also awesome.
Bucket list stuff
CARISSA32,,May 5, 2025
- Review from Tripadvisor
5.00What an amazing trip and a big thanks to Omar, Felipe, Victor, Robert & Jimmy. Omar coordinated an awesome day for us! With Snorkelling by Victor! Who found us seahorses and sharks and so much more. Robert had arranged a great lunch spot right on the beach with amazing food, and then the afternoon with Jimmy teaching us about the tortoises and the sanctuary work! As well as spotting some beautiful flamingos. We'd thoroughly recommend these guys and thank you for such a brilliant day of memories. Totally recommend Guiding Galapagos!!!
Nice day trip where the second half convinced.
Ayu M,,Apr 16, 2025
- Review from Tripadvisor
4.00First, a turtle elevator station was visited. Our guide has been busy making statements all day. Since I prefer to admire the animals in the wild and not in a “prison”, I didn’t like the spot so much, although I don’t want to question the station’s raison d’être! As a second spot we drove to a pelican lagoon, which was rather disappointing, it was quite unclear water and only a lonely pelican to see. After the delicious lunch, we drove to an offshore reef, there we could admire penguins, among others, which was very nice, after a little walk with sea lions and turtles, we went snorkeling, which was also very nice again, two very large seahorses, some turtles, and a few reef sharks could be admired. It should also be mentioned that in addition to the 10$ National Park entrance fee, there is another 2-4$ per person for the small boats to embark or disembark, this has not been discussed before, so it is valuable to take a little more cash with you! The round trip is with 2 1/2 hours. It's a little tough. Also on this trip it is valuable to compare prices from several providers!
From US$269.00
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Operated by Guiding Galapagos Expeditions