Isabela Island is the largest Ecuadorian island of the Galapagos Archipelago, with a surface of 4588km². Isabela Island represents 60% of the total land area of the Galapagos. It has a population of 2500 inhabitants. The highest point of the island is the Wolf Volcano, which reaches 1707 meters above sea level, and is one of the six volcanoes (Ecuador, Wolf, Darwin, Alcedo, Sierra Negra and Cerro Azul) located on island (five of them are active). These six large volcanoes merged into a single mass and give the island its particular shape. This is the only island of the Galapagos that is crossed by the equator line.
Its main touristic attractions are:
Concha de Perla
Located a few meters from El Embarcadero dock in Puerto Villamil, It´s a large in size intertidal swimming pool, semi closed to sea and protected by a rocky platform, it’s fed by the sea when the tide is high enough. Access to the site is through a wooden gangway crossing through a mangrove forest. The crystal clear waters of Concha y Perla, a wonderful spot to do a bit of snorkeling. Beautifully calm, it’s a protected area teeming with tropical fish, sea lions and marine iguanas.
Sierra Negra Volcano
With a height of 1124 mt, it unites with Cerro Azul volcano to the west and to Alcedo Volcano to the north. This is one of the most active of the Galapagos volcanoes with the most recent historic eruption in October 2005. Sierra Negra Volcano is considered one of the oldest volcanoes of the archipelago. We will walk approximately one hour twenty minutes to reach the volcano’s caldera, which is one of the 50 largest calderas in the world, having a diameter of 7 to 10 km.
The Tintoreras – White-tipped reef sharks
The Tintoreras islet is found south of Puerto Villamil. It was named after the local name given to small reef sharks, also known as white-tipped reef sharks, Triaenodon obesus; one of the 400 species of sharks in the world. The islet has a small bay of completely calm turquoise waters, where you can see sea lions, sea turtles, marine iguanas, stingrays, etc. This bay is connected to a crystal clear water crack, shallow, and when the tide is low, the input is closed.
Here you will be able to see how sharks swim along with other small fish. In the islet there are two beaches, one that has white sand and where a colony of sea lions live and the second one has black sand and it is a nesting site for marine iguanas.