Ecuador
Isabela Island, Ecuador
Isabela: Six Volcanoes on the Western Edge of the Galápagos
Isabela lies on the western edge of the Galápagos, close to the hotspot that built the islands, and straddles the equator. Landings at the national park's visitor sites are made with a park-certified naturalist guide, and the island's main town, Puerto Villamil, lies outside the park's protected areas.
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Landing on Isabela
Isabela has many visitor sites, and the national park, which sets every ship's itinerary, decides which ones your ship uses. They range from landings on the west coast, such as Urbina Bay and Tagus Cove, to Puerto Villamil and the sites around it on the south coast.
- Urbina Bay: The land here rose about 5 m in 1954, leaving coral heads stranded above the sea. A loop trail runs inland, where you may meet giant tortoises and land iguanas, and flightless cormorants feed along the shore.
- Tagus Cove: Old ships' names are written on the cliffs, seen from a dinghy, and a steep path ashore climbs past Darwin Lake, a salt lake inside a volcanic cone.
- Elizabeth Bay: This is a water-only visit. Sea turtles rest and feed in a mangrove lagoon reached by dinghy, and the Mariela Islets at the mouth of the bay are home to penguins.
- Puerto Villamil: From the town on the south coast, the flamingo lagoons and the tortoise breeding center, which is visited on a guided tour, can be reached on foot from town, and the Tintoreras islets, where white-tip sharks rest in a lava channel, by dinghy. The Wall of Tears trail also starts from town and walkers sign in at a gate. Ask the park office in Puerto Villamil whether a guide is required.
- Visits ashore take place only in daylight, between 6:00 and 18:00, and each naturalist guide leads a group of no more than 16.
Visiting Rules
Isabela's visitor sites are national park land and sea, and the park's rules apply from the moment you step ashore or into the water. Park sites are visited with a naturalist guide authorized by the park.
- Stay on the marked trails and follow the signs.
- Keep at least two meters from any animal, even if it comes toward you, and never feed wildlife.
- Do not use flash when photographing animals.
- Do not bring food, plants or animals into the islands.
- Smoking and campfires are banned in the park, and all trash must be packed out.
- Do not take or buy souvenirs made of black coral, shells, lava rock, animal parts, or native wood or plants.
A Brief History
Isabela was built by volcanoes that are still active, and its human story is short: buccaneers and whalers, a few settlers in the south, and for a time a prison. The island's English name honored an English duke, and its Spanish one honors Queen Isabella of Castile.
- About a million years ago: The island, one of the youngest in the Galápagos, formed from six shield volcanoes: Ecuador, Wolf, Darwin, Alcedo, Sierra Negra and Cerro Azul. Wolf, at 1,707 m, is the highest point in the archipelago.
- 1684: The buccaneer Ambrose Cowley named it Albemarle Island, after the Duke of Albemarle.
- 1835: Charles Darwin visited Tagus Cove on the northwest coast.
- 1892: Ecuador renamed the island Isabela, after Queen Isabella I of Castile, as part of its celebration of the 400th anniversary of Columbus's first voyage.
- The 1890s: Antonio Gil, from Guayaquil, settled the south of the island. Puerto Villamil began as a center for burning coral into lime, and Santo Tomás, in the highlands, grew up around a sulfur mine in the Sierra Negra caldera.
- World War II: The United States built a radar base at Albemarle Point, at the island's northern tip.
- The penal colony: From the mid-1940s until the late 1950s Ecuador held prisoners on Isabela, and they were made to build the Wall of Tears, a wall outside Puerto Villamil.
- Eruptions: Sierra Negra and Cerro Azul have each erupted several times since 1959.
- Project Isabela: Introduced goats and donkeys were removed from northern Isabela, and its vegetation has been recovering since.
- To learn more ashore: The Charles Darwin Research Station, on Academy Bay in Puerto Ayora on Santa Cruz Island, has exhibits on the islands' animals and natural history. On Isabela, the tortoise breeding center near Puerto Villamil shows tortoises from hatchlings to breeding adults.
Isabela with Children
On Isabela the animals keep children interested without any help, but landings can be slippery and trails rocky. The visits suit children who can walk on uneven ground in strong sun and stay with the group.
- Younger children: Penguins are the easiest animals to point out on an Elizabeth Bay dinghy ride, on the rocks of the islets or in the water.
- School age: Each of Isabela's volcanoes has its own kind of giant tortoise, because lava flows kept the slow-moving animals apart. Ask the guide which volcano you are standing on.
- Teenagers: The mangrove finch, one of the rarest birds in the world, lives only in small patches of mangrove on Isabela. Ask the guide how scientists are trying to save it.
- On the crossings: Some 16 species of whale have been recorded off Isabela's west coast, including humpbacks, sperm whales and orcas, so keep binoculars handy.
Accessible Travel
Getting ashore from a dinghy on Isabela can be slippery, and some trails are rocky, which makes them hard for people with mobility or balance problems, although most walks are at an easy pace. Ask your ship before booking what each landing involves.
- Elizabeth Bay and Punta Vicente Roca are visited only from the water, so they involve no walking ashore, although you still step into and out of a dinghy.
- Travel health insurance is mandatory for foreign visitors entering the Galápagos.
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