Isabela Island

Isabela Island, Ecuador

The Wall of Tears stands along a black lava field on Isabela Island at golden hour, with flamingos in a lagoon beyond it.

Isabela Island is a chain of volcanoes on the equator, where flamingos, penguins and giant tortoises live beside a sleepy sand-street town.

The place

Isabela Island is the largest of the Galápagos, and it feels more like a small country than a single island. The equator runs across it, and six volcanoes, joined by old lava flows, make up its long, seahorse-shaped body. The highest point, on Wolf Volcano, stands 1,700 m above the sea. Its area is greater than all the other islands in the group added together, yet about 3,000 people live here, nearly all of them in Puerto Villamil, a low-rise town of sandy streets on the southern tip. Beyond the town there is very little road. Most of the land belongs to the national park: black lava fields, dry scrub, damp green slopes on the volcanoes, mangrove edges and shores where marine iguanas lie piled on warm rock. Visitors tend to experience Isabela in one of two ways. Those who stay in Puerto Villamil make day trips on foot, by road and by small boat to the nearby volcano, lagoons and snorkelling spots. Those on longer cruises reach the remote western coast, where most of the island's visitor sites lie, far from Santa Cruz; only the longer, costlier boat tours go that far. The pace is slow, the nightlife is quiet and the sea crossing from Santa Cruz can be rough. The sun is strong all year, shade is scarce on the lava, and the water is cooler than many first-time visitors expect.

Its story

Isabela Island has a short human history and a long geological one. For centuries the only visitors were whalers, buccaneers and naval crews, who valued the giant tortoises because the animals could be stacked alive in a ship's hold and eaten months later. Permanent settlement came late: Puerto Villamil and Santo Tomás were founded in 1893, and by 1905 about 200 people lived on the island. They worked with what was to hand, digging sulphur around steaming vents, burning coral into lime, and killing tortoises for meat and oil. Later the island held a penal colony, and prisoners were set to build a long wall of lava blocks in the hills. It is now called the Wall of Tears and stands beside a popular walking trail. Underneath all of this sits the volcanic story. Six volcanoes rose from the sea floor and merged into one landmass, and several are still active, which is why some of the tortoises at the island's breeding centre carry scars from lava. In recent decades the local economy has turned from extraction towards protection and tourism, with fishing and small-scale farming continuing alongside. Young tortoises raised at the breeding centre are released into the wild, a quiet reversal of the long period when they were taken off the island by the shipload.

What to see

Culture

Isabela Island's community is small, and daily life runs on a few shared rhythms. Most residents are Spanish-speaking Ecuadorians, many with family ties to the mainland, and their work revolves around fishing, farming, guiding, boat crews and guesthouses. The town is quiet by day, with some shops shutting in the heat, and lively in the late afternoon when people gather on the beach and the main square for volleyball, football and conversation. Evenings are sedate: a couple of beach bars, then an early night before the morning boats. Conservation is part of local identity rather than a slogan. The national park shapes where people can walk, what they can build and how tours operate, and many residents are trained guides who know the wildlife well. Guides are required at most park sites, and rules on trails, group sizes and landing areas are enforced. Greetings matter: a 'buenos días' to shopkeepers and boat crews goes a long way, and patience with slow service reads as politeness. Supplies arrive by boat, so shortages happen, and holidays can slow things further. Visitors who treat the island as a community, not only a reserve, tend to get the warmest welcome. Keep to marked trails and stay at the distance your guide sets from tortoises, iguanas and sea lions, never touching or feeding them.

What to wear

Isabela Island has no costume of its own, because the community is young and drawn mostly from mainland Ecuador. Traditional clothing there belongs to other regions: the woollen ponchos, wrapped skirts and embroidered blouses of the Andean highlands, and the fine toquilla-straw hat known abroad as the Panama hat, woven on the coast. These appear at fiestas, school parades and souvenir stalls, not in daily life on the island. What people actually wear now is practical: shorts, T-shirts and football shirts, sandals or flip-flops, fishing caps, and quick-dry shirts on guides and boat crews. Evenings are casual, with cotton trousers or a light dress for restaurants. Visitors should dress for sun, sea and rough rock. Pack a long-sleeved sun shirt, a wide-brimmed hat with a chin strap, sunglasses and reef-safe sun cream, plus closed shoes with a grippy sole, since lava is sharp and uneven. Water shoes help at rocky entries, and a wetsuit, which can usually be rented locally, makes snorkelling comfortable in the cooler months. A light rain jacket suits the misty season, and a fleece helps on the early boat crossing. Swimwear belongs on the beach: put on a shirt and shorts or a wrap before walking into town or a restaurant.

What to eat

Plan it

Best time. December–May is warmer and sunnier, with calmer sea and warmer water for snorkelling, though showers are common and the heat can be strong at midday. June–November is cooler, with grey misty skies and cooler water, when a wetsuit helps. Wildlife is good all year.

How long. 3–4

Getting there. Fly from mainland Ecuador (Quito or Guayaquil) to Baltra or San Cristóbal, then take a boat to Puerto Ayora on Santa Cruz. From there a public speedboat runs to Puerto Villamil on Isabela, twice a day, taking about 2 hours. Small inter-island aircraft also fly to Isabela; check current operators.

Budget. mid

Tips

Etiquette

Nearby

Sources