Prices checked on Sep 11, 2026Things to do in Santa Cruz
You will be equipped with high-quality snorkel equipment and wetsuits (brands Cressi/Scubapro and O'Neill) from us and this tour is operated on a very well maintained, comfortable boat, with an excellent guide and freshly prepared, very good food.
Floreana, located in the southern part of the archipelago, is the most remote out of the four inhabited islands with only 150 persons living here. We will not disembark at the inhabited part of the island, but navigate to the ISLET ENDERBY. We will be doing a boat ride to explore this beautifully remote part of the archipelago inhabited by sea lions as well as many different bird species, such as the big frigate birds, nazca boobies, blue-footed boobies, petrels, pelicans and many more. We will also be doing a snorkel activity here, among sea turtles, schools of tropical fish, sea lions and sometimes also rays and sharks. Moreover, there will be a fishing activity too for anyone wanting to give it a try - the most common catch in this area is the yellow-fin tuna.
This is the uninhabited section of Floreana Island, where we will make a wet disembarkation After disembarkation at Cormorant Point and spending some time at the "Green Beach" (due to its high percentage of olivine crystals in the sand) your naturalist guide will lead you along a little trail up to a view point from where you get a stunning view over a big lagoon inhabited by flamingos and with Floreana's two tuff lava cones in the background - a very unique and beautiful landscape. Not only the flora, but also the fauna offers an incredible variety; it is the perfect place to observe pelicans, sea lions, sea turtles, sally lightfoot crabs, great blue herons, yellow-crowned night-herons, lava lizards, finches, and sometimes even sharks chasing some rays.
On the way to Floreana or back, we will also pass by the famous Devil's Crown, a partially submerged volcanic crater whose parts sticking out of the water look like a crown. No stop here.
Day Tour to Floreana Island with Snorkeling and Fishing lasts about 7–9 hours. The itinerary has 3 stops.
Prices start at $259 per person for this Santa Cruz experience, booked through Viator with the price shown before checkout. There is 1 booking option, so the final price depends on the option you choose.
All sales are final. No refund is available for cancellations.
The meeting point is The meeting point is in our office (you can find us in Google Maps). It is only half a block from the pier from where the boat departs.. Hotel pickup is not part of this experience.
The experience is available in EN, ES.
It is a small-group experience with a maximum of 12 participants.
Confirmation is sent by the operator within 24 hours of booking.
Travellers rate it 4.8 out of 5 across 41 verified reviews; it is run by Guiding Galapagos Expeditions. Most-mentioned highlights: Soda/Pop; Water taxi before and after the tour included; Use of Snorkelling equipment.
The first snorkelling dive was fairly gentle, not loads of life but some nice schools of fish and a shark and turtle or two. After we got out we spotted a pod of dolphins and they came closer and closer - so we jumped in and had a blast. The boat did wide circles and the pod leapt at the bow and in the wake. Unforgettable experience.
The tour company was very informative. The snorkeling guide was awesome. The boat crew was also awesome. I would recommend this tour. Out of the ones I did so far this was my favorite.
As a first highlight we were greeted by a few dolphins upon arrival. There are two snorkeling rounds each 45 min. planned, the second round was very impressive, we could observe reef sharks, turtles and numerous playful sea lions. Unfortunately, the two activities were quite tightly timed, there was probably only a 20-minute break between the two rounds of snorkeling. Some participants would have been happy about more recovery time. As a third activity we went to a Pelican lagoon, was also impressive, there were plenty of them to admire. Two beaches rounded off the day trip, from which one was still allowed to bathe, the other dangerous rays are in the water, therefore not there. Unfortunately, our guide did not report very much on the flora and fauna. Despite hinting at no desired seafood, it has tuna on the plate for all participants. Unfortunately, it only has a glass of Coke or a small bottle of water to drink during the whole day! Since there are numerous providers, it is definitely worth comparing the prices! In itself, due to the remoteness of the island, there was a great nature and wildlife to admire!🥰
Vielen Dank für das Feedback - gerne versuchen wir zu verbessern, was evtl. nicht optimal war, allerdings müssen von allen Booten innerhalb des Nationalparks strenge Zeitpläne eingehalten werden, um sicherzugehen, dass Flora und Flaura nicht unter den Tourismus-Aktivitäten leiden, indem zu viele Boote zur selben Zeit am selben Ort sind - aufgrunddessen ist für diese Tour eine längere Pause zwichen den einzelnen Schnorchelaktivitäten leider nicht möglich. Auch hier war es eine Flamingo - anstatt einer Pelikanlagune ;-) Die Rochen sind an sich nicht gefährlich, lediglich, wenn man aus Versehen auf sie tritt, zeigen sie ihre natürliche, angeborene Abwehrreaktion. Darüber, dass die Crew versäumt hat, die von uns im Voraus mitgeteilte Lebensmittelunverträglichkeit zu beachten, tut uns sehr leid, wir erinnern die Crew nun auch jeden Morgen vor der Tour noch einmal daran, sodass solche Versäumnisse nicht mehr vorkommen. Günstigere Preise gibt es mit Sicherheit, allerdings nicht mit dem von uns gebotenen Service (lange Wetsuits, high-quality Schnorchelequipment, Briefings, 24/7 Assistance etc.) :)
Review for Viator Tour – Day Tour to Floreana Island with Snorkeling and Fishing I’m giving this tour 3 out of 5 stars for the following reasons: Snorkeling was underwhelming. While I understand it's weather-dependent, the experience was average at best. The first snorkeling location had mostly bleached coral, with only a small area still attracting fish. Lack of safety precautions. There was no real safety briefing before snorkeling. At the second stop, two snorkelers got into trouble—one needed a safety ring, and another had to be rescued by fellow participants. Limited water availability. The tour was advertised as lasting 7–9 hours, yet we were only given one bottle of water with no refills available. Floreana Island hike was a highlight. Seeing the flamingos and the green sand beach was a nice experience. Lunch was simple but sufficient. The fresh fish, coleslaw, and rice served on the boat were adequate. Fishing was misleading. The advertised "fishing" experience turned out to be just circling the island while the crew caught fish for the next day’s lunch rather than an interactive activity for guests. Final thoughts: If you're not a strong swimmer, I’d strongly recommend skipping this tour due to the lack of safety support. Additionally, if you’re expecting a true fishing experience, you may be disappointed. While I didn’t expect the Galapagos to match the Great Barrier Reef, the snorkeling experience was still quite underwhelming in comparison.
Happy to go on this tour with this tour company. Everything that I hoped to see and do was met. Exploring & Snorkel & wildlife was all there. Guides are knowledgeable and help you have the best experience. The location is perfect to have full Galapogos experience of exploring the islands. Guiding company is great with communication to help you have the best day!
We really loved this trip. It is only a snorkeling trip with just one short walk to see a flamingo lagoon. It was incredibly well organized and our guide, Rodrigo was very knowledgeable and a lot of fun. We loved how active the snorkeling was, but be advised that it’s a lot of fast swimming. We got our workout for the day so we loved it! We saw a ton of fish, sharks, rays, starfish as well as the Devil’s Crown with tropic birds. Also great frigate birds with the giant red throat sac extended. It was such a fun day. And lunch was also very tasty.
We saw lots of sharks and some Sea Lions..and Blue Footed Boobies! Met nice people on the boat -- Riccardo, guide was wonderful. very knowledgeable. he was super great about grabbing my underwater camera an diving deep to get up close and personal with the sharks!
An absolute dream come true. Great agency, boat crew friendly, food wonderful and authentic, guide very knowledgeable. Saw flamingos, turtle, sea lions, a whale, and so much more. An adventure that will never be forgotten.
Outstanding tour to Floreana Island for snorkeling and beach walking. Top-notch crew on the speedboat with our guide, Susie, provided exceptional service. Two terrific snorkeling sessions. Swam with beautifully graceful sea turtles saw many large colorful starfish and schools of tropical fish. The fish lunch prepared on board rivaled a quality restaurant. Guiding Galápagos staff handled all arrangements in a superb manner. Stephanie was instrumental in helping us plan our Galapagos itinerary and provided excellent guidance in helping us select tours during our stay. Omar and Daniel were outstanding in providing us with tour briefings, outfitting us with quality snorkel equipment, and handling all the logistics for every tour. I highly recommend Guiding Galapagos for tour arrangements!
We were disappointed as it was one of our more expensive excursion but it didn’t feel like it. The office staff were good. However, the snorkeling lasted only an hour and the boat ride was crowded with no place for gear etc. although we did see sea tortoises and penguins, the snorkeling wasn’t particularly good re the fish. The snorkeling portion felt really crowded. I think there were about 16 others on the boat. We didn’t see the wetlands advertised. Our “wetlands tour” was a 100 m, 5 minute walk right beside the boat station which we could have seen on our own. We saw two flamingos. I was expecting a more extensive walk given that the wetlands are something Isabella is known for. We did see the coconut beach but it was during lunch. The lunch was good though. Our guide wasn’t particularly engaged with us. The tortoise breeding centre isn’t as nice as some of the others we’ve seen. I would probably skip it going to the turtle breeding centre. The one on San Cristobal is much better. It felt like the tour was outsourced to a number of different operators and wasn’t the experience we were hoping for.
Dear Monica, Thank you for your feedback, we highly appreciate any kind of constructive criticism. We feel sorry that the tour to Isabela (not to Floreana as you selected here) that you did with us didn't fully meet your expectations, however, I'd like to explain some details that were shared in the description of the tour, but also during the briefing that you received from us the evening before the tour. The boats used for the tour to Tintoreras Islet cannot have a bigger size as law implemente by the Galapagos National Park, the reason is because the route goes through shallow waters and near numerous rocky formations, as it's close to sightings of endemic birds and mangroves where it's easy to find more species. It was also mentioned the previous night that the boat's capacity allows for up to 16 passengers, also this capacity is set by the Galapagos National Park. Despite this, we work with the best boats available for this type of tour, with enough space to comfortably accommodate the 16 people and their belongings. The snorkeling activity is only a small part of the trip and also the maximum group size was the same as in our description. We would have been happy to recommend you a tour that focuses more on the snorkeling part and that can only take max. 12 people (such as the one to Santa Fe or Pinzon) if you had let us know in advance. The wetlands, also as you can see in the description of the tour, is a short walk from the breeding centre to the beach - we try to make the most out of the limited time that we have on Isabela Island during the day tour. Unfortunately, species like penguins or flamingos aren't present in large numbers in the Galápagos Islands, and as Galapagos is not a zoo, unfortunately we can't guarantee their sighting in the same place every day. However, our service includes that our tour guide checks all the lagoons early in the morning before your arrival to Isabela Island, to ensure that you will get to see them on the day of your excursion despite the limited time on the island. Also, it's important to note that the main attraction of this tour isn't the differnt species of fish, but species like the Galapagos penguins, the blue-footed boobies, marine iguanas, sharks, and sea turtles, which, according to your comments, were there. None of our tours is outsourced, however, unfortunately we cannot be on every tour that we offer ourselves - this is why we have our representatives on the different islands, but as you will remember too, except during the boat tour to Tintoreras, you were never part of a big group (exclusive lunch menu at the ocean front restaurant, private transportation during the time on Isabela, no group tour for the land part inlcuding the breeding centre). We are always happy to recommend the best possible itinerary/tours to our customers - and w always recommend much more to spend at least one or two nights on Isabela Island if the time and the previously made hotel bookings allow it - so the best way to find the most suitable tour(s) for you always is to contact us in advance :-)
| Tour | Duration | Rating | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Day Tour to Floreana Island with Snorkeling and Fishing | 7–9 hours | 4.8 (41) | $259 | |
 North Seymour and Bachas or Mosquera Beach Yacht Day Tour | 8 hours | 5.0 (6) | $399 | View |
 North Seymour Island Day Tour | 7–8 hours | 5.0 (6) | $425 | View |
 Beach Wildlife and Snorkel Adventure with Underwater Specialist | 4–5 hours | 5.0 (15) | $179 | View |
 Day tour to San Cristobal Island with private Land Tour and snorkeling | 10 hours | 4.9 (30) | $285 | View |
 Day Tour to Santa Fe Island and Hidden Beach with snorkeling and fishing | 7 hours | 4.9 (92) | $229 | View |
 Bartolome Island Full Day Tour | 10 hours | 4.8 (21) | $378 | View |