Galápagos Marine World: Sea Lions, Penguins & Hammerheads
The waters around Puerto Ayora are among the world's finest marine wildlife sites — sea lions, Galápagos penguins, marine turtles, whale sharks, and hammerhead sharks all inhabit the waters accessible on day trips from town
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Sea lion snorkeling
Galápagos sea lions are the world's most playful snorkeling companions — they approach, circle and blow bubbles at snorkelers with obvious curiosity; underwater ballet of a young sea lion at Gordon Rocks or Kicker Rock is one of the world's great wildlife encounters
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Galápagos Penguin
The Galápagos penguin – the world's northernmost penguin and the only one that lives in the tropics – inhabits the western islands and in some places near Puerto Ayora; the penguins' swimming speed (25 km/h underwater) creates an extraordinary snorkeling encounter as they fly by
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Whale Shark Season
Whale sharks – the world's largest fish – visit the Galápagos from June to December; day trips from Puerto Ayora go to Darwin and Wolf islands (the best spots) or to the Cousin's Rock area; swimming with 12-meter whale sharks is a life-changing experience
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Hammerhead Sharks
Gordon Rocks - a volcanic caldera 45 minutes from Puerto Ayora by boat - is one of the world's best diving sites for hammerhead sharks; large schools of hammerheads circle the cliff; the dive is for experienced divers due to current, but the shark encounter is extraordinary
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Galápagos Marine Reserve
The Galápagos Marine Reserve — 133,000 km2 of protected sea — is one of the world's largest and best maintained marine reserves; the ecological recovery within the reserve (fish biomass, recovery of shark populations) shows what marine protection can achieve
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Manta Ray Encounters
Giant manta rays – with wingspans of up to 5 meters – are often encountered on snorkelling and diving trips near Puerto Ayora; the manta rays' slow, graceful movement through the water and their curiosity about divers make for some of the ocean's most beautiful wildlife encounters