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Galapagos Travel Guide: Cruise, Tours, Last minute deals
TOP 8: Best Galapagos beaches
The Galapagos Islands has a large number of beaches that I’ve had the pleasure of exploring. Any of its beaches competes with the Caribbean, but you have to know how to choose.
You can also visit some beaches in the Galapagos that are easily accessible. However, other beaches can only be visited on a day tour or cruise.
My list of the best Galapagos beaches:
- Cerro Brujo Beach
- Tortuga Bay Beach
- Isabela Beach
- Las Bachas Beach
- Punta Carola Beach
- Playa Escondida
- Rosa Blanca Bay
- Sullivan Bay
1) Cerro Brujo Beach
Cerro Brujo Beach is one of the beaches I visited on my third trip to the Galapagos and on my first trip to San Cristobal. The only way to visit Cerro Brujo Beach is on a tour to Kicker Rock and the vessel would need to include this beach on its itinerary.
Small dunes form on this white sand beach, combining with the calm, turquoise water and the imposing Cerro Brujo.
Cerro brujo and its white sand beach
2) Tortuga Bay Beach
Without any doubt, this is the most famous beach on the Galapagos and the most popular among travelers to Santa Cruz Island.
You can reach Tortuga Bay Beach by foot and access as well as signage is easy. It’ll take 45 minutes on the trail until you reach Playa Brava. Then, you need to take a right and after 10 minutes walking along the beach, you’ll reach Tortuga Bay. Its white sand and calm waters make it a natural swimming pool for children and adults alike.
Tortuga Bay Beach
3) Isabela Island
The entire island of Isabela is considered one of the best Galapagos beaches. From the moment you land on the dock you’ll find a beautiful beach and, upon entering the center of town, you’ll find kilometers of beach where you can sunbathe, relax and watch a beautiful sunset over the Galapagos.
I recommend you rent a bicycle and on the route to the wall of tear (muro de lágrimas), you can enjoy these beaches: el Faro, la playita, playa del amor y los esteros.
Main beach on Isabela
4) Las Bachas Beach
This is one of the most coveted beaches on Santa Cruz Island, and not just because of its white sand and calm waters. Close to the beach you’ll find pools that form during the rainy season that are home to flamingos.
There are two ways to visit this beach, either on a cruise or a day tour from North Seymour Island. The vessel should have this beach on its itinerary, though. This beach is also an ideal place to snorkel.
Las Bachas Beach
5) Punta Carola Beach
On the majority of beaches in San Cristobal, you’ll have to share the sand and ocean with sea lions.
Near to the accommodation area, you can reach the beach on foot and, if you have time, you can walk through the trail that takes you to Cerro Tijeritas, which connects with the Punta Carola beach.
When there are swells, it’s a great spot to surf and you can also snorkel alongside young sea lions.
Punta Carola Beach on San Cristóbal Island
6) Playa Escondida
Part of Santa Cruz Island, it was one of the first places where I saw baby sharks swimming along the shore.
The only way to visit Playa Escondida is on an artesanal fishing tour to Santa Fe Island. Part of the itinerary on this tour combines snorkeling on Santa Fe Island and a landing on Playa Escondida where you’ll have time to relax and observe marine iguana colonies.
Playa Escondida
7) Rosa Blanca Bay
Rosa Blanca Bay is another of the beaches on San Cristobal Island, however, you can only reach this bay on the famous Tour 360. As part of the tour, you’ll snorkel in the Rosa Blanca Bay. During dry season, when the water is colder, marine life is phenomenal. That is, you’ll see many Tintonera Sharks, sea turtles, Manta rays and many fish, similar to the Cabo Rosa Tunnels tour.
Rosa Blanca Bay beach and its contrasts
8) Sullivan Bay
Sullivan Bay is located on Santiago Island. In this place, you can observe incredible lava pahoehoe formations, a product of a volcanic eruption in 1903. To reach Sullivan Bay, you have to go on a sailing cruise or on day tour to Bartolomé or Chinese Hat. The draw to Sullivan Bay, especially during dry season, is that you can observe penguins and go on a small tour along a marked trail to see the lava pahoehoe.
Sullivan Bay Beach
Bucket List: Galapagos Beach
A few beaches in the Galapagos that I intend to visit on future trips are: Red beach in Rabida (Playa roja) – only accessible by cruise, Golden beach on Bartolomé (Playa dorada) – only accessible by day tour and Las Palmitas Beach on Santa Cruz – only accessible by day tour.
There are other famous beach in the Galapagos like: Playa negra, Playa Garrapatero, Playa los Alemanes, Playa La Loberia, Playa playa mann, Playa Puerto Chino, Playa Ochoa, Playa Puerto Grande, Playa bahía Sardina, Playa Manglesito. However, as I mentioned earlier, I still need to visit a few remaining beaches on the Galapagos.
GALAPAGOS WITH CHOKOTRIP
Below are a few links to different types of content related to the Galapagos, including a few guides. All of this content is updated and based on my annual trip to the Islands.
Galapagos beaches
