Fernandina

Grazing marine iguanas and the flightless cormorant

Highlights

flightless cormorant, sea lions, a’a lava, La Cumbre volcano, lava cactus

Possible encounters

flightless cormorant, marine iguana, Galápagos penguin, lava lizard, sea lion, blue-footed booby, green sea turtle, Galápagos hawk, pintail ducks, great blue heron, lava heron, madeiran storm petrel.

Explore and experience

Have you seen the famous BBC documentary scene where the marine iguana hatchling runs for its life to escape the racer snakes? Thát is Fernandina! It is the youngest island, formed by its active volcano La Cumbre, which still erupts regularly (even quite recently on June 16th, 2018). A favourite with visitors due to its many endemic species and varied landscape; an absolute top 3 destination! The island can only be visited by cruise expedition.

Punta Espinoza

With a dry landing you will come ashore at Punta Espinoza. This is a narrow stretch of sand and lava rock where a number of unique animal species can be seen, such as sea lions, great blue herons, the Galápagos penguin and the Galápagos hawk. The landscape is fascinating with beautiful plains of a’a lava and mangrove forests. During your walk you will be amazed by the unprecedented number of marine iguanas resting on the rocks. They come here in the thousands. They are so hidden against the rocks that you have to watch carefully where you are walking to avoid tripping over them.

Perhaps most special, this is one of the few places where you will see the endemic and very rare flightless cormorant. This cormorant is the heaviest of its kind, but also the only cormorant (out of 29 cormorant species) that cannot fly! Because of this they only appear on Fernandina and Isabela and nowhere else in the world.

Punta Mangle

This small cove gives you the opportunity to explore the beautiful coast of Fernandina while snorkelling in calm waters. This is one of the best locations in the Galápagos to snorkel with marine iguanas and, with a bit of luck, to see them eat algae under water. You may also see the Galápagos cormorant diving for food. Galápagos penguins rush past you and naughty sea lions play in the water. You can also take beautiful panga trips along the coastline.

Cabo Douglas

An important diving location at Fernandina. The flightless cormorant, sea horses, penguins, sea lions, sea turtles and sharks will likely swim around you. It is a place for experienced divers, a minimum of 40 logged dives is required.