Snorkeling In Cabo Rosa Tunnels Isabela Island

We saw a lot of animals: blue footed boobies, many sea turtles, sea horses, manta rays, sharks, penguins, puffer fish, and lots of colorful fish. The group was good size. The crew and guide was great.

The boat ride was choppy. The captain is first class steering the boat to the tunnels. After visiting the lava bridges, we started the first snorkeling through and around the tunnels, seeing plenty of fishes and turtles. The boat then took us the salty marshes fir the second snorkeling. Again more turtles, however the sea horses were not at the rendez vous. Minus the boat ride the tour is a wonderful experience!

Loved the snorkeling in and around lava caves full of reef sharks. Saw lots of turtles and fish, a large seahorse, and an eel. Swam with sea lions and pengiuns. Then we went to see the beautiful caves and islands with crystal clear water and sea lions. Great trip!!

You will pay a hefty fee booking through the sites unfortunately when your last minute it’s sometimes you’re only option these are booked out usually days ahead and there will be a last-minute cancellation online. It’s US$50 more booking online.

Amazing opportunity to see blue footed boobies, penguins, sea turtles and many colorful fish. Guide was very knowledgeable and helpful.

The experience was amazing, but the guide was a creep. Our guide touched my friend's butt multiple times, and he was making many women on the excursion uncomfortable by looking inappropriately and standing very close. He also kept filming at inappropriate angles on his GoPro. Never got his name, but do not recommend because of him. Also booked with many friends at the same time, and they separated us and did not even try to understand us or accommodate.

We saw many animals snorkeling including giant turtles, sharks, and penguins! The landscape was so beautiful and the lunch was actually delicious.

This is probably one of the most beautiful places on earth. It is incredibly unspoiled. Keep your eyes open…we snorkeled with sharks, seals, penguins, turtles, tons of fish, crabs, a blue lobster and penguins!

MUST DO! We made a special trip to Isabella Island just for this tour and it was totally worth it! We saw so many creatures (penguins, seahorses, massive sea turtles, rays) that we hadn't seen other places. The tunnels were remarkable and other-worldly. The guides were so knowledgable and taught us so much about the history of the island and its animals. One of our favorite things we did on our honeymoon.

The guarantees: I would say if you want to swim with sea turtles, various fish, and see some baby sharks, this tour can almost guarantee it. There were so many turtles to see and our tour guide knew where some baby/small sharks hide out. Also, you get to chill on the boat and eat a lunch (that was actually good) while watching turtles and other animals (in our case penguins) swimming around. The maybes: we did see blue footed boobies but only on top of a isolated rock formation on the ride to snorkeling. We were not able to walk the tunnels due to the tide being high (something which we didn’t know until the end). So if you want to be super smart check out the tides to make sure if that is important to you. Because of that, we snorkeled the whole time which was still cool and our guide worked hard to find one sea horse to see. Overall: the experience was enjoyable and easy. Picked up and brought back to our stay, provided everything you need to snorkel, guided us to see so much in the water, and lunch was perfect ending.

Fantastic experience with Glenda, she was extremely knowledgeable and so helpful to all on the trip. Even giving up her fins to a guest. She found a seahorse, numerous turtles and sharks for all of us to see. Highly recommend this tour.

Saw soo many turtles! Lots of boobies too, plus dome penquin, sea lions a couple sharks and mantas. Super fun!

Perfect outing. The guide was funny, kind, and knowledgeable. He allowed us the right amount of time to look around, but kept us on task. The ship captains were skillful and offered many fun snacks and ample water. We saw many boobies, turtles, sharks, manta rays, and a seahorse. Very cool. I’d do it again! No issues with sea sickness with taking Dramamine.

This tour was full of amazing surprises! We saw so many incredible animals, including penguins, groups of sea turtles and sharks, and even a tiny seahorse! The guides were professional and reliable. Even if you're not a strong swimmer, there's no need to worry—they have underwater guides who will literally lead you to ensure your safety. Overall, it was a fantastic experience. Highly recommended!

This was an excellent tour! Pictures don’t do this place justice at all, you just must go. Our boat captain had mad skills, a total boss navigating the tunnels and stopping for mana rays!

Fantastic time during this tour. The crew was informative and fed us a great lunch as well. Unbelievable snorkeling around in all of the caves

One of the best snorkeling trips we have ever done. The guide was knowledgeable and explained in detail the ecosystem of submerged volcanic tunnels. We got to white tip and black tip sharks. Swam close to turtles and eagle rays. After the snorkeling we got up close with blue footed boobie habitat. The boat captain and crew were super hospitable and took great care of the group.

It is a unique place to visit and had an enjoyable encounter with the Blue Boobies and Chic. Unfortunately, I was cold and hungry for most of the tour which is disappointing as it could of been avoided. This ruins the fullness of the experience and if he was honest I would have prepared food myself and hired a good wetsuit. I communicated with them on many occasions to give notice that I am Vegan (I even listed the items) and would like a full wetsuit that I can try on before to make sure the fitting is good. The agent assured me it was no problem, I even have in writing not to worry... they failed on both parts. I was offered a 2nd apple while everyone else was offered a 2nd wrap. Afterwards I gave my feedback direct to the same guy and I have in writing, I will find the best way how to make this up to you, he then ghosted me. Moral of the story, don't trust the agencies will say anything to have your money but they don't follow up. The quality of the experience was not to the standards of all the other excursions I went on in the Galapagos.

Cape Rosa was such a unique and beautiful spot to snorkel out! Our tour guide took us through the tunnels, and it felt like another world down there! We saw rays and a lot of sea turtles.

The tuneles tour is a not-to-be-missed day on Isabela. The boat ride is about an hour, but we saw manta rays jumping out of the ocean all around us and stopped at Union Rock to see the Nasca boobies (endemic to Galapagos) on the way. At the tunnels, e had three activities: a short hike on land, a zodiac ride around and through the tunnels, and snorkeling. We saw blue footed boobies, brown noddies, lava herons, yellow warblers, of course the Nasca boobies, Galapagos shearwaters, and a few Galapagos penguins! In the water we saw white tipped reef sharks, GIANT turtles, and so many fish. It was amazing to also go into the tunnels and experience the lava formations up close. My only warning to future travelers is that to get to tunnels you have to cross the breaking waves going in and coming out. We hit a huge wave and everything in the boat was literally airborne, including us! Which was kind of cool except I flew out of my chair and landed on the floor hard and hurt my back. I’ll recover of course but because of this I wouldn’t recommend the tour to people with back problems or pregnant people. And maybe everyone else just prepare for some big bumps.

We had a great guide who was very helpful and knowledgeable about the island and its wildlife. It was a great way to see a lot of the island.

Fantastic tour that really lived up to the hype, the guides were great. Swam right next to turtles and saw a huge range of animals.

The guides were knowledgeable, friendly and very experienced. The things we saw made for a once-in-a-lifetime experience that we will never forget.

Top notch snorkeling tour. Very well organized from the hotel pickup to drop off. Hiking around the tunnels was amazing. Our guide was well informed and readily shared his knowledge. Snorkeling was fantastic. Turtles, rays, sharks, seahorses and so many fish.

My daughter and I had a great time. Our tour guide was great. Saw lots of fish, sharks, seahorse, manta ray, and of course the turtles! It was a full service excursion!

Amazing scenery and snorkeling with many animals such as rays, seahorses, white tip sharks and more. We learned a lot about Isabela and the wildlife

Absolutely take this tour and experience, it is so worth it and an amazing adventure! The snorkeling is beyond beautiful and safe. The guide and crew were kind and knowledgeable. If you're wondering if this is the tour for you, here's your sign....take it! Swimming with turtles is an experience I'll remember forever!

The tour picked our family of 5 (2 adults, 14 year old, 12 year old, 8 year old) up at our hotel. We went to get fitted for wetsuits. Then off to the dock to get on the boat. Our family went with Eduardo as our guide.The boat ride out there is amazing. Getting into the tunnels was an exciting rush to go through the waves. Our captain was so skilled! We got to see a male Blue Footed Booby doing a mating dance! The tunnels are surreal- cactus next to mangrove in lava rock tunnels! We were the first boat there and our guide said that only 6 boats can go in the am and 6 in the pm. Eduardo got some great pics and vids of sea turtles, sharks, seahorses, eagle rays, octopus and us. You can transfer those pics and vids to your phone or to an SD card. Everyone was so nice and friendly. We loved this tour! If you are on Isabela you need to do this tour.

Beautiful area and the snorkeling was great! Our guide show us several sea creatures we hadn’t seen here yet (sharks, seahorses and an octopus). She was patient and kind and very knowledgeable.

Two really good experiences: 1. The special lava landscape at the Tunelos and its animals and 2. The snorkeling in a similar but more open nearby place place with small lava islands but without the bridges. The best experiences was getting close to a couple is nesting blue footed boobies at the Tunelos and getting close to a group of big sea turtles and several big white tipped sharks. The not so great was that we were 12 personer plus the crew on the speed boat and it was a little crammed. Also, the lunch was just a single little sandwich bun with either cheese or ham and cheese, plus snacks.

Everything about this tour was well organized and amazing. We were fitted for wet suits and flippers so they were comfortable, our guide was phenomenal, the lunch was simple and perfect (rice, chicken, veggies), and the location - Cabo Rosa was gorgeous and we saw so many animals.

Saw Boobies, penguins, sea horses, sea turtles and mante rays. Boat crew and guide were fantastic. We slowed down multiple times on the way back to see golden mante rays and boobies. Food was available :)

Avoid at all costs! I had to go back to land because I felt bad, I spent about 20 minutes on the boat with my partner. The operator did not send any lifeboat, I returned with another trip, he did not incur any costs and yet he did not refund me a single dollar and ignores my messages. I asked for another trip, a much cheaper one, as compensation, but they refused! They were happy to reply on Whattsup when it came to booking trips and paying them, but when you have a problem, don't expect any help. I have never met such a dishonest company! Do you think 20 minutes on a boat is worth $260?!

We did the Cabo Rosa/Tuneles tour on May 5, 2024, yesterday. The weather was overcast and a bit windy - not the greatest. This may have colored some of my comments below. Rodolfo, our tour leader, was a good leader. He was clear with his instructions, made sure we had a good experience and was definitely very familiar with the entire operation. However, it is not a trip for the feint of heart as the entrance and exit to/from the snorkeling area and the sight seeing areas (Los Túneles) requires tricky maneuvering of the boat through impressive surf and eye popping waves. The boat we were on which was barely big enough for the 12 tour participants plus the 3 tour guides was cramped quarters and this made the trip out to the 2 sights and back (45-60 min each way) a rough ride. This being said, it was all worth it. We saw rays, reef sharks, sea horses, many enormous & beautiful turtles, a lobster, penguins, blue footed boobies (up close), and we were given plenty of time to see it all. Rudolfo made sure we all were able to see as much variety as possible in a very relaxed and unhurried way. He did a great job. I’ll also add that the boat captain definitely knew what he was doing in guiding the boat into the snorkeling and land viewing areas through the surf as it required a lot of expertise and knowledge of the boat and the area. While we had hoped for a larger boat I can’t see how that would have been possible given the challenges of getting in and out of the reef through the surf and the waves. A larger boat could not have done it. This is not a nambi pambi tour but if you want to see a lot of cool Galapagos creatures with a group of guys that know their stuff we would definitely recommend this tour.

Our guide Darwin was excellent and provided a ton of information on the local wildlife. He also took the time to take photos for everyone on the tour including underwater ones. He was great at spotting different aquatic life and getting us all over to see them. He took some great videos and photos with his go pro and then shared them with everyone at the end which was really cool. Overall a great tour, highly recommend as we saw so many turtles, fish, sharks and even seahorses!

Amazing wildlife, everything well planned. I can only recommend this cool tour! We saw penguins, sharks, turtles. Really good!

We loved seeing all the wildlife like the blue-footed boobies and snorkeled with rays, turtles, all kinds of fish. Saw a seahorse and shark cave. Amazing experience!

Unfortunately, due to current conditions the captain/tour guide would not allow us to snorkel in Los Tuneles during our tour so that was disappointing and wasn't aware that could be a risk. But we went to another place and it was excellent snorkeling.

Wonderful experience! You see almost everything you came to see, Blue footed Boobies, Sea turtles galore, white tip sharks, seahorses and all sorts of tropical fish. Our guide was excellent and very knowledgeable. No complaints!

Amazing tour guide and an excellent experience. Boat ride was beautiful and captain was skilled. Got to see so much in the water and a blue footed booby up close.

Snorkeling spot had very calm waters and a ton to see. Guide was knowledgeable and kept everyone together. Appreciate that they do Hotel pickups but we would have rather just been told where to meet, as it turned out to be just a 3 minute walk from our hotel.

We had a great day and saw alot of different animals. We managed to spot sea horses but you had to dive down a few meters to see them. One of our guides was really good in spotting them and pointing them out. Already on the boat trip to the tunnels we spotted sharks, turtles and rays. The most amazing part were the huge turtles which just grased in the water while we could observe them. We also saw some sleeping sharks (again spotted by our guide). Our guide also managed to take some amazing pictures. A perfekt day.

The best snorkeling experience in the Galapagos. Saw tons of sea turtles and sharks. There's beautiful tropical fish everywhere.

Amazing guide and trip. Nice boat, great crew and well guided tour. Our guide made sure that we could see animals as close as possible, helping us go deeper if wanted. Was able to see reef shark really close.

The tour was available for booking online, but a few hours later I received a message that my reservation was cancelled because they had overbooked. This happened to at least two other people I met on the island with different tour operators, so it seems to be common practice on Isabela for tour operators to overbook and then cancel travelers’ reservations. Beware!

The snorkeling was absolutely fantastic! Turtles, sharks, rays, fish in their thousands. Only 4 star rating as the tour start was rushed and chaotic. They should have picked people up earlier if they were in a rush. Plus, we experienced faulty equipment, ruining the first snorkeling for one of our group. And the guide took a lot of photos that we were told would be shared. So far, nothing :( Still, the snorkeling was amazing!

Our snorkeling trip was phenomenal! The drivers were able to get us to a spot most boats weren’t willing to go to on a rough sea day. We swam alongside a seal! Saw many turtles, and our guide helped point out a larger shark in our second location. Lunch and snacks were delicious! This was our favorite day in the Galapagos.

For me this was the best snorkeling site in Galapagos as you get to see many different animals in one tour, and get to see boobies up close, it was a very good tour and the guide was great, the agency was amazing I booked all of my Isabela tours with them. Sebastian was so communicative and friendly and answered my many questions so I decided to continue and book my other tours with them as well and they were all fantastic actually. This tour in particular was just so much fun, the boat crew was also great and for me it was one of the best days on the island.

Best snorkeling trip we've ever done! Tons of sea turtles, fish, iguanas, blue-footed boobies, and even saw a seahorse thanks to our guide.