Concha de Perla Snorkeling Guide, Isabela Island [Rated + Reviewed]

Rating: 🤿 🤿 🤿 🤿 🤿

Hands down, this is the best free shore snorkel site I’ve come across anywhere in the world.

The variety of sea life is simply incredible, making it the only shore snorkel site I’ve ever given a 5/5 snorkels. 

That rating is based on four visits and we did not see all that sea life in one session, so keep that in mind. Every day at Concha de Perla is a different experience. The more time you spend in the water, the more variety you will encounter.

Galapagos Snorkeling Rating System

Having snorkeled all over the world, I have developed a rating system to give you a realistic sense of what to expect before you get in the water.

Concha de Perla sits right next to the ferry dock in Puerto Villamil, the main town on Isabela Island.

When you arrive, look for a small building selling drinks and ceviche. There’s a sign for Concha de Perla right beside it. See photo below.

Step through the tunnel of trees and an easy wooden boardwalk winds through the mangroves down to the lagoon in just a few minutes.

We loved this walk.

Iguanas are absolutely everywhere along the boardwalk, so watch where you step and mind those tails! We also spotted sea lions playfully splashing around in the water right among the mangroves, and we hadn’t even reached the lagoon yet.

Getting there: walk, bike, or taxi

We walked the 22 minutes from our hotel, Cormorant Beach House, on our first day and immediately switched to taxis after that.

The equatorial sun is no joke, there’s almost no shade, and you’ll be hauling snorkel gear in full swim gear.

A taxi runs just $2–$4 each way. We never looked back. If you’re cycling, bikes aren’t permitted on the mangrove boardwalk, but there’s a dedicated storage area at the entrance.

Tide affects everything about the Concha de Perla experience, and it is the first thing to check before you go.

Concha de Perla snorkeling is best approached at low tide. The water is clearer, shallower, and calmer. Our best snorkel of the entire four visits was when low tide occurred mid-morning.

That sweet spot is hard to beat.

Get in the water about an hour before low tide for ideal conditions. Keep in mind that low tide times shift daily so check the tide table the night before.

At high tide the water gets noticeably deeper and choppier. Not ideal conditions. See the photo below when we snorkeled at high tide.

Concha de Perla is a sheltered cove with rocky and coral bottom sections on the periphery and sandy patches in the middle.

Here is how to navigate the site:

Left side (as you face the water): Swim toward the mangroves along the periphery. You will find pockets of coral along here, plus turtles feeding on the rocks before you reach the mangrove section.

Inside the mangroves, look for parrotfish, yellowtail damselfish, and pufferfish. Later in the morning, this is where we often spotted marine iguanas swimming.

Middle: Keep your eyes open in all directions. This is where the golden rays appeared on our most memorable visit.

Near the entry platform: Where the rock ledge and the sandy section meet is where the whitetip reef sharks like to rest. A reliable spot for sleeping whitetips on almost every visit. 

You may need to dive down to get a clear view of the sharks on the sea floor.

Right side (as you face the water): We saw massive schools of parrotfish.

Back near the buoys: Sleeping whitetip reef sharks on the floor and baby blacktip reef sharks cruising through. Consistently one of the most productive areas of the cove. The water is deeper here. 

The buoys also mark the snorkel boundary. Do not go beyond them. The rope restricts access toward the Las Tintoreras site to allow for reef regeneration.

Far right corner near the marina: Avoid it. The current is strong here especially at high tide.

On our first visit, we snorkeled this area at low tide without knowing, and even then it took real effort to swim back to the calm middle. A local at the entrance confirmed this afterward. I avoided that corner after that.

The entry point is a large wooden platform with steps leading into the water. Super easy. You can sit on the platform, put on your mask and fins, and hop right in. 

A few things to know before you arrive:

Sea lions love the steps and benches. They will sprawl across the benches lining the area and claim the entry steps for a nap.

They are not moving for you. This is their home. You are the guest. Just wait patiently.

Always hang your gear. There are wooden poles with hooks (looks like a coat rack) near the platform for your bags and belongings. Use them.

Never leave anything on the benches or the ground. Sea lions will investigate and push things over. Marine iguanas are equally curious.

People also sit on the steps. Getting in and out with fins on requires a little patience and politeness. Build that into your expectations.

Mornings tend to be quieter. We found the cove noticeably less crowded in the earlier hours. By late morning the platform fills up and navigating in and out of the water takes more effort navigating around people.

What to wear: Long sleeve rash guard and swim leggings for sun protection (the sun is brutal!). I also wore my dive booties and Scubapro fins (came in handy when I got caught in that current).

People do mention needing a wetsuit during the cooler months (June through November).

In May, a transition month, we were completely comfortable in a rash guard and swim leggings. No wetsuit needed.

Here’s my personal snorkeling gear list I brought to the Galapagos (and what I bring on every snorkeling vacation).

On leaving your things: Although Concha de Perla felt fairly safe, I never advise leaving anything valuable at the shore or on the deck.

Phone, ID, credit card, sunglasses: all of it goes in my waterproof bag which I take into the water with me (which you can see in my photo above).

What I do leave behind: an old pair of flip flops to change into, a small camp towel, a hat, and a $10 Amazon bag I throw all my gear into.

If someone takes these items, yes I would be upset. But it is not the end of the world. Travel smart.

This is where Concha de Perla earns its five snorkel rating. Here is what we encountered across four visits:

Golden Rays: The absolute highlight. On our first visit two golden rays circled us for about 10 minutes in what felt like a perfectly choreographed dance.

They would swim away, turn, circle back, swim away, turn, circle back again. I had never seen rays actually swim back toward me before.

It was breathtaking and genuinely unlike any ray encounter I have had anywhere in the world, including Bonaire and the Maldives.

Two was extraordinary. But I have since read that some visitors have witnessed a fever of golden rays (yes, that is actually what a group of rays is called) at Concha de Perla. Wow! Maybe next time.

My best golden ray photos were taken during a specific combination of conditions: low tide, morning light with minimal wind, and full sunshine.

That trifecta made the water crystal clear and the rays absolutely glow. Sunlight matters just as much as tide for visibility and photos. If you can line up all three, get in the water immediately.

Not every visit delivered golden rays. But when it did, there was nothing else like it.

Marine Iguanas: We saw marine iguanas swimming at Concha de Perla on multiple visits (usually around 11:30 am).

They sun themselves on the rocks until they have enough energy, then dive in to scrape algae off rocks underwater with their prehistoric-looking claws.

Watching them swim with their arms flat against their bodies and their tail sweeping side to side like a rudder is like watching a tiny dinosaur take up swimming.

We had not expected to see marine iguanas in the water at a free shore snorkel site. Concha de Perla proved us completely wrong.

Whitetip Reef Sharks: Sleeping whitetips were a near-guaranteed sighting on every visit. They love the rocky ledge near the entry platform. On one visit we saw three at the same time.

The close-up shots are thanks to my husband who dove down.

We spotted sleeping whitetips again at Devil’s Crown off Floreana, where they were the mellow ones in the water. Hammerheads and Galapagos sharks were cruising the deeper blue on the same snorkel.

Baby Blacktip Reef Sharks: Reliable sighting near the buoys. Cruising slowly through the back section of the cove on most visits.

If you want to see blacktips in a much more dramatic setting, Bartolome Island had them weaving through massive schools of salemas at the base of Pinnacle Rock, easily the closest and most active encounter we had with them anywhere in the Galapagos!

Sea Lions: Besides the several sea lions sleeping on the benches at the entry platform, we did spot one sea lion in the water near the far right mangrove tunnel area in the distance.

For the full sea lion snorkeling experience, head to San Cristobal!

We snorkeled with MULTIPLE sea lions at Muelle Tijeretas!

Turtles: Multiple turtle sightings on every visit, both resting on the sea floor and actively swimming.

We found them along the rocks on the left or right side near the mangroves or back by the buoys.

Galapagos Penguins: We spotted one penguin at Concha de Perla across four visits. It is possible but not guaranteed here.

If penguins are high on your priority list, head to neighboring Playa Isabela instead. We snorkeled with them there on MULTIPLE occasions and they are fast, curious, and genuinely thrilling underwater.

We also spotted penguins on the rocks at Los Tuneles, Las Tintoreras, and Chinese Hat, and briefly in the water at Las Tintoreras.

Concha de Perla may surprise you with one but for a reliable penguin encounter, Playa Isabela is where to go for closeup encounters!

Just to show you the difference, the first penguin photo below is at Concha de Perla. Second is at Playa Isabela.

Other Wildlife Spotted Across Four Visits:

• Large marble ray on two occasions
• Stingrays
• An eagle ray
• Massive schools of parrotfish 
• Cortez rainbow wrasses
• Pufferfish
• Yellowtail damselfish
• Small shrimp (hubby captured these, hard to see because they are translucent)
• Starfish

And you never know what else might show up. After our land-based trip, we met fellow travelers on the Endemic cruise who had snorkeled Concha de Perla and spotted octopuses. We did not see a single one across four visits.

That is exactly the point. Every session is different, and the ocean always has something new.

The only time I have had a close encounter with an octopus while snorkeling was at Le Meridien in the Maldives. They are incredible animals, easily one of my favorites underwater.

If you see one at Concha de Perla, consider yourself very lucky.

One more creature worth hunting for in the mangrove section: seahorses. A few visitors have reported seahorse sightings in the mangroves at Concha de Perla. My husband searched hard on every visit.

We never found one here, though we did spot a seahorse at Los Tuneles during our trip.

• Check the tide table the night before. Get in the water about an hour before low tide.
• Our best snorkel was when low tide occurred in the morning.
• Take a taxi. The walk from our hotel was 20+ minutes in full sun with almost no shade. At $2 to $4 each way, it is an easy call.
• Mornings tend to be quieter. Go early when you can.
• Bring your own gear. Nothing beats a mask that actually fits your face.
• Always hang your bag and gear on the provided hooks. Never leave anything on the benches or ground.
• Stay inside the buoy boundary. Beyond the rope is restricted National Park zone.
• Avoid the far right corner near the entry platform at high tide. Strong current.
• Open 6 am to 6 pm. Free!

We snorkeled Concha de Perla four times in five days on Isabela and would have gone every single day if the schedule had allowed.

The golden rays circling back toward us like they were performing just for us. The marine iguanas swimming like tiny dinosaurs. The sleeping whitetips right near the platform. All of this at a free, walk-in snorkel site steps from the ferry dock.

If you are staying on Isabela, build Concha de Perla into your morning routine. Check the tides, take the taxi, hang your gear, and get in the water.

The variety of sea life here is genuinely world-class. You just have to put in the time to see it.

And if you are building your Galapagos itinerary, Isabela genuinely needs a minimum of four nights. You will understand why the moment you arrive.

It is that good.

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Questions about our snorkeling experience at Concha de Perla?

Let me know in the comments below!