The beach
White sand and palms.
Schlitzer90 — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Torbenbrinker — CC BY-SA 4.0 · David C. S. — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Charles J. Sharp — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Torbenbrinker — CC BY-SA 4.0
A long palm-shaded white-sand beach in front of quiet Puerto Villamil, the only sizeable town on Isabela Island, with sandy streets and small houses. On the black rocks at either end marine iguanas bask, and sea lions sprawl on the sand. Behind the town lie shallow lagoons where pink flamingos feed, home to most of the archipelago's flamingos. Near the pier, boat trips leave for the tiny islet of Las Tintoreras, where white-tip reef sharks rest in a narrow lava channel and iguanas and sometimes penguins are seen. About five kilometres west stands the Wall of Tears, a massive basalt wall roughly a hundred metres long and seven high, built by prisoners of a penal colony that ran on the island from 1946 to 1959. Visitors reach it by bike or on foot along a coastal trail past small beaches and lagoons. Isabela is about two hours by speedboat from Santa Cruz, and the sea can be rough. Keep at least two metres from the animals, and never touch or feed them.
White sand and palms.
Reef sharks.
The old prison's relic.
Puerto Villamil town, south coast of Isabela Island
By speedboat from Puerto Ayora on Santa Cruz in about two hours, or on a small inter-island flight.