The archipelago of the Galapagos Islands today is officially called the “Archipielago de Colon” and consists of 13 larger and 6 small islands as well as dozens of tiny islands and rocks. Almost every one of these islands and rocks has several names in Spanish and English. The official names are not always the ones most frequently used. For instance the island Floreana also goes by the name of Charles but is officially called Santa Maria.

With over 4,500 square kilometres the island Isabela is the largest but, at the same time, youngest island in terms of its volcano. It also boasts the highest volcano called Wolf that reaches a height of 1,700 metres. Only the islands San Cristobal, Santa Cruz, Santa Maria and Isabela are populated. The population is mostly concentrated around the main harbour. Almost all inhabitants now live directly or indirectly from the travel industry. Farmers with crops and livestock are rare and are constantly at odds with efforts to protect the National Park. Besides humans, imported plants and domestic animals like goats, pigs and donkeys have caused immeasurable damage.

Rangers in the National Park are forced to intervene again and again to protect the indigenous flora and fauna. Tourists can also cause damage unintentionally. Hence luggage is regularly inspected and on flights to Baltra the entire cabin is disinfected. Food is not welcome on excursions and every effort must be made to avoid transporting plants, pollen or seeds from one island to another. Shoes should always be carefully checked.

The islands Pinta (Abingdon) in the north, San Cristobal (Chatham) in the south east, Santa Maria (Floreana, Charles) in the south and Fernandina (Narborough) in the west are the western boundary of the Galapagos Islands. The fauna and flora vary considerably from island to island although they are all of volcanic origin. The landscape varies from barren lava to primeval vegetation and the animal world is equally diverse.

There is another paradise, an underwater one. Not only divers but snorkellers will feel themselves in seventh heaven. Depending on the time of the year the water can be rather cold and the wearing of a wet suit is recommended. Nevertheless, the experience of swimming with sea lions, coming upon huge schools of manta rays or turtles on the way to their breeding sites is truly unique. Under water the same rules apply: the animals are not shy and are not normally aggressive. Hence they should be treated with respect.

The most important islands and rocks of the archipelago are:

Isabela (Albemarle)
Santa Cruz (Indefatigable)
San Cristobal (Chatham)
Santa Maria (Floreana, Charles)

Espanola (Hood)
Santa Fe (Barrington)
Genovesa (Tower)
Pinta (Abingdon)
Marchena (Blindoe)
Baltra (South Seymour)

Santiago (San Salvador, James)
Fernandina (Narborough)
Charles Darwin (Culpepper)
Teodoro Wolf (Wenman)

Rabida (Jervis)
Pinzon (Duncan)
Bartolome (Bartholomew)
Seymour Norte (North Seymour)
Plaza Sur (South Plaza)
Plaza Norte (North Plaza)

Tortuga (Brattle)
Los 4 Hermanos (Crossman)
Daphne Menor (Daphne Minor)

Seven of the main islands and popular destinations for outings are presented here in more detail: Isabela, Santa Cruz, San Cristobal, Santa Maria, Plaza Sur, Seymour Norte and Bartolome.

To zoom and move just click into the dynamic, scalable satellite map - powered by Google. If you want to access this map in a seperate browser window please use this link to Google Maps. In order to identify the islands of the Galapagos archipelago easily we have prepared a static map with the official island names, used in this travelguide.