The Pinzón tour was without a doubt the best day of my 9-day trip in the Galápagos and one of the coolest experiences of my life.
It’s a longer boat ride to get there (about 2 hours each way), but the ride was smooth and comfortable. I was traveling solo, so I listened to music/podcast and chatted with others in the group. The boat had a covered area, which was great because I wasn’t in direct sun for the whole ride. And honestly, in the Galápagos, every boat ride is gorgeous.
We weren’t able to do the beach portion due to time/seas, but I truly didn’t even care because the snorkeling was unreal. We saw EVERYTHING — turtles, rays, sea lions, tons of fish, blue-footed boobies, marine iguanas, and so many sharks. We saw over 30 white-tip and black-tip sharks and got to swim with them. It felt like a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
Our guide Jamie (if I’m remembering correctly) was one of the biggest highlights. He spoke English and Spanish, and was friendly, funny, personable, and made sure everyone felt safe and comfortable the entire day. He also did a quick round of introductions at the beginning (which I know some people roll their eyes at lol), but honestly it was such a nice icebreaker — especially because people were from all over the world and we were spending the full day together. As a solo traveler, I loved that. I even ran into people from this tour later in my trip and ended up hanging out with them! This was only my second time snorkeling, and I felt completely safe and supported the entire time.
The sea lions were especially fun — they were super playful and swam right alongside us. Our guide did a great job of encouraging those moments while still keeping everyone safe and respectful (since they are wild animals).
The crew was equally fantastic — they helped everyone get fitted with equipment, and were so kind and helpful throughout the day. They even helped take a few photos of me on the boat since I was solo, which I really appreciated. The boat also provides wetsuits and snorkeling equipment, plus towels (though I recommend bringing an extra towel too). We snorkeled at two different locations, with a short boat ride between them. The crew provided drinks and snacks throughout the day (water, tea/coffee, cola, bananas, crackers, pastries/bread, fruit). Lunch on board was honestly great — rice, fish, and coleslaw, and it was perfect after all the swimming. There’s also a bathroom on the boat.
I booked this tour through Guiding Galapagos and I couldn’t recommend them more. The entire experience was seamless because of them — super easy to book, and they communicated clearly and thoroughly about everything I needed. I stopped by their office (right in the middle of Puerto Ayora) the day before and Omar was amazing — answered all my questions, gave me a clear rundown of what to expect, and fitted me with a wetsuit, flippers, and snorkel/goggles. The morning of the tour, you meet at their office and Omar walked me to the dock and coordinated me with the correct group/boat. This was extremely helpful because there are so many tours leaving from the same dock each morning, and it would’ve been easy to get confused without someone guiding me. They also meet you at the dock after your tour to collect your equipment, so you don’t have to go back to the office after a long full-day tour.
This day was genuinely one of my favorite days of my life and something I will never forget. If you do anything in the Galápagos, go to Pinzón!!
Fabulous! Definitely recommend this tour. The guide was great, everyone was professional, the food was good. We saw dozens of hammerhead sharks and sea turtles.
It was a wonderful experience, tour guide Ricado is very nice, we had lunch cooked out of fish we caught during the trip, which is so fresh. We visited 2 places, first stop to mostly see turtles, the second stop is perfect, we saw sharks, and many other types of fishes. The entire staff team is very professional, they gave clear instructions the day before my trip, and invited me to visit their agency the day before to try on wet suit, flips, and goggle and provide the chance for me to rent gopro, the underwater camera. After the trip, there is a staff waiting for me onshore so that i can return the camera and tools without difficulties. I enjoyed their professional services.