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Is the Los Tuneles Tour Worth It? Full Review + Secret Tips!

ByLo Lee Posted on Last updated on

I legitimately think that the Los Tuneles tour in Isabela is the best day tour in all of the Galapagos!

I spent two weeks island hopping in the Galapagos and going on all the best land-based tours, so you can trust me!

In this tour review, we dive into what makes the Los Tuneles tour so special, plus some secret tips to make your experience even more memorable. Watch out for Secret Tip #2, as it is what led me to the best wildlife encounter I had in the Galapagos!

TL;DR? Here is the most important information about the Los Tuneles Tour
✅ Where to book the tour? Book the Los Tuneles Tour from Isabela here!
✨ What are the main attractions? Birdwatching at Roca Unión, snorkeling at Los Tuneles, and a quick walk around the unique landscape of Los Tuneles
🐧 What animals may I see? Boobies, rays, sea horses, reef sharks, sea turtles, penguins, and much more!
😍 Is the Los Tuneles Tour Worth It? Yes! If you can only book one tour in the Galapagos, book this one.

Los Tuneles Tour in Isabela Overview

Map of the Los Tuneles Tour in Isabela. It shows Isabela Island,which is shaped a bit like Italy, with three red pins in the south coast. From Left to Right, the pins read Los Tuneles, Roca Union, and Puerto Villamil.

The Los Tuneles tour is the Galapagos’ most famous snorkeling tour, and it takes place off the coast of Isabela Island.

The tour lasts about 5 hours and starts and ends in Puerto Villamil, the main city in Isabela, and includes stops for birdwatching and snorkeling.

Important to note: Do not confuse the Los Tuneles tour on Isabela Island with the Tuneles tour in Santa Cruz!

What is included in the Los Tuneles Tour?

The famous Los Tuneles snorkeling Tour in Isabela includes three main attractions, and two of them are not snorkeling!

1. Birdwatching at Roca Unión

View of Roca Union, a relatively small rock in the middle like the ocean, which looks like a mini island. The top of the rock is covered in a white coat and small birds sit on it.

The boat goes around a rock in the middle of the ocean that is home to many species of bird

2. Snorkeling at Los Tuneles

Snorkeling in the best spot in the Galapagos! You can expect to see a huge variety of marine wildlife

3. Quick walk at Los Tuneles

Walking around the mind-blowing lava tunnel landscape and stopping by boobies’ nests!

Each tour package also includes a naturalist guide, boxed lunch, and snorkeling equipment (including wetsuits if necessary).

How Much Is the Los Tuneles Tour?

View of the front of a motorboat looking into the open ocean. Waters are turquoise and blue, and there are lots of dots of black vulcanic stones in the horizon.

I paid USD 140 for my Los Tuneles Tour out of Puerto Villamil.

However, the Los Tuneles Tour price varies greatly depending on three factors:

  1. Payment method (Card vs. Cash)
  2. Number of tours booked (if you bundle together a lot of tours they typically provide a good discount)
  3. Booking method (in-person vs. online)

Secret tip #1: Pay in cash and ask for a 5-10% discount! Prices typically account for credit card fees, which do not need to be paid when using cash

In Isabela, you can book the Los Tuneles tour in person for 120 USD (if buying tours in bulk) to 140 USD (if buying only the Los Tuneles tour).

I booked my tour at Isabela Dive Center, but all tour agencies I came across in town offered similar pricing.

If you like being safe and booking in advance, you can book the Los Tuneles tour online, but this convenience comes at a slightly higher cost.

Book the Los Tuneles Tour Here!

When to go on the Los Tuneles Tour?

Los Tuneles in Isabela is amazing year-round but for the best chance to spot wildlife (like seahorses), schedule your visit during the low tide.

The tide varies daily, and you can check the tide forecast online about a week in advance to see what timeframe will work best for your Los Tuneles day tour.

My Experience in the Los Tuneles Tour in Isabela

Los Tuneles Tour Booking And Logistics

Inside of Isabela Dive Center, whith a wall containing maps, wildlife drawings, snorkels, fins, wetsuits, and lifevests.

I booked my Los Tuneles tour in person at Puerto Villamil, the base town in Isabela. Several tour agencies were offering the Los Tuneles tour throughout town, and I found the best price and booked my trip at Isabela Dive Center.

They offered two timeslots for the Los Tuneles tour, and I chose the 11:00 AM option.

The meeting point was at the Isabela Dive Center office at 10:50 AM to gear up. From there, we were taken by car to the pier.

People boarding a motorboat in the pier. 6 people are seen entering the boat.

We quickly boarded the boat and kicked off the best possible tour. Let’s dive into the details of the four amazing stops of my Los Tuneles tour in the Galapagos!

Itinerary overview & timing of my Los Tuneles tour (click to see)
  • 11:10 AM: Board the boat and head to Roca Unión
  • 11:50 AM, Stop #1: Bonus stop to snorkel with manta rays
  • 12:10 PM, Stop #2: Arrive at Roca Unión and spend 15 minutes observing the birds from the boat before heading to Los Tuneles
  • 12:40 PM, Stop #3: Arrive at Los Tuneles and snorkel
  • 1:45 PM: Go back to the boat for a boxed lunch on board before heading to the walking section of Los Tuneles
  • 2:30 PM Stop #4: Arrival in the walking session of the tour for birdwatching

First Stop: Bonus Swim With Manta Rays!

Underwater image of a man snorkeling next to a giant manta ray in the open ocean.

This was a miracle, almost like winning nature’s lottery.

To everyone’s surprise, our first top was swimming with huge groups of manta rays (10+ manta rays in total)

Close up underwater shot of two manta rays swimming in opposite directions.

How did we get to do it? That’s secret tip #2.

Secret tip #2: Tell your naturalist guide what you want to see at the very beginning of the tour! As soon as I entered the boat I said I really wanted to see manta rays, and the guide and captain were all eyes out for them! The result? We found manta rays, I got overly excited, and the captain stopped the boat to let me go in the water with them!

Please acknowledge that this was a genuinely lucky situation as three stars had to align:

  1. Manta rays needed to be seen (they often are, but it is not an everyday thing)
  2. The guide had to be fun and open to letting you swim with them, as it is not included in the tour. I was beyond lucky to have Carlos Galapagos as my naturalist guide!
  3. The captain has to be on board with the idea! Mine was!

This bonus stop was by far the most magical moment I experienced in the Galapagos. I hold this memory—and everyone (and every manta ray) who was part of it—dearly in my heart.

Manta ray swimming very close to the surface of the water.

What a way to start the Galapagos’ best tour.

Second Stop: Birdwatching at Roca Unión

Roca Union, with its black volcanic rocks and many birds sitting on top. The bottom of the rock is covered in a natural brown coat, and the top in a white coat. Water hits the rock and forms many mini waterfalls.

Rock Unión is a small rock in the middle of the ocean, and it is also the home of many sea birds. The boat went around the rock twice so we could enjoy the wildlife and take pictures!

It was a quick 10-minute stop, but the view was beautiful and the wildlife did not disappoint.

There we encountered nasca boobies, blue-footed boobies, pelicans, and even a sea lion! This was my only sighting of nasca boobies in the Galapagos, so I was quite excited.

Nine Nasca boobies sitting on top of Roca Union.

Third Stop: Snorkeling in Los Tuneles

Mangrove with lush greenery growing on top of black volcanic rock by the blue ocean.

Los Tuneles is an area with volcanic rock formations and mangroves, which grants amazing wildlife and underwater visibility.

What can you see snorkeling in Los Tuneles? Everything you can dream of.

Sea horses, reef sharks (many of them), sea turtles, rays (including baby rays swimming in circles), eels, and lots of colorful fish.

Underwater shot of two baby eagle rays swimming. Their body is dark grey and filled with small white dots.

During my tour, I didn’t come across any penguins, but the group that went the next day got to swim with one!

Important to note: The waters are quite shallow, and I don’t recall snorkeling in depths greater than 5 meters.

Naturalist tour guides know the exact spots where wildlife likes to hang out, so you’re bound to see lots of it – specially resting whitetip sharks!

Cave with 5 whitetip reef sharks laying or swimming close to a sandy bottom.
Whitetip sharks resting inside a cave

Here is some of the incredible wildlife I spotted during my Los Tuneles snorkeling tour!

Sea horse holding onto mangrove branch. The seahorse is light orange and white.
Sea horse holding tight to the mangrove’s branch
Underwater shot of a turtle swimming above a resting whitetip shark.
Sea turtle swimming by a whitetip shark
School of baby eagle rays swimming together. 10 eagle rays are seen in this underwater shot.
School of baby eagle rays swimming in circles

Note: All underwater images were taken with my DJI Osmo 4, which I absolutely love and highly recommend.

After snorkeling, we were served a delicious boxed lunch on the boat!

Plastic tapperware with chicken fried rice.

What I Didn’t Love About Snorkeling in Los Tuneles

While this was the best tour of my Galapagos trip and the most wildlife-rich snorkeling experience I’ve ever had, it wasn’t without flaws. Two things really took away from the experience:

  1. The size of the group: There were at least 10 of us, having to follow and stick by just one guide! Many of the group members were not very familiar with snorkeling and were lifting a lot of sediment, which sacrificed the underwater visibility.
  2. The number of crowds: There were a bunch of groups crammed into this small area, so it felt pretty tight. It was so packed that I even managed to accidentally swim off with the wrong group!

Fourth Stop: Walking And Birdwatching in Los Tuneles

5 people sitting on a motorboat and enjoying the Los Tuneles scenery. The landscape contains volcanic rocks forming arch shapes or small round islands. Long and tall cactuses grow from the rocks.

The final stop of the tour is a land portion, where we go on a short walk (no more than 100 steps) around an insanely beautiful landscape of lava tunnels.

Lo Lee standing in a volcanic rock arch above the ocean. Cactuses grow on the sides. On the back mangrove and the Los Tunrlrd landscape can be seen.

The landscape itself is worth the stop, but it gets better…

Blue-footed boobies build their nests in the volcanic stones, so you get to see them up close in their homes. If you’re lucky, you’ll be able to see the boobies’ babies, which are always accompanied by one of the parents.

Adult male blue footed boobie standing next to a blue footed baby. The baby is about 30 days old and almost the same size as the dad.

The naturalist tour guides know the location of each nest, and if any babies or eggs are around, so you’re sure to head wherever the most interesting wildlife is.

Adult male blue footed boobie standing next to a blue footed baby. The baby is about 30 days old and almost the same size as the dad. The baby is biting the dad's neck.

As if all this sweetness was not enough, the guide knew of another bird’s nest with babies nearby, and the captain took us over there to get a closer look!

Bird in its nest with a small baby inside. The nest is located on top of a mangrove tree.

After this last wildlife encounter, we started heading back to Isabela Island, ending what was the best tour in all of the Galapagos.

View of the main deck at Puero Villamil in Isabela. The deck is made out of wood and a small motor boat is tied to it.

Los Tuneles Day Trip FAQ

How Long Is the Los Tuneles Tour?

The Los Tuneles Tour from Puerto Villamil is about 5 hours long and can be done in the morning or afternoon.

Pro Tip: Stay in Isabela for at least one night! This way you can explore two or three of the amazing things the island has to offer. My favorite half-day tours in Isabela, apart from Los Tuneles, were Sierra Negra and Las Tintoreras.

Should I Book the Los Tuneles Tour in Advance?

Unlike the popular Bartolome Island Tour from Santa Cruz, the Los Tuneles tour does not need to be booked much in advance.

If you are traveling with family or in a big group, it might be a good idea to book at least a week in advance just to be safe!

For solo travelers, last-minute bookings are typically fine.

Book the Los Tuneles Tour Here!

Can You Do Los Tuneles Without a Tour?

Los Tuneles can only be visited with a tour that includes a naturalist guide and a certified captain.

Los Tuneles is not part of any Galapagos Cruise itineraries, so the only way to visit this incredible place is on a guided day trip from Isabela.

What animals can you see in the Los Tuneles Tour?

Underwater shot of two eagle rays swimming next to a whitetip shark.

Animals commonly seen in the Los Tuneles day tour include:

  • Marine animals: Whitetip reef sharks, sea horses, sea turtles, eagle rays, manta rays, sea lions, eels, and many other species of fish. In the summer months, whales might also be spotted from the boat!
  • Birds: Galapagos penguins, blue-footed boobies (and their babies), Nasca boobies, and pelicans

What animals you can see depends a lot on your luck, time of the year, and time of the day, so manage your expectations accordingly!

The wrapup: Is the Los Tuneles Tour in Isabela Worth It?

Underwater shot girl snorkeling next to a seat turtle.

Yes, absolutely yes! The amount of wildlife you can see on this tour is unmatched when compared to any other day tour in the Galapagos Islands.

The cost of the tour is also lower compared to other major day tours in the Galapagos, like Bartolome Island or North Seymour out of Santa Cruz.

I like this tour so much that I even think it is worth it to head to Isabela just for the Los Tuneles tour!

Lo Lee is the lead author of carry oner, a blog that helps travelers find incredible destinations and travel tips through unfiltered posts. She has lived in 4 different countries and visited over 45!

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