Genovesa Island cruises

About the island

Genovesa Island

Genovesa, also known as Tower Island, is the bird island of the Galápagos. It lies in the far northeast of the archipelago, just north of the equator, and it is the rim of a collapsed volcano: your yacht sails into the flooded caldera of Darwin Bay and anchors there for the day.

Genovesa is small and low: about 14 square kilometers (5 square miles), rising only 64 meters (210 feet) above the sea. At its center lies Lake Arcturus, a saltwater crater lake, and the island was named after Genoa, in Italy, the birthplace of Christopher Columbus.

The island is uninhabited and is visited only on cruises, as part of the routes that include the northern islands. The crossing from the central islands is usually made overnight, so you wake up inside the bay. Two visitor sites are open: Darwin Bay, a wet landing on a coral-sand beach, and El Barranco, also called Prince Philip's Steps, a dry landing at the foot of steep steps cut into the cliff.

Genovesa has one of the largest colonies of red-footed boobies in the world, nesting in the saltbush and mangroves. You also walk among Nazca boobies, great frigatebirds, red-billed tropicbirds and swallow-tailed gulls, the only gull in the world that feeds at night. On the lava plateau above El Barranco, thousands of storm petrels fly over their nests while short-eared owls hunt them in daylight. Sea lions rest on the beach, fur seals shelter along the cliffs, and the marine iguanas here are the smallest in the archipelago.

Snorkeling in Darwin Bay and along the cliffs adds sea lions, reef fish and, with luck, hammerhead sharks in deeper water, and a panga ride along the cliffs shows the nesting ledges from the sea.

Genovesa is best for travelers who love birds and photography and are happy with a longer navigation. The steps at El Barranco are steep, with a handrail, and the trails cross uneven lava, so good shoes, sun protection and water are essential.

Fast facts

• Genovesa is the rim of a collapsed volcano: yachts anchor inside its flooded caldera, Darwin Bay.
• It has one of the largest colonies of red-footed boobies in the world.
• Short-eared owls hunt storm petrels here in broad daylight.