Wolf

About the site

Wolf

Wolf is one of the two remote islands in the far northwest of the Galápagos, about 160 kilometers (100 miles) northwest of Isabela, with Darwin farther north. It is small, about 1.3 square kilometers, and steep, rising some 250 meters from the sea: the eroded top of an extinct volcano, named after the German geologist Theodor Wolf. There is no visitor site on land, and only liveaboard dive cruises come here.

Wolf and Darwin are protected by the Darwin and Wolf Marine Sanctuary, created in 2016, and their waters hold one of the largest concentrations of sharks in the world. Schools of scalloped hammerheads, Galápagos sharks and silky sharks are the stars, from about June to November whale sharks pass by, and dolphins, eagle rays, green turtles and great schools of jacks, barracuda and tuna complete the picture.

A dive cruise usually spends a day or two at Wolf, with several dives a day at sites such as Shark Bay, The Landslide, La Ventana, La Banana and The Cave. Between dives, the cliffs are alive with red-footed and Nazca boobies, frigatebirds and swallow-tailed gulls, and the island is home to the vampire finch, a ground finch that pecks at seabirds to drink their blood.

The currents are strong and the water can be cool, so Wolf is for experienced divers with advanced certification.

Highlights

• Rich Marine Life