Facts About Isabela Island
- The equator goes directly through the island.
- There are six large volcanoes that merged into a single landmass and created Isabela Island. The volcanoes were named Cerro Azul, Sierra Negra, Santa Tomas, Alcedo Darwind, Wolf and Ecuador. All but Volcan Ecuador, are still active.
- Living on Isabela Island are penguins, flightless cormorants, marine iguanas, blue-footed boobies, sea lions, blue heron, pelicans, and Sally Lightfoot Crabs. There are land iguanas, Darwin’s Finches, Tortoises, hawks, and doves at the skirts and calderas of the volcanos.
- One man-made construction on Isabela Island is The Wall of Tears. This unique historical site, referred to as El Muro de Las Lagrimas, in Spanish, is a stark reminder of Isabela’s darker times. A penal colony existed on the island between 1944 and 1959. The wall was constructed out of big rocks by prisoners who were in the penal colony, and it is about 25 m (65 ft) tall. The wall is located about 5km (3 miles) outside of Puerto Villamil. It is believed that there was no reason for the wall to be built except as a way to punish the prisoners and break them physically and spiritually. Some towns people reportedly believe that the wall is a haunted place, and at night, the cries of those that died at the wall can still be heard.
- A piece of the archipelago, along the northern coast of Isabela happens to be the only place in the Northern Hemisphere where you can see penguins in their natural habitat. The Galapagos penguin is the second smallest species of its kind and is typically observed on the western islands of Isabela and Fernandina.
- Las Tintoreras is an islet located just off the coast of Isabela Island to the south of the bay of Puerto Villamil. It’s a part of the Galapagos National Park (which means that a guide is required to accompany you on your visit) and it is an area full of wildlife that you will be able to see on a boat ride around the islet.

