A red-footed booby perches in green coastal shrubs with its pale blue beak and red feet clearly visible. Seeing red-footed boobies in the wild is one of the biggest reasons to book the Punta Pitt tour from San Cristobal.
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Before booking this Galapagos Punta Pitt tour, here’s what I wish I’d known.

During our 30 days in the Galapagos, Bill and I did snorkeling tours from all three inhabited islands, and Punta Pitt gave us some of the richest fish life and most memorable wildlife encounters of the trip.

This tour leaves from San Cristobal and travels to the opposite end of the island by boat. It combines excellent snorkeling with rare birdlife and dramatic scenery you won’t find elsewhere. It felt like one of the wilder Bucket List days of our Galapagos trip.

If seeing all three Booby species (Nazca, Blue-footed and Red-footed) and snorkeling with sea lions sounds like your idea of fun, the Punta Pitt Tour is absolutely worth considering.

Quick Facts about the Punta Pitt Tour

  • What It’s Known For: The Punta Pitt Snorkeling Tour offers the only chance to see the Red-footed Booby from the main 3 islands. The tour also includes snorkeling near Pitt Islet, where sightings may include sea turtles, sea lions, rays, puffer fish, surgeonfish, and occasionally sharks.
  • Leaves from: San Cristobal Island
  • Tour Duration: About 11 hours
  • Boat Ride Duration: About 2 hours 30 minutes each way from Puerto Baquerizo Moreno
  • Amount of Snorkeling Time: Approximately 1.5 hours total, usually divided between two snorkel sites
  • Who This Is Good For: Choose this tour if birdlife is a major priority combined with snorkeling. You need to be in good physical shape for the land portion – I struggled mightily. But seeing the Red-footed Booby made it worth it!
  • Good to Know: This tour is only offered a couple of days a week and in limited numbers to protect the wildlife. If this tour is on your shortlist, don’t wait too long to book.
Check Availability and Pricing for the Punta Pitt Tour

If you find yourself going down a rabbit hole to figure out which tours to book in the Galapagos, start with my guide on How to Choose the Right Galapagos Snorkeling Tour for You.

Photo of a map of San Cristobal Island. The location of Punta Pitt is circled in red on the far right. A red dot on the far left indicates Puerto Baquerizo Moreno, our starting point.
Started on the opposite end of the island!

Our Experience on the Punta Pitt Snorkeling Tour

We met at the pier at 7:15 and were back on the same boat we had taken to Española a few days earlier. This time the tour was full, with 12 guests, plus crew and our guide Natalie. We set out going east along the coastline of San Cristobal.

During the 2+ hour ride to Punta Pitt, the captain heard about a huge pod of Bottlenose Dolphins. So we took a little detour, and ended up surrounded by Hundreds of them for 20–30 minutes. We’ve certainly seen dolphins before—we live part of the year in Florida and see them every time we go jet-skiing—but this felt extra magical. Dark shapes leaping, spinning, and racing all around the boat. It was truly mind-blowing.

A bottlenose dolphin leaps beside the boat in open water on the way to Punta Pitt. This unexpected dolphin encounter turned the long ride to Punta Pitt into one of the most memorable wildlife moments of our Galapagos trip.
Watch video of the Bottlenose Dolphins leaping around us

After 2+ hours in the boat, we finally reached Pitt Islet and the snorkelers got in the water. We did two snorkeling sessions of about 45 minutes each, and this was some of the “fishiest” snorkeling we had in the Galapagos.

a Bright angelfish glides over coral and rock formations while snorkeling near Punta Pitt.
A big Pink and green parrot fish swims amongst a school or smaller less colorful fish.
Tropical gray, black and yellow fish swimming above volcanic boulders at one of Punta Pitt’s snorkel sites.
Watch us snorkel with colorful fish at Punta Pitt Rock – video credit Guide Natalie

We saw colorful fish, sea turtles, blacktip and whitetip reef sharks, manta rays, and playful sea lions that would swim right toward us and then turn away at the last second. And the water was warm, which was a nice bonus.

One thing I will note is that guide Natalie swam fast. We had to keep asking her to slow down so we could linger and watch. Advocating for yourself is an important part of taking guided snorkeling tours!

Galapagos sea lion swimming playfully beside us while snorkeling at Punta Pitt.
Watch us snorkel with sea lions at Punta Pitt – video credit Guide Natalie

Back on the boat, we had lunch before taking the zodiac to shore for the land portion of the trip. This is where I hoped to spot my first Red-footed Booby after almost 30 days in the Galapagos. They are not as widely found as the Nazca and Blue-footed Boobies are.

I knew it would involve some hiking (almost all of our paid tours did), but I didn’t expect this.

Rocky hills rise up out of San Cristobal in the area known as Punta Pitt or Pitt Point. A large red arrow shows the point that we had to climb up to. It maybe doesn't look to bad, but it was a very challenging climb!

This is where Punta Pitt totally surprised and caught me off guard. I hadn’t read or heard anything about the steep incline over rocks we were being asked to climb to the top of the island. To be fair, the younger people on our tour seemed to navigate the rocks with no problem, climbing like mountain goats.

But as a midlife traveler with arthritis and a body that is not exactly built for scrambling up rocks, I found the first steep climb of 20 minutes (and the final descent on the way back) very challenging.

Large craggy rocks are strewn across the climbing path on the way to the top of Punta Pitt.

Bill, as always, was patient and gave me a hand or a pull-up whenever I needed it. The wet landing made water shoes seem logical, but the hike was much harder than I expected and I worried the whole time about breaking my ankle.

Once we reached the top, the walking was much flatter and easier, although still pretty rocky. But that first climb was no joke, and I’m pretty sure I broke two toes during the hike.

If I had known what the terrain was really like, I would have landed barefoot, dried my feet, and changed into sturdy tennis shoes or hiking boots before heading up.

Bill and Kari rest at the Punta Pitt viewpoint after the challenging climb to the top.
Finally at the top! The white thing by my shoulder is our boat, back down in the harbor.

We spent almost an hour hiking around up on top of Punta Pitt.

Our naturalist guide leading hikers across Punta Pitt’s dramatic volcanic landscape.

And yes, I finally got to see the Red-footed Booby! Lots of them in fact. We saw a pair mating and a couple of males fighting over the female. Nature happening in real life.

A red-footed booby perches in green coastal shrubs with its pale blue beak and red feet clearly visible. Seeing red-footed boobies in the wild is one of the biggest reasons to book the Punta Pitt tour from San Cristobal.

We also saw several other birds, including the Magnificent Frigatebird soaring overhead. I’ll list all the birds we saw at the end of the post.

Black and white Magnificent frigatebird with his forked tail soaring over Punta Pitt’s dramatic coastline against a dark blue sky.

After we climbed back down, me going very slowly, we boarded the boat and began the 2-1/2 hour ride back to where we had began.

It was a VERY long day with some unexpected challenges. We were exhausted by the time we got back to our hotel.

What We Loved About Punta Pitt

Biggest highlights:

  • Being surrounded by hundreds of dolphins on the boat ride
  • Two strong snorkeling sessions with tons of fish
  • Playful sea lions swimming close to us
  • Seeing reef sharks, turtles, and rays
  • Finally seeing Red-footed Boobies
  • The wild, remote feel of Punta Pitt

The Red-footed Boobies were the big reason I wanted to do this tour, and we saw them. That alone made the difficult hike feel worth it. And the snorkeling being fantastic was the cherry on top. Oh, and seeing the dolphins too was an extra bonus.

Things to Know Before You Book the Punta Pitt Tour

Because Punta Pitt is part of the protected Galapagos UNESCO World Heritage Site, access is controlled and tours do not run to this location every day.

A few other tips I wish I’d known:

  • The boat ride is long — about 2+ hours each way
  • The hike is not easy
  • Wear real shoes for the land portion – not flip-flops or flimsy water shoes
  • Bring plenty of water – twice as much as you think you’ll need
  • Bring reef-safe sunscreen, a hat, and more water than you think you’ll need 
  • Expect a wet landing
  • Take seasickness meds if you need them
  • Speak up if the guide is swimming too fast

You need decent mobility, stamina, and comfort with rocky footing.

Final Take on Punta Pitt

Punta Pitt was hard. It was also unforgettable.

The snorkeling was excellent, the dolphins were pure magic, and seeing Red-footed Boobies in the wild felt like a perfect final Galapagos tour for us during our month long stay.

Would I do it again?

Yes — but next time I’d wear better shoes!!

Check Availability and Pricing for the Punta Pitt Tour

If you want another San Cristobal tour with rare birds and a more complete land-and-sea wildlife day, read my Española Island tour review next.

For a more snorkeling-focused San Cristobal option, my Kicker Rock snorkeling review breaks down what that tour felt like compared with Punta Pitt.

Birds We Saw on The Punta Pitt Tour

For the bird lovers out there, here are the birds we saw on our Punta Pitt Tour:

  • Red-footed Booby
  • Nazca Booby
  • Blue-footed Booby
  • Magnificent Frigatebird
  • Common Frigatebird
  • Swallow-tailed Gull
  • Galapagos Shearwater
  • San Cristobal Mockingbird
  • Sooty Shearwater
  • Common Cactus Finch

More Galapagos Travel Guides

Here are some more posts about visiting the Galapagos Islands. If you’d like to receive emails when I’ve posted new content to the site, please complete the short form above.

Overall Galapagos Planning Guides

San Cristobal Island Galapagos Guides

Santa Cruz Island Galapagos Guides

Isabela Island Galapagos Guides

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