Today our morning highlight was visiting “Iguana Downtown” at Espinoza Point on Fernandino Island. We got on the zodiacs and went off to see them all basking in the sun on the black lava rocks. The iguanas blended in so well that it was really tough maneuvering around trying not to step on them!

 

The snorkeling was around the same spot and this time we got to see the iguanas underwater. It was so cool seeing them feeding on the algae. It didn’t even seem like they were underwater at all!

 

There were a ton of sea turtles feeding on that same algae as well which was awesome. And at the end of this snorkeling, surprise!, there were a few sea lion cubs who got really curious and started playing with us in the water! It was really fun, but, unfortunately our time was up and we had to head back to the boat for lunch.

 

Next we relocated to Vicente Roca Point on Isabella Island. On our way, though, we saw some Sunfish swimming around, and since they are super rare to see, the boat captain even stopped the boat so we could check them out.

After arriving at the point it was time again for another snorkel. And we got to see the Sunfish underwater this time! They are really big animals, and really funny looking as well. Unfortunately they are also pretty skittish so he didn’t hang out for long before swimming away.

 

The rest of the swim was full of huge schools of fish and also lots and lots of sea turtles.

 

For our afternoon excursion we went on a zodiac ride to check out some of the geology of the island. And on the way we again ran into a school of Sunfish! Unfortunately none of us had snorkel gear to jump in with them… But either way we felt pretty lucky to see them so up close and got a few more snapshots of this very strange looking creature. After that we looked at the Caldera (opening) of the volcano; apparently half of it was the land mass we were seeing, and the other half was underwater where our dingy was.

 

Again, after a full day of exploring, it was time for dinner then bedtime. But not before the captain called us all in to the bridge so we could cross the equator together!