Isabela travel guide

The largest of the Galápagos Islands, Isabela is receiving more and more land-based tourism. Several new hotels have opened and a flurry of development may be in the offing, which is a great shame because the island’s greatest attraction is precisely its delightfully undeveloped atmosphere. Isabela still fits most people’s image of a South Pacific island: coconut palms, azure ocean, white-sand beaches, rocky inlets, mangroves and a wonderfully laid-back feeling. There is a reasonable selection of accommodation, many little restaurants and a couple of bars. It is just the place for some to pursue hard core relaxation while the more energetic can choose from several interesting excursions. Most residents live in Puerto Villamil on the south coast, the main settlement, founded in 1897. Isabela is inhabited by some 2600 people, many of whom are fishermen. There is no town as such in the highlands, just a cluster of farms in the area known as Santo Tomás.