Santa Cruz Island

Guide to diving Santa Cruz Island in Galapagos

Discover dive sites, liveaboards, and top sea creatures linked to Santa Cruz Island in Galapagos.

The liveaboard shown opposite is the highest customer rated Galapagos liveaboard diving Santa Cruz Island. You can easily book the Aqua Liveaboard, scoring 9.1/10, using this link.

1 Countries
6 Dive sites
8 Liveaboards
33 Creatures

Sea creatures found in Santa Cruz Island

Here are the main sea creatures found across dive sites in Santa Cruz Island, grouped by type so you can quickly see what marine life you may encounter.

Creature type Sea creatures
Birds Darwin's finches , Galapagos doves , Paint-billed crakes , Short-eared owls , Vermilion flycatchers
Cephalopod Octopus
Crustacians Lobsters , Sally Lightfoot Crabs
Eels Moray eels
Mammal Fur Seals , Galapagos Sea Lions
Other sea creatures Galapagos sharks
Rays Mobula Rays , Spotted eagle rays , Stingrays
Reef fish Angelfish , Barracuda , Groupers , Parrotfish , Reef fish , Sergeant majors , Snappers
Reptile Giant tortoises , Lava lizards , Marine Iguanas
Sea birds Blue-footed Boobies , Galapagos penguins , Pelicans
Sea slug or Gastropoda Nudibranchs
Sea turtles Green turtles
Sharks Scalloped hammerhead sharks , Whitetip reef sharks
Whales and dolphins Dolphins

Dive sites in Santa Cruz Island

The following dive sites are found in Santa Cruz Island. Each site below shows the liveaboards that dive there.

Dive site Liveaboards that dive this site
Highlands to see giant tortoises Aqua Liveaboard, Calipso Dive Liveaboard, Danubio Azul Liveaboard, Galapagos Aggressor III Liveaboard, Galapagos Master Liveaboard, Galaxy Diver II Liveaboard, Humboldt Explorer Liveaboard, Nortada Liveaboard
Charles Darwin Research Station Aqua Liveaboard, Calipso Dive Liveaboard, Danubio Azul Liveaboard, Galapagos Aggressor III Liveaboard, Galapagos Master Liveaboard, Galaxy Diver II Liveaboard, Humboldt Explorer Liveaboard, Nortada Liveaboard
Punta Carrion Calipso Dive Liveaboard, Galapagos Aggressor III Liveaboard, Galapagos Master Liveaboard, Galaxy Diver II Liveaboard, Humboldt Explorer Liveaboard, Nortada Liveaboard
Puerto Ayora Calipso Dive Liveaboard, Galapagos Aggressor III Liveaboard, Humboldt Explorer Liveaboard, Nortada Liveaboard
Los Gemelos Galapagos Master Liveaboard
Isla Santiago Galaxy Diver II Liveaboard

Liveaboards, dive sites, and top sea creatures in Santa Cruz Island

Aqua Liveaboard

Aqua Liveaboard

Highlands to see giant tortoises top sea creatures: Giant tortoises, Marine Iguanas, Lava lizards, Darwin's finches, Vermilion flycatchers, Paint-billed crakes, Galapagos doves, Short-eared owls
Charles Darwin Research Station
Calipso Dive Liveaboard

Calipso Dive Liveaboard

Highlands to see giant tortoises top sea creatures: Giant tortoises, Marine Iguanas, Lava lizards, Darwin's finches, Vermilion flycatchers, Paint-billed crakes, Galapagos doves, Short-eared owls
Charles Darwin Research Station
Punta Carrion top sea creatures: Whitetip reef sharks, Galapagos sharks, Scalloped hammerhead sharks, Spotted eagle rays, Mobula Rays, Stingrays, Green turtles, Parrotfish, Angelfish, Sergeant majors, Groupers, Barracuda, Snappers, Octopus, Moray eels, Lobsters, Nudibranchs, Sally Lightfoot Crabs, Blue-footed Boobies, Pelicans, Galapagos Sea Lions
Puerto Ayora
Danubio Azul Liveaboard

Danubio Azul Liveaboard

Highlands to see giant tortoises top sea creatures: Giant tortoises, Marine Iguanas, Lava lizards, Darwin's finches, Vermilion flycatchers, Paint-billed crakes, Galapagos doves, Short-eared owls
Charles Darwin Research Station
Galapagos Aggressor III Liveaboard

Galapagos Aggressor III Liveaboard

Highlands to see giant tortoises top sea creatures: Giant tortoises, Marine Iguanas, Lava lizards, Darwin's finches, Vermilion flycatchers, Paint-billed crakes, Galapagos doves, Short-eared owls
Charles Darwin Research Station
Punta Carrion top sea creatures: Whitetip reef sharks, Galapagos sharks, Scalloped hammerhead sharks, Spotted eagle rays, Mobula Rays, Stingrays, Green turtles, Parrotfish, Angelfish, Sergeant majors, Groupers, Barracuda, Snappers, Octopus, Moray eels, Lobsters, Nudibranchs, Sally Lightfoot Crabs, Blue-footed Boobies, Pelicans, Galapagos Sea Lions
Puerto Ayora
Galapagos Master Liveaboard

Galapagos Master Liveaboard

Highlands to see giant tortoises top sea creatures: Giant tortoises, Marine Iguanas, Lava lizards, Darwin's finches, Vermilion flycatchers, Paint-billed crakes, Galapagos doves, Short-eared owls
Charles Darwin Research Station
Punta Carrion top sea creatures: Whitetip reef sharks, Galapagos sharks, Scalloped hammerhead sharks, Spotted eagle rays, Mobula Rays, Stingrays, Green turtles, Parrotfish, Angelfish, Sergeant majors, Groupers, Barracuda, Snappers, Octopus, Moray eels, Lobsters, Nudibranchs, Sally Lightfoot Crabs, Blue-footed Boobies, Pelicans, Galapagos Sea Lions
Los Gemelos top sea creatures: Marine Iguanas, Green turtles, Whitetip reef sharks, Sally Lightfoot Crabs, Galapagos Sea Lions
Galaxy Diver II Liveaboard

Galaxy Diver II Liveaboard

Highlands to see giant tortoises top sea creatures: Giant tortoises, Marine Iguanas, Lava lizards, Darwin's finches, Vermilion flycatchers, Paint-billed crakes, Galapagos doves, Short-eared owls
Charles Darwin Research Station
Punta Carrion top sea creatures: Whitetip reef sharks, Galapagos sharks, Scalloped hammerhead sharks, Spotted eagle rays, Mobula Rays, Stingrays, Green turtles, Parrotfish, Angelfish, Sergeant majors, Groupers, Barracuda, Snappers, Octopus, Moray eels, Lobsters, Nudibranchs, Sally Lightfoot Crabs, Blue-footed Boobies, Pelicans, Galapagos Sea Lions
Isla Santiago top sea creatures: Marine Iguanas, Fur Seals, Green turtles, Sally Lightfoot Crabs, Galapagos sharks, Whitetip reef sharks, Scalloped hammerhead sharks, Stingrays, Spotted eagle rays, Galapagos penguins, Dolphins, Moray eels, Octopus, Reef fish, Galapagos Sea Lions
Humboldt Explorer Liveaboard

Humboldt Explorer Liveaboard

Highlands to see giant tortoises top sea creatures: Giant tortoises, Marine Iguanas, Lava lizards, Darwin's finches, Vermilion flycatchers, Paint-billed crakes, Galapagos doves, Short-eared owls
Charles Darwin Research Station
Punta Carrion top sea creatures: Whitetip reef sharks, Galapagos sharks, Scalloped hammerhead sharks, Spotted eagle rays, Mobula Rays, Stingrays, Green turtles, Parrotfish, Angelfish, Sergeant majors, Groupers, Barracuda, Snappers, Octopus, Moray eels, Lobsters, Nudibranchs, Sally Lightfoot Crabs, Blue-footed Boobies, Pelicans, Galapagos Sea Lions
Puerto Ayora
Nortada Liveaboard

Nortada Liveaboard

Highlands to see giant tortoises top sea creatures: Giant tortoises, Marine Iguanas, Lava lizards, Darwin's finches, Vermilion flycatchers, Paint-billed crakes, Galapagos doves, Short-eared owls
Charles Darwin Research Station
Punta Carrion top sea creatures: Whitetip reef sharks, Galapagos sharks, Scalloped hammerhead sharks, Spotted eagle rays, Mobula Rays, Stingrays, Green turtles, Parrotfish, Angelfish, Sergeant majors, Groupers, Barracuda, Snappers, Octopus, Moray eels, Lobsters, Nudibranchs, Sally Lightfoot Crabs, Blue-footed Boobies, Pelicans, Galapagos Sea Lions
Puerto Ayora

Top liveaboards diving Santa Cruz Island

The following liveaboards are the highest ranked dive boats by SDE Liveaboard Rating, to help you compare the best options for diving Santa Cruz Island.

How SDE Liveaboard Rating works for the Nortada Liveaboard: 73%

The SDE Liveaboard Rating is Scuba Diving Earth’s own scoring system for comparing dive liveaboards at a glance. It adds together six individual category scores, each scored out of 10, covering the boat, cabins, diving, food, drinks, and non-diver companion features.

For the Nortada Liveaboard, those category scores combine into an overall SDE Liveaboard Rating of 73%. This helps you compare the overall onboard experience more quickly across the liveaboards shown below.

The SDE Liveaboard Rating for the Nortada Liveaboard works by taking the six individual SDE Liveaboard Rating scores, with each one being scored out of 10 and then adding them together. For the Nortada Liveaboard are ( [Boat:9/10] + [Cabin:6/10] + [Diving:10/10]+ [Food:7/10] + [Drinks:8/10] + [Non-diver:4/10] = 44/60). This total is compared to the maximum possible score of 60/60 to turn it into an overall percentage – which for the Nortada Liveaboard is calculated as 44/60 = 73% SDE Liveaboard Rating.

This makes it easy to compare different liveaboards at a glance. See a more detailed explanation of how SDE Liveaboard Rating works together with all dive liveaboards ranked by SDE Liveaboard Rating .