Santiago Island

Guide to diving Santiago Island in Galapagos

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

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

1 Countries
3 Dive sites
8 Liveaboards
28 Creatures

Sea creatures found in Santiago Island

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

Creature type Sea creatures
Cephalopod Octopus
Coral Galapagos black coral
Crustacians Crabs
Echinoderm Chocolate sea stars , Starfish
Mammal Galapagos Sea Lions
Mullidae Goatfish
Other sea creatures Galapagos sharks
Rays Manta rays (Mantas) , Spotted eagle rays , Stingrays
Reef fish Angelfish , Barracuda , Bluestriped grunts , Frogfish , Galapagos barnacle blennies , Mexican hogfish , Parrotfish , Reef fish , Seahorses , Squirrelfish , Surgeonfish
Sea birds Galapagos penguins
Sea Bream Salema fish
Sea slug or Gastropoda Nudibranchs
Sea turtles Green turtles
Sharks Scalloped hammerhead sharks , Whitetip reef sharks

Dive sites in Santiago Island

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

Dive site Liveaboards that dive this site
Cousins Rock Aqua Liveaboard, Calipso Dive Liveaboard, Galapagos Aggressor III Liveaboard, Galapagos Master Liveaboard, Galaxy Diver II Liveaboard, Humboldt Explorer Liveaboard, Nortada Liveaboard
Bartolome Punta Danubio Azul Liveaboard, Galapagos Aggressor III Liveaboard
Rabida's red-sand beach Galaxy Diver II Liveaboard

Liveaboards, dive sites, and top sea creatures in Santiago Island

Aqua Liveaboard

Aqua Liveaboard

Cousins Rock top sea creatures: Surgeonfish, Reef fish, Galapagos sharks, Whitetip reef sharks, Salema fish, Galapagos barnacle blennies, Squirrelfish, Goatfish, Nudibranchs, Crabs, Angelfish, Galapagos penguins, Octopus, Seahorses, Parrotfish, Frogfish, Spotted eagle rays, Manta rays (Mantas), Scalloped hammerhead sharks, Barracuda, Green turtles, Galapagos black coral, Galapagos Sea Lions
Calipso Dive Liveaboard

Calipso Dive Liveaboard

Cousins Rock top sea creatures: Surgeonfish, Reef fish, Galapagos sharks, Whitetip reef sharks, Salema fish, Galapagos barnacle blennies, Squirrelfish, Goatfish, Nudibranchs, Crabs, Angelfish, Galapagos penguins, Octopus, Seahorses, Parrotfish, Frogfish, Spotted eagle rays, Manta rays (Mantas), Scalloped hammerhead sharks, Barracuda, Green turtles, Galapagos black coral, Galapagos Sea Lions
Danubio Azul Liveaboard

Danubio Azul Liveaboard

Bartolome Punta top sea creatures: Whitetip reef sharks, Galapagos penguins, Parrotfish, Angelfish, Mexican hogfish, Squirrelfish, Surgeonfish, Starfish, Chocolate sea stars, Green turtles, Stingrays, Bluestriped grunts, Galapagos Sea Lions
Galapagos Aggressor III Liveaboard

Galapagos Aggressor III Liveaboard

Cousins Rock top sea creatures: Surgeonfish, Reef fish, Galapagos sharks, Whitetip reef sharks, Salema fish, Galapagos barnacle blennies, Squirrelfish, Goatfish, Nudibranchs, Crabs, Angelfish, Galapagos penguins, Octopus, Seahorses, Parrotfish, Frogfish, Spotted eagle rays, Manta rays (Mantas), Scalloped hammerhead sharks, Barracuda, Green turtles, Galapagos black coral, Galapagos Sea Lions
Bartolome Punta top sea creatures: Whitetip reef sharks, Galapagos penguins, Parrotfish, Angelfish, Mexican hogfish, Squirrelfish, Surgeonfish, Starfish, Chocolate sea stars, Green turtles, Stingrays, Bluestriped grunts, Galapagos Sea Lions
Galapagos Master Liveaboard

Galapagos Master Liveaboard

Cousins Rock top sea creatures: Surgeonfish, Reef fish, Galapagos sharks, Whitetip reef sharks, Salema fish, Galapagos barnacle blennies, Squirrelfish, Goatfish, Nudibranchs, Crabs, Angelfish, Galapagos penguins, Octopus, Seahorses, Parrotfish, Frogfish, Spotted eagle rays, Manta rays (Mantas), Scalloped hammerhead sharks, Barracuda, Green turtles, Galapagos black coral, Galapagos Sea Lions
Galaxy Diver II Liveaboard

Galaxy Diver II Liveaboard

Cousins Rock top sea creatures: Surgeonfish, Reef fish, Galapagos sharks, Whitetip reef sharks, Salema fish, Galapagos barnacle blennies, Squirrelfish, Goatfish, Nudibranchs, Crabs, Angelfish, Galapagos penguins, Octopus, Seahorses, Parrotfish, Frogfish, Spotted eagle rays, Manta rays (Mantas), Scalloped hammerhead sharks, Barracuda, Green turtles, Galapagos black coral, Galapagos Sea Lions
Rabida's red-sand beach
Humboldt Explorer Liveaboard

Humboldt Explorer Liveaboard

Cousins Rock top sea creatures: Surgeonfish, Reef fish, Galapagos sharks, Whitetip reef sharks, Salema fish, Galapagos barnacle blennies, Squirrelfish, Goatfish, Nudibranchs, Crabs, Angelfish, Galapagos penguins, Octopus, Seahorses, Parrotfish, Frogfish, Spotted eagle rays, Manta rays (Mantas), Scalloped hammerhead sharks, Barracuda, Green turtles, Galapagos black coral, Galapagos Sea Lions
Nortada Liveaboard

Nortada Liveaboard

Cousins Rock top sea creatures: Surgeonfish, Reef fish, Galapagos sharks, Whitetip reef sharks, Salema fish, Galapagos barnacle blennies, Squirrelfish, Goatfish, Nudibranchs, Crabs, Angelfish, Galapagos penguins, Octopus, Seahorses, Parrotfish, Frogfish, Spotted eagle rays, Manta rays (Mantas), Scalloped hammerhead sharks, Barracuda, Green turtles, Galapagos black coral, Galapagos Sea Lions

Top liveaboards diving Santiago Island

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