Galapagos Darwin's Arch Darwin's Tower Diving

Darwin Island, Galápagos

One of the world's best diving sites

What you need to know about Darwin Island, Galápagos

Darwin Island (originally named Culpepper Island) was renamed in honor of the famous naturalist Charles Darwin. It is considered by many to be one of the best underwater habitats anywhere on earth.

Darwin is the most northerly island in the Galápagos, and is over 100 miles northwest of Isabela. Together with its neighbor Wolf Island, it is the most remote part of the archipelago.

Renowned for the large, nay HUGE, schools of hammerhead sharks that gather here (for reasons scientists still don't fully understand), Darwin and Wolf are tips of huge long-extinct undersea volcanoes that grew up over half a mile from the seafloor below.

You will enjoy spectacular diving here, and among the species you are likely to encounter are hammerhead sharks, whale sharks, a huge variety of rays, green turtles, and a myriad of tropical reef fish. If you have any particular species that you are keen to see on your dive, contact one of our Galápagos experts today, and we can advise on the best dive itinerary to suit your requirements.

Interesting facts about Darwin

Arguably the best diving spot in the world

The only breeding ground of the sooty tern (Onychoprion fuscatus)

Darwin's Towers off the coast of Darwin is full of hammerhead sharks

Darwin is only the top of a huge volcano under water, which is 1000m high in total

Current Diving on a big wall: Lots of diving experience required

NITROX recommended

Pictures of Darwin

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Highlights in Darwin

Main Darwin Island

Darwin Island (originally named Culpepper Island) was renamed in honor of the famous naturalist. It is considered by many to be one of the best underwater habitats anywhere on earth.

Darwin is the most northerly island in the Galápagos, and is over 100 miles northwest of Isabela. Together with its neighbour Wolf Island, it is the most remote part of the archipelago.

Renowned for the large schools of hammerhead sharks that gather here (for reasons scientists still don't fully understand), Darwin and Wolf are tips of huge long-extinct undersea volcanoes that grew up over half a mile from the seafloor below.

You will enjoy spectacular diving here, and among the species you are likely to encounter are hammerhead sharks, whale sharks, rays, green turtles, and a myriad of tropical reef fish. If you have any particular species that you are keen to see on your dive, contact one of our Galápagos experts today and we can advise on the best dive itinerary to suit your requirements.

Darwin's Towers

Huge schools of hammers and Galápagos sharks, whale sharks, Mantas: Darwin's Towers (formerly: Darwin's Arch) is arguably one of the world's best diving sites.

Located just off the southeast tip of Darwin Island, the islet of Darwin's Towers (formerly known as Darwin's Arch, but the arch collapsed in 2021) is a fantastic marine wonderland. The main attractions are the whale sharks and hammerhead sharks that often gather here. But there are many other species you can find - green turtles, majestic manta rays, dolphins, large schools of fish, and other species of sharks are all frequent encounters.

We have met divers with over 1000 logged dives that still called it the single best diving site of their life! If you have any particular species that you are keen to see on your dive, contact one of our Galápagos experts today, and we can advise on the best dive itinerary to suit your requirements.