Black Turtle Cove, Santa Cruz

Black Turtle Cove at a glance

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   Santa Cruz — Black Turtle Cove

   Black Turtle Cove is a shallow mangrove lagoon on the northern coast of Santa Cruz. You visit it by dinghy with the engine off — there is no landing and no swimming. It is a nursery: young sharks, rays and turtles use the sheltered water, and the whole point is not to disturb them.

How you get there

On a cruise

Commonly the first or last stop on central itineraries, because it is close to Baltra airport.

Day trip from Santa Cruz

Runs from the north side of the island. It is not reached from Puerto Ayora directly — you cross the island by road first.

It sits on Santa Cruz, so how you reach the island decides how you reach this.

What you actually see

The nursery

Black-tipped and white-tipped reef sharks, golden and spotted eagle rays, and green turtles — often young, often in numbers, in water shallow enough to see them clearly from the boat.

The mangroves

Four species grow here and they make the place. The roots are the reason the lagoon is a nursery: they break the swell and hide small animals.

Turtles mating at the surface

In the warm season this is one of the reliable places to see it. It is not delicate and it goes on a long time.

What goes wrong

We run these trips, so we know what people complain about afterwards. Better to read it here than find out on the day.

People talk

Noise empties the lagoon. One loud group and the sharks are gone for everyone in the boat. Guides ask for silence and mean it.

The tide is wrong

At low water there is not enough depth to get in properly. Operators plan around the tide, and if yours has not, you will see less.

Expecting to get in the water

You cannot. No swimming, no snorkelling, no landing. Visitors who wanted a swim stop leave disappointed because nobody told them.

Who this is not for

Saying this costs us bookings and saves the trip. If any of these is you, tell us and we will build the day differently.

• Anyone who wants to snorkel — it is forbidden here, without exception.
• Restless children. The whole visit is sitting still and staying quiet.
• Visitors who need to be close to what they photograph. It is all at distance.

What lives here

• Green sea turtle — The species the cove is named for. Mating pairs in the warm season.
• White-tipped reef shark — Cruising the shallows, often several at once.
• Golden ray — In formation over the sand.
• Great blue heron — Standing in the mangrove edge.

Nearby

Every visitor site we have written up → · Santa Cruz, the whole island →