Kicker Rock (León Dormido)

Kicker Rock at a glance

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   San Cristóbal — Kicker Rock

   Kicker Rock is an eroded volcanic tuff cone standing in open water off the northern coast of San Cristóbal, split into two towers by a narrow channel. You cannot land on it — it is a snorkelling and diving site reached by boat from Puerto Baquerizo Moreno, usually as a half or full day trip. The channel is the reason people come: it funnels current, and sharks use it.

How you get there

Day trip by boat

The standard way. Boats leave from the pier at Puerto Baquerizo Moreno and the crossing is open water — not a sheltered bay. If you are prone to seasickness, take something before you board, not when you feel it.

As a cruise stop

Some itineraries pass and snorkel here. Whether you get in the water depends on the sea that day, and that decision belongs to the captain.

It sits on San Cristóbal, so how you reach the island decides how you reach this.

What you actually see

The channel

The two towers are separated by a gap you swim through. It is deep, the walls drop away below you, and the light comes down in shafts. This is where hammerheads and Galápagos sharks are seen — not guaranteed, seen. Anyone who guarantees you a hammerhead is selling, not guiding.

The walls

Vertical faces of compacted volcanic ash, streaked white with guano and worked by the swell. Frigatebirds and boobies nest on the ledges above while you are in the water below.

The open blue

Away from the rock there is nothing to look at but water — and that is where turtles, rays and the occasional sea lion appear from. People who stare at the wall miss half of it.

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.

The current is the whole point, and the whole risk

What brings the sharks also moves you. On a strong day the channel is a one-way swim and you get picked up on the far side. If that sentence worries you, this is not your site — and there is no shame in that.

The trip gets cancelled or changed

Open water, no shelter. When the sea is up, boats do not go, or they go and do not put people in the water. That is the crew doing their job. Book it early in your stay so there is room to try again.

The water is colder than people expect

From roughly June to November the Humboldt current pushes cold water through. That is when the marine life is richest — and when you want the wetsuit. Ask whether it is included before you pay.

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 is not comfortable swimming in deep open water with no bottom in sight.
• Small children — the current is not negotiable and there is nowhere to stand.
• People who need certainty. Sharks are wild animals; some days you see none.
• Anyone hoping to set foot on the rock. You cannot, and no operator can arrange it.

What lives here

• Scalloped hammerhead — The reason most people book it. Seen, not guaranteed — best in the cool season.
• Galápagos shark — Resident around the towers, and larger than people expect.
• Galápagos sea lion — Often in the water with you, and faster than you.
• Green sea turtle — Common in the open blue around the towers.
• Magnificent frigatebird — Nesting on the ledges above the channel.
• Blue-footed booby — Diving around the rock when the bait is in.

Nearby

Every visitor site we have written up → · San Cristóbal, the whole island →