Las Grietas, Santa Cruz

Las Grietas at a glance

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   Santa Cruz — Las Grietas

   Las Grietas — “the cracks” in Spanish — is a narrow flooded fissure in the lava near Puerto Ayora, on Santa Cruz: a swimming spot between two rock walls. You reach it by water taxi across the bay and then a walk over lava and boardwalk. There is a control point at the entrance and the site has fixed opening hours.

Photographs

Las Grietas, photographed on our own trips

Our own photographs, not stock. Each caption says exactly where and when it was taken.

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How you get there

Water taxi and walk

A short crossing from the pier in Puerto Ayora to the other side of the bay, then a walk past the salt pans and over lava. The taxi runs on demand and you pay each way.

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

What you actually see

The fissure

Two vertical walls of lava with green-blue water between them, and the sky as a strip overhead. It is more dramatic than photographs make it because photographs cannot show how narrow it is.

The layered water

Rainwater sits on top of seawater seeping in from the bay. The boundary is visible when you dive through it, and the temperature changes with it.

The salt pans on the way

The walk passes old salt works. Most people hurry through them; they are part of how people actually lived here.

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.

It gets crowded, and the crack is small

Mid-morning brings everyone at once, and there is not much room. Early or late is a different experience entirely.

The walk is rougher than expected

Steps and lava, not a promenade. Flip-flops are a bad idea and people turn ankles here.

It closes, sometimes without warning

The site has hours and has been closed for maintenance and for safety work in the past. Check before you pay for the taxi across.

The water is colder than the beach

It is enclosed, deep and shaded for much of the day. People get in expecting a warm pool and get out fast.

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.

• Non-swimmers. There is no shallow end and nowhere to stand.
• Anyone unsteady on uneven ground — the approach is lava and steps.
• Visitors looking for a beach. This is a rock pool between two walls.

What lives here

• Marine iguana — On the lava along the approach.
• Lava lizard — Everywhere on the walk, and easy to miss.
• Fish in the fissure — Mullet and others move through with the tide.

Nearby

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