Kicker Rock — Attraction in Parroquia El Progresso

I came here in October 2017 with Guiding Galapagos. Our boat first went around the massive rock formation and we saw sea turtles, sea lions, frigate birds, blue footed boobies, and nazca boobies. Then we got into the very cold water and snorkeled in a crack which was super awesome. Then we actually swam through the opening of the 2 rocks and around the edge of Kicker Rock. I saw sardines, turtles, starfish, sea lions, spotted eagle ray, bioluminiscent jellyfish!, galapagos shark, black tipped reef shark. It was not too sunny so unfortunately it was a bit hard to see down but even with the clouds we were able to see a decent amount of turtles and sharks. The light up jellyfish were everywhere, so much so that I literally swam through them but nothing happened. The lights on them are really awesome to watch; it was one of my favorite things to see while in...

The first stop on the 360 tour was the the amazing Leon Dormido (Kicker Rock), out in the ocean but visible from the island. A great spot for snorkelling. It is a little daunting jumping into the deep blue water. But it is made easier with a sea lion cub and mother playfully swimming around, whilst waiting for the whole group to jump in. Once everyone is assembled, we swam between the rocks, and saw plenty of fish, sea lions and some small Galapagos sharks (Tiburon). Following this, we swam around the rocks which are covered in star fish and sea urchins. We also come across a couple of sea turtles (tortuga). Just before getting back into the boat, we caught a quick glimpse of a larger shark that came up for a peek and quickly...

Hundreds of turtles here! Sea lions and hammerheads if your lucky. It’s really something special.

However, snorkeling here does mean jumping from a boat into open water which can be a bit choppy. It is intimidating!

My advice if you are a bit nervous or not the strongest swimmer but you want to try, ask your guide if you can either wear your life jacket from the boat or ask them to take a life ring which you can use as a moving base. I kept my hand on the ring for most of our snorkel here and felt much better for knowing I would not lose touch...