Darwin Island

Ecuador, Ecuador

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Darwin Island, the northernmost in Ecuador's Galápagos archipelago, is a tiny, uninhabited volcanic islet spanning about 1 square kilometer with a peak rising 168 meters above sea level.

Named after Charles Darwin, it sits atop an extinct underwater volcano estimated at 400,000 to 1.6 million years old, featuring dramatic rock formations like the remnants of Darwin's Arch, now called the Pillars of Evolution after its 2021 collapse.

Renowned among expert divers for world-class sites teeming with hammerhead shark schools, whale sharks, manta rays, dolphins, turtles, and pelagic fish amid strong currents, the island hosts seabirds such as sooty terns and masked boobies but lacks land visitor sites.