DIVING IN KICKER ROCK
SAN CRISTOBAL DIVE SITES

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Diving in Kicker Rock is one of the most famous activities you can do in the Galapagos.

Kicker Rock is the second most famous dive in the entire archipelago. Only slightly shadowed by the liveaboard experience of Darwin and Wolf’s islands, which cost a small fortune.

It’s one of the top dives in the world and it’s on the bucket list for most underwater aficionados.

As a diver myself, if I’d leave the Galapagos without seeing a hammerhead shark I would be disappointed. But worry not, this is probably one of the easiest ways to see hammerheads, and usually not one or two but a big group of them.

DIVING IN KICKER ROCK GENERAL INFO

On this tour, you can either dive if you have an Open Water License or snorkel. In both cases, you have a great chance to spot hammerhead sharks.

Highlights: Hammerhead sharks, Galapagos sharks, Blacktip reef sharks, eagle rays, turtles, a huge vortex of Salema fish, king angelfish, sea lions, etc. Sunbathing in Puerto Grande, Cerro Brujo or Manglecito beach.
Duration: 8 hours.
Boat trip duration: 2 hours (one each way).
Starting Time: 7:30h starting at the Puerto Baquerizo Moreno pier.
Price: 190-200$ USD (for the diving), 135$ USD (for the snorkeling).
Agency/Guide: Wreck Bay Diving Center.
Gear included: Scuba and snorkel kits with wetsuits, fins, and all the necessary things.
Food included: Lunch.

If you want some more information please check the official San Cristobal island website.

DIVING IN KICKER ROCK TECHNICAL INFO

Dive Type: Drift-Wall.
Difficulty: Moderate.
Start: Boat dive.
Duration: Around 45 minutes.
Nr. of dives: 2 dives.
Full Tank: 3000 PSI / 200 Bar
Currents: Yes, relatively strong ones, especially in the channels.
Avg. Depth: 15-25 meters.
Surface Interval: 45 minutes (boat rest).
Visibility: 5-15 meters.
Water Temp. (ºC): Jan-Apr: 23,4-30,5. May-Dec: 21,0-27,5.
Air Temp. (ºC): Jan-Apr: 22-31, May-Dec: 19-29.
Water Temp. (ºF): Jan-Apr: 76,8-84,3, May-Dec: 71,9-79,3.
Air Temp. (ºF): Jan-Apr: 72-88, May-Dec: 66-84.

DIVING IN KICKER ROCK CURIOSITIES

The origin of its English name “Kicker Rock” comes from its physical appearance from certain angles, resembling the shape of a shoe. However, in Spanish, it’s called Léon Dormido, which means sleeping lion for it can also look like a resting lion.

The Kicker Rock, similar to the Pinnacle in the Bartolomé Island Tour, is the eroded remains of a volcanic “tuff cone”. A sort of consolidated volcanic ash structure that with time got eroded by the weather and created the shape we can see today.

Kicker Rock is formed by two rocks with a maximum height of ca. 145 meters.

Apart from its underwater wonders and fauna, this ancient volcanic structure is also home to many seabirds.

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HOW TO
DIVE IN KICKER ROCK?

In order to dive in Kicker Rock you must have at least an Open Water certification. If you don’t you can still go on this tour and snorkel.

To book it just go to a diving school, I went to Wreck Bay Diving Center, and they explain it all to you. You must book it at least one day before but I’d advise you to book it a couple of days in advance just in case.

Before the diving/snorkel day, you’ll need to go to the dive center and test out the gear to find your appropriate size.

WHAT CAN I SEE WHILE DIVING IN KICKER ROCK?

So, first of all, you need to be lucky. As in everything sea-related, you don’t control when the animals pass by.

In theory and if you have good visibility, you have a great chance both diving and snorkeling of seeing hammerhead sharks, Galapagos sharks, blacktip reef sharks, turtles, eagle rays, manta rays, sea lions, a big school of Salema fish, king angelfish and other beautiful fish.

On the surface of the rock, you can see blue-footed boobies, Nazca boobies, and frigatebirds.

At the beach, you might find ghost crabs, sally lightfoot crabs, marine iguanas, lava lizards, American oystercatchers, and more blue-footed boobies.

For your own safety and for the animals, don’t touch any of the animals or corals as they are all living things and can get damaged if you do so.

WHAT TO BRING TO THE DIVE/SNORKEL IN KICKER ROCK?

Sunscreen – At least 50. Remember the sun in the Equator burns you more easily than in other places.
GoPro/Camera – Of course, you can’t forget your camera to record this once-in-a-lifetime experience.
Outfit – You should bring swimming clothes and a towel. For the walking part on the beach, bring normal shoes or flip-flops. Bring a hat for the surface parts and for the boat rides and if you have bring a long-sleeved lycra for the snorkeling so you don’t get red on your back, or use their wetsuits. Bring a windproof jacket for the way back and a change of clothes.
Sea Sickness Medication – If you usually get seasick it might be useful to bring proper medication (on the day I went the sea was quite calm).
Mosquito Repellent – The beaches on the Galapagos islands, especially at sunset, have a lot of mosquitos and usually also horseflies or “Tabanos” as they are called in Spanish and they are silent and leave you with a huge unpleasant swollen bite.

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MY EXPERIENCE WHILE
DIVING IN KICKER ROCK

I did the Kicker Rock dive twice, once in 2022 on the 3rd day I was on San Cristobal Island, and in last month (April 2023), and boy I had my expectations high regarding seeing hammerhead sharks, a dream for any scuba diver.

On my debut in Kicker Rock, after departing from the pier and sailing for one hour we finally arrived at Kicker Rock. We were a group of 12 if I’m not mistaken. 8 went diving, in two separate groups with two guides and the remaining 4 went snorkeling.

There were Israeli, Spanish, Canadian, and Italian people on board, and also another Portuguese guy, Diogo (you might have seen him in the La Loberia Beach article).

The snorkeling team went first into the water and we continued a bit further with the boat and started our dives.

THE DIVING EXPERIENCE (2022)

Spoiler alert, the visibility was horrible and we almost lost a dive buddy. Twice.

As soon as we jumped in the water we could see the visibility wasn’t higher than 10 meters and our guide told us to start going down.

Once a couple of meters down we started seeing a massive wall of Salema fish, an incredible sight and probably the most interesting one we had for the entire two dives.

The guide was not coming down and we looked up to see that he was helping my Canadian buddy to come down since she couldn’t equalize her hears. After a while, she give up and went to the boat. We then started officially our dive.

The wall of fish was so thick and big that it literally covered the light coming in from the surface. We were surrounded, like a vortex. What an incredible feeling.

We started going inside the cloud of fish and we were amazed, it looked like a sci-fi movie. How incredible is the underwater world right?

After like 10 minutes we continued in search of our dear hammerheads but no luck. We saw a big school of kind angelfish swimming away from a sea lion and then a couple of turtles.

Diogo’s dive buddy was suddenly swept away by the currents (especially strong here) and rocketed to the surface without doing a safety stop.

We weren’t deeper than 15 meters but it was impressive to see that happen, I literally thought something bad was gonna happen to her.

Our guide saw the boat passing on the surface and understood they had picked her up and we continued diving more 15 minutes.

Once at the surface we saw that she was ok, just a bit dizzy, we waited around 45 minutes and went for the second dive.

On the second dive, we kept losing visibility, especially once we were arriving at the channel where the hammerheads usually pass through. We couldn’t see more than 5 meters.

Diogo’s dive buddy was again rocketed to the surface and survived, this time on a particular place with really strong currents, where deflecting your BCD wasn’t enough you literally had to swim your way against it in order to get out of the current.

We only managed to see some blacktip reef sharks and a couple of fish but no hammerheads. It was sad, but that’s life underwater, unexpected and beautiful.

SNORKELING IN KICKER ROCK

Just so you have a small idea of the snorkeling there, they do have buoys if you can’t swim well and a guide the entire time with you.

As I said before they jumped into the water first then we did and stood there snorkeling for two hours.

They probably went to the boat to rest and changed places. I’m not 100% sure cause I was underwater and when we did the surface interval they weren’t on the boat.

The snorkeling tour here is much better than the 360 Tour in San Cristobal cause you have double the time to be in the water.

And it’s cheaper 50$ USD if you don’t mind missing Bahia Rosa Blanca Beach and the other attractions of the 360 tour.

As you can see from the photos, as incredible as it sounds they saw many blacktip reef sharks, an eagle ray, and two hammerhead sharks. Yes, two… and an eagle ray.

So do come snorkel if you can’t dive cause it’s completely worth it.

POST-DIVE RELAXING AT PUERTO GRANDE BEACH

After the diving and snorkeling experience we ate lunch while sailing to Puerto Grande beach (it might be another beach on your tour, it depends on the day and the agency’s schedule).

When we arrived at Puerto Grande the Spanish guys stayed on the boat and the snorkeling guide went with us to the beach on a rubber boat. Once we arrived some people stood there sunbathing while I went with the rest to do some wildlife spotting.

Do bring some flip-flops or shoes to this part as you need to go through slightly sharp lava rocks.

If you leave your stuff at the beach do ask your friends there to take a look at the sea cause on our day the tide was coming up and some towels and backpacks got wet.

The beach was wonderful, even if the sky was a bit cloudy we could see its turquoise color and the surroundings completely green. I can imagine in the Summer it’s all dried up and yellow so I do advise you to come from January to April.

And that’s about it after leaving Puerto Grande beach we continued to Puerto Baquerizo Moreno and the diving day was over.

This is my first scuba diving article I hope it was useful to you and it eases up some of your doubts about the dive.

If you’re lucky you will find literally dozens of hammerheads swimming underneath or by you. So good luck!

THE DIVING EXPERIENCE (2023)

I had the opportunity to revisit the Galapagos this year, with my main goal being to explore Española Island, which I couldn’t visit on my previous trip. Additionally, I was eager to dive once again at Kicker Rock in hopes of spotting hammerhead sharks.

Accompanied by a group of friends, we divided ourselves into two subgroups: divers and snorkelers/discovery divers. Our first stop was Isla Lobos, where the discovery divers embarked on their dive. Following that, we proceeded to Kicker Rock for the main event. The certified divers completed two dives there, while the discovery divers went for snorkeling instead.

Afterward, we enjoyed a satisfying lunch on the boat and continued our journey to Cerro Brujo Beach for relaxation and exploration.

THE ULTIMATE DIVE IN KICKER ROCK

After the discovery divers had their time to shine, we finally arrived at Kicker Rock. A month prior, the National Park had closed the area due to falling rocks caused by heavy rains, but fortunately, it was now open again.

As we entered the water, we followed our guides’ instructions. Instead of aimlessly swimming around, we positioned ourselves in one spot and patiently waited for the sharks to approach us.

The dive began, and within moments, we were graced with the presence of two hammerhead sharks and an eagle ray—a promising start indeed!

Eventually, we reached our intended destination, a plateau devoid of reefs, with only rocks and sea urchins. We held on to the rocks, and in the blink of an eye, three hammerheads swiftly swam past us. And just a few minutes later, a group of nine followed suit. It was truly unbelievable! The visibility was excellent, and our luck had taken a fortunate turn in this spot.

Afterward, we resurfaced and took a surface interval, resting for approximately 45 minutes, before diving back in. This time, we ventured through the channels, known for being frequented by groups of 20 hammerhead sharks.

Unfortunately, the channels seemed devoid of much marine life, and we were unable to spot any hammerheads. However, we did get the chance to admire the sandy seabed and observe smaller fish. Despite the lack of hammerheads in the second dive, the first dive was an absolute thrill—a truly unforgettable experience.

Witnessing hammerhead sharks up close and observing them in their natural environment was an awe-inspiring sight.

CERRO BRUJO BEACH

After those exhilarating dives, we enjoyed our lunch on the boat while it drizzled outside. However, by the time we finished eating, the rain had subsided, and we disembarked on the beach.

Taking a leisurely stroll, we were treated to the sight of a magnificent grey heron against the backdrop of Kicker Rock. Additionally, we spotted some sea lions peacefully dozing on the beach. We took the opportunity for some memorable photos before returning to the boat to relax and make our way back to San Cristobal.

Without a doubt, this day of diving surpassed last year’s experience by leaps and bounds. So, if you ever find yourself in a situation where your dive yields no sightings or the weather isn’t ideal, I highly recommend giving it another chance when the opportunity arises. Trust me, it’s truly worth it. What an extraordinary day it was!

What about you, have you already scuba-dived in Kicker Rock? Leave me a comment down here if you have and what was your opinion.

Thanks for reading through and I hope you have fun diving here, hopefully with better luck and visibility than I did.

I’ll drop a couple of my other favourite photos of the day down below, enjoy!

GALLERY