Gabriel Ribadeneira

Gabriel was born in Quito, Ecuador in 1962. He studied at the American School in Quito and completed his high school education in Pennsylvania. After graduating, he studied Hotel and Restaurant Management at Boca Raton College in Florida and returned to Ecuador in 1980 to work with his family.

In 1987 he moved to the Galápagos Islands to work in a restaurant in the highland of Santa Cruz, and eventually became the owner and operator of a small boat named "Intrepida," offering bay and dive tours with small groups. In 1992 Gabriel became a Divemaster and a certified guide for the Galápagos National Park, and now has over 6,000 dives in Galápagos waters as well as experience working for several tour operators in Galápagos as a land guide.

Gabriel has collaborated on documentaries in Galápagos with Australian Television ("The Dragons of Galápagos"), PBS, Lonely Planet, SUB Magazine, Dive Magazine of Korea, and with Japan’s Fuji Channel. In 2006 he worked on a documentary with Feodor Pitcam of Smithsonian. He has also worked with visiting scientists from the Charles Darwin Research Station and has climbed several Galápagos volcanoes, including Alcedo, Fernandina, and Wolf.

Sharing the Galápagos with his son, who is now 12 years old, and with children who visit the magical archipelago with their families, inspired him to create the Galápagos ABC Coloring Book which was first published in 2004. Gabriel has a great passion for Galápagos and feels privileged to lead travelers around this amazing and unique destination.