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Dive Sites
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Los Roques
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Boca del Medio
Entry east of the Archipelago, clear and shallow waters (10 to 15 m) with a great variety of coral fauna and flora.
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Piedra de la Guasa
30 to 35 m deep underwater cliff. One of the best spots to observe a wide spectrum of pelagic fauna (grouper, red snapper, barracuda, horse-eye, jack).
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Solapa de Rabusqui
Caves where, aside from a great variety of crustaceans, one can observe sleepy sharks.
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Boca de Cote
Vertical walls with caves filled with multicolored sponges and black coral formations. One of the most impressive diving spots.
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Noronqui:
Formation of elk corals (Acropora Palmata). Inside this labyrinth lives a great variety of species.
Dos Mosquices
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Farrallone (Bird Rock)
Location: 5 miles off Porlamar.
The rocky slopes of this tiny island are considered a "beginner" site thanks to shallow depths (45 feet), but that shouldn't stop you from checking it out. Vis averages 60 to 100 feet on good days and the diversity of fish here can rival that of Los Roques. Although usually calm, the area can be awash in surge and current. Thanks to the close location, a two-tank trip has you back on land in time for lunch and afternoon sightseeing.
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Cubagua
Location: 28 miles southeast of Porlamar, though shops may shorten the run by leaving from Punta Piedras on the southwest corner of the island.
Cubagua was the site of the earliest European settlement in Venezuela, the fishing city of Nueva Cadiz. The town was eventually wiped out by a tidal wave and abandoned in the 1550s. Today the arid island is home to only a few itinerant fishing camps. Charagato Bay, on the north side of the island, is a very cool place to dive—figuratively and literally.
Thanks to the influence of a nearby ocean trench, the water of the bay stays in the upper 60s to low 70s year-round. But it's worth donning the extra neoprene (a 5mm suit and hood at a minimum) to see the twin wrecks and unique fish life found here.
The wrecks are marked by the tip of a ferryboat protruding from the water. The ferry went down in the 1970s under suspicious circumstances and came to rest on a sand slope, her stern under 45 feet of water. A salvage mission went awry and the tug that tried to raise her also went down, coming to rest just a few feet to the starboard side in the cold, greenish water. What really makes the dive interesting though is the diversity and abundance of fish. Massive schools of grunts, grouper and even trumpetfish become mere background for exotic species including the red banner benny, the Vieja (a seabass species found only in South America) and lesser electric rays hiding in the sand.
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Los Hermanos (The Brothers)
Los Hermanos is eight miles southeast of La Blanquilla.
Los Hermanos are five rock spires rising up from the depths to form a convenient anchorage for fishing boats. The crews often clean their catch here, discarding the slop overboard where it is manna from heaven for a dense collection of fat and happy fish—from moray eels to barracuda to triggerfish.
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La Blanquilla (White Island)
Location: Blanquilla is 60 miles north Juan Griego, 70 miles northwest of Porlamar.La Blanquilla is a 72-square-mile limestone island shaped like an arrowhead and named for bright white sand beaches. Blanquilla is also the home of Venezuelan wall diving, sitting as it does on the edge of a deep open trench. The wall starts just 65 feet from shore, and plummets straight down more than 3,000 feet. At some spots, including Piedra del Ahogado (Drowned Man's Rock), coral pinnacles scratch the water's surface. The walls are also rich with black corals, which are increasingly hard to find throughout the world.
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Los Testigos
Location: 45 miles northeast of Porlamar.
The most remote of the Venezuela islands,s "The Witnesses" are inhabited by a handful of interconnected fishing families who jealously protect the rich bounty of these islands, which are awash in the Orinoco flow and ocean currents. There's a coast guard outpost that you check in with and that's supposed to administer the rules (no spearfishing on scuba, no shark fishing) but the real protection comes from the families who jealously guard the resources from outside encroachment. You have to get in good with the jefes of the island by bringing them gifts and hiring them as your guides to the island.
Putting together a trip to Los Testigos requires lots of planning. First, you need to charter a boat with the proper permits to dive here. Then you'll need to arrange through one of the shops for a compressor or a sufficient number of tanks. Finally, you need a divemaster who knows the island residents and can negotiate their services.
The rocky reefs feature low-profile encrusting, heavy on sponges, tunicates and other invertebrates instead of hard corals, but there is an abundance of fish life. Visibility and conditions in Los Testigos are spotty. They are the first islands to get the blast of Orinoco Delta runoff and they are awash in open ocean swells and current. This is advanced diving where visibility can vary day by day, dive by dive, as can wind, current and swell. The sites are not deep (80 feet max), but you need to be able to sink fast, stay neutral, do floating safety stops and handle shifting currents.
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