Los Roques is 14 by 25 miles of protected reef and dotted with little islands - not very high. The exception is El Gran Roque with its 380 foot hills…looking very different from all the other low lying mangrove and sand islands. Los Roques is a Venezuelan National Park and protected. No spear fishing, rod and reel fishing or traps are allowed within the park boundaries. No collection of conch or shellfish is allowed. No foreign charter boats. You can only fish with a hand line. They close off entire areas if there is any indication of stress to the resources - meaning no boating, anchoring or any activity is allowed in the restricted area.
The protection of the area is impressive and it shows when you snorkel around - which we've done for the last few days. Near the first spot we anchored - near Buchiyaco we went to three different patch reefs not far from Astarte. The first spot was filled with a large variety of fish and some healthy coral. There are some huge conch - alive! After a good time in the water we spotted a barracuda that seemed quite interested in us (always very stealth, lurking in the shadows just behind you!) - and he was a "formidable" size, so we decided we'd move on.
The second spot was much more shallow and had a different variety of coral and critters. Here, Michael spotted a turtle and Barbara played with some cuttlefish for quite awhile - watching them watch her and line up in flying formations. They are so interesting to watch as they change color and stare you down. The third spot was the best of the day and had some huge snappers and more turtles. It also had a resident "cuda" even larger than the one from the first reef. He "submarined" under Barbara - and she swears he was as long as she is tall!
Day two here - we had another peaceful night and enjoyed the darkness and the stars. The brown boobies are curious birds and approach quite close to the boat to check you out. We think they'll crash into the wind generator causing problems to not just their own well-being - but to our power plant!
Wednesday, we moved about eight miles to another location. We had a great sail between the two reefs - the large outer protecting reef and the interior reef. The interesting thing about this area is that you really are exploring a bit - as there are no real "designated anchorages." You simply find a spot you like and as long as it's not over coral - you drop the hook in sand. We found a tiny mangrove island called Soyoqui - and negotiated our way towards it between reefs and patches of coral. We found a nice 25 foot sandy area and dropped the anchor. We have the little island and the area to ourselves - making it feel quite exotic. The mangrove island has a beautiful sandy beach and lots of birds.
We had an afternoon of snorkeling again - and this time the reefs were very different. The first spot was a forest of stag horn coral. It was a jungle of this coral with lots of schools of fish living within it. The schools ranged in fish size from inch long to three- foot snappers and schoolmasters. Michael wanted to spear something so bad it was driving him crazy. The tame fish seemed to know they were safe from human predators. They calmly swam about - barely paying attention to us. You could approach very closely. Schools of tiny fish would allow you to swim amongst them without scattering.
The second spot was similar - but had a few elk horn corals in the mix. It was also filled with fish. Many larger than the first sight.
The third location was very different. It had a few larger coral/rock formations - but very scattered. There was one large outcropping that was an aquarium. We could have swum around this "rock" for hours. It was filled with lots of varieties of fish - and there were hundreds of fish. It was a complete underwater colony - from tiny to large fish, colorful tube worms, anemones, large clams and beautiful tropicals. Inside the coral were some very large critters. A giant puffer - his eyes were as big as saucers; a giant snapper - easily 4 feet long and a green moray.
It was another great day of underwater exploration. We returned to the boat in time to see a squall heading our way. . We got back in time to get a bit of rain and some wind - but most of the weather seemed to go around us. That changed in the over night hours (of course!) when the wind picked up and we were forced to get up and close the hatches several times for the rain.
Today we'll probably head to El Gran Roque and check in. We also need to check out "Mary" the inflatable (dinghy) and she may be leaking again. One tube seems to be losing air more quickly.
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