Los Roques Is this a dream?
Sailing in ghost-mode, the unintentionally caught fish, treacherous hammocks, the most beautiful corals and the forgotten heroes of the turtle world.
Los Roques - A coral archipelago located about 80 nautical miles north of the Venezuelan coast. It includes a large barrier reef on the east side, many small islets and reefs behind it and a large lagoon surrounded by a reef that is not accessible to sailing boats. The main island "Gran Roque" is the only inhabited island, as the entire archipelago is a nature reserve. It is a popular holiday destination for Venezuelan high society (yayyyy, just how we roll🤣) and a well-located stopover for lost sailors like us 😉 The archipelago is on the way from the West Indies to the ABC islands, a route heavily frequented by sailors on their way to the Pacific or out of the hurricane zone. However, the fear of piracy along the Venezuelan coast intimidates many crews and sailors often give this sea area a wide berth. For us, however, this place is one of the most beautiful experiences in the Caribbean. Take a look for yourself! 🌴
We set sail!
The time has come, we are leaving the Eastern Caribbean. After nine months, we are setting off on new adventures! And we are so ready for it 😉 The crossing will take three nights, and we should arrive at some point on the fourth day. We haven't sailed such a long distance without other crew members on board since the Mediterranean. It's nice to realise how well we work as a team, how natural the processes have become, but also how concerned we are about each other. This is particularly evident at night, when one of us keeps watch outside alone while the other sleeps. Luckily, we have the most chilled conditions ever, with winds of around 15 knots from behind and hardly any waves. The only thing that keeps us on our toes are the many squalls that overtake us. They sometimes bring gusts of 30 knots, which wouldn't be so nice for our Oxley. That means sails up, sails down, sails up, sails down.... 😅
Despite everything, this crossing is a little different than usual. There are many stories circulating about this sea area. We are repeatedly told to watch out for pirates. One statement from an friend in response to our destination was: "I hope you have your shotgun ready". However, this friend has been hanging around Prickly Bay for the last years 😉 You have to understand that sailors, like many other people, like to tell stories and pretend they are facts. But what is true? 🥴 A couple of friends of ours have sailed this route in recent months, have stopped at several islands and have only positive things to say. So we decided to believe in karma and gather our own experiences. However, we will only stop in Los Roques, we will avoid the other islands. We hope that the national park coastguard in Los Roques will provide us with a little more "security". During the crossing, we switch off all devices that give away our position. We also switch off the navigation lights as we are in ghost mode 👻. However, this also means that we have to be twice as careful because we are invisible to other ships. I have to admit, I'm a bit nervous about it on the first night. But then that subsides and Gran Roque appears on the horizon on the fourth day, just as planned.
Just before we drive round the cape of the island, our fishing line buzzes. Dusk is always a good time for fishing! This time we're delighted because we've caught a decent tuna! 🤩 We reel it in and put it in a bucket, we'll be there in half an hour and then the cleaning will be a bit easier. "Hey watch out, the loure has fallen into the water again!", Thierry suddenly says and I look at the line, which has already been pulled out hundreds of metres. I start to reel it in and soon realise that it's hard! We slow down a little so that it might be easier, but it isn't. When I've reeled in enough line, we see something yellow-blue shimmering through the water and realise that there's still a mahi-mahi on it 😅 Oh boy, we didn't want that! We can't eat that much fish! With the line fully reeled in, however, we realise that the hook is not in the fish's mouth but is caught in its dorsal fin. So we can carefully release it and give the big boy back its freedom, which it obviously gladly accepts and happily hisses away.
Our first almost-bad accident
Once we arrive in Gran Roque, we first have to do the usual trip to the authorities. But this time we are particularly challenged because the people here only speak Spanish. We fight our way through pretty well communicating with hands and feet and "muchas gracias". The weather is somehow strange, the wind has died and the sky is overcast. So we do what we always do on an island: You know. Climb the highest hill, of course 😉
With all our stamped papers in our pockets, we set off the next day full of anticipation to our first beautiful anchorage: Francisqui. Many of the islands here have names that end in -qui or -ki. Locals have told us that the endings of the word "kaio" come from the old indigenous languages and mean something like "small rock". After colonisation, the islands were often renamed "cayos".
We are moored in this beautiful bay with just three other sailing boats and soon realise that there is much less sailors here than in the Eastern Caribbean. We don't realise at the time that we won't see another boat for days. "There's a natural pool up ahead, let's go snorkelling," Thierry says to me and I don't need to hear that twice. And guys, we are definitely in snorkelling heaven here. Such clear water, such healthy, diverse corals, so many fish! And how big they are! Insane 🤩. I think we're going to have a good time here.
Brought back to reality
"I'll give my parents a quick call, then we can go," I say to Thierry, as we want to head for a new anchorage today. But a sudden "RUMM" accompanied by an "AAHH" and a "SPLASH" immediately chase me on deck. I don't see Thierry, but I do see a hammock half hanging in the water. I jump to the stern and find Thierry struggling for air behind the boat. I quickly realize what must have happened: The lines of the hammock have snapped, Thierry has hit the railing from about 1.5 metres, then the stern of the boat and then fallen into the water 🥴 Ouch. First get the captain back on his boat, lie down, get some ice. He has pain in his right ribcage. I'm shaking and feeling sick, if the rib is broken now, then we're in a relatively unfavourable place here. The nearest big hospital is about 16 hours away in Caracas, Venezuela, and I don't really want to go there. An alternative in the east is Bonaire, which is about 40 hours sailing. Neither of these are the rosiest options 😥
Now it's a case of wait and see. Luckily, after a few days it is things are slowly improveing. So it's probably not broken, just bruised. That would be a huge relief, because the recovery time for a bruise is of course much shorter than for a fracture. Nevertheless, I feel incredibly sorry for Thierry, he was so looking forward to kitesurfing in Los Roques. Luckily there's still no wind, which makes things a bit more bearable 😉
This is what the South Pacific must be like!
Thierry is feeling better from day to day and we cruise around the archipelago a bit. We want to go to the east side behind the barrier reef. The nautical charts we have are not reliable everywhere. This means that we approach anchorages at midday whenever possible and keep a sharp lookout. Reefs and coral heads are best seen when the sun is at its zenith.
The beauty and remoteness of these places can hardly be described. We don't see a soul for days. We go snorkelling at the southern pass of the barrier reef. A pass means an opening of the reef to the open sea. This in turn means current and you know what current means: sharks 🦈 As sharks always need a current of water around their gills in order to breathe, they either have to swim constantly or look for a place with a current. I have to admit, I'm shitting myself a little 😅 But I guess I'll have to get used to it, because it won't be any different in French Polynesia. We actually do see a reef shark while snorkelling and the biggest, meanest looking barracuda ever. Exciting, this underwater world.
On dinghy safari
Los Roques doesn't leave much to be desired above water either: we explore the nearby island by dinghy, drive into a lagoon and take a few steps ashore. Here, too, there is not a soul in sight. Unfortunately, what is immediately obvious is the plastic waste: the entire coastline is littered with washed-up rubbish: glass bottles, plastic, fishing utensils and shoes make up the majority of the rubbish washed ashore. Shameful, isn't it? Here you are on a tiny little island, uninhabited of course, in the middle of the Caribbean Sea. Everything here was washed up by the sea. Too bad, dear humanity, too bad.
Further west, near the island of Sarky, we are treated to a special spectacle: just before sunset, I see 8 large birds flying towards us. "Thierry, come quickly, I think they're flamingos!" I shout, and sure enough, 8 pink flamingos fly past Cervino and onto the island. There is a lagoon there. The next morning we set off on an exploration tour and find more than 8 flamingos doing flamingo things 😍 How beautiful! What a paradise we've landed in here, everything is spectacular! The only really unpleasant thing are the mosquitoes. And I mean REALLY unpleasant. It's a veritable invasion, we usually have to hide at sunset. There's still no wind, so the beasts can fly quite far. The wind is also the reason why we are still here. We would like to sail to Bonaire and not motor. Waiting is the order of the day, but there are definitely worse places for it 😉
Wonderful encounters
It's not just the nature of these islands that inspires us, but also their inhabitants. There are a few islands besides Gran Roque where we have met people. We are annoyed with ourselves that we didn't manage to learn Spanish before we came here. We can communicate a little, but we are miles away from having a fluent conversation 😥 But the people make a lot of effort and take time for us. For example, there was Angeli, a lovely young woman who welcomes people for dinner in her own home. We ate the most delicious cevice we've had in a long time 😍 Then she introduced us to her whole family and showed us around her house.
In Crasqui, we meet Eduardo, a fisherman in his 60s who runs a small restaurant with his brother. Eduardo speaks a little Italian and so we are able to communicate well given the circumstances. The two of them invite us to accompany them fishing the next day. "Con mucho gusto" we say, and so they pick us up on the Cervino at seven in the morning. We take their little boat to the nearby reef and off we go: everyone is given a fishing line with a screw attached as a weight and two hooks. The hooks are loaded with sardines and then the line goes into the water, about 10 metres to the bottom. As soon as you feel a pinch, you have to "hook" the fish with a skilful hand movement and then pull it up. Sounds easy, but it's not 🤣 Thierry & I catch about 4 fish together. After 2 hours, our new friends take us back to the boat. We make them about 20 litres of water with our water maker, because fresh water is a precious commodity here too. In return, we get to choose two fish and say goodbye to the two fishermen. What a lovely morning.
There is a breeding centre for sea turtles on the Cayos dos Mosquises. Three species of the seven sea turtles are resident here, and all of them (including the remaining four species) are threatened with extinction.
Sea turtles have a very slow development process. They do not start reproducing until they are around 20 years old. Unfortunately, many animals die before they reach this age and populations have declined drastically. One reason for this is that the eggs that are laid in the sand are on the menu of predators such as lizards and raccoons. Once hatched, the little turtles then have to fight their way into the sea, which is full of dangers such as birds and crabs. If they make it into the water, many predators will make it difficult for them to survive there too. And should they actually manage to reach a size that makes survival quite comfortable thanks to their large, strong shell, humans come into play: the shell is valuable, the meat wants to be eaten. And then there is the pollution of the oceans. Turtles like to feed on jellyfish, and a jellyfish is difficult to distinguish from a plastic bag floating in the water.
As many as 1% of turtles make it from being an egg to laying eggs theirselves. Yet these animals are so incredibly fascinating! I mean, frolicking in the world's oceans and then finding their way back to their birthplace from anywhere in the world is pretty impressive. So guys! Protect our environment, protect the oceans, protect the sea turtles!
The purpose of the Turtle Shelter is collect baby turtles and raise them for a year or so in the hope that their chances of survival are greater. It is run by three men, one of whom, Edgar, speaks English quite well and we soon strike up a conversation. Edgar invites us to come round in the evening and help with the feeding. Of course we are happy to do so! I fall in love a little with the little tortoises 😍 The boys invite us round for dinner (there's meat with meat, welcome to South America 😅) and we have a great evening. The next day is still one of my favourite days: we get to help clean the tanks and change the water. It doesn't sound like much fun at first, but when you see the photos, you'll know what's going on 🤣🥰 We really enjoy our time here and are invited to dinner again. A unique experience and yet more boundless hospitality from the people here💗
We want to fly!
After two weeks in the doldrums, there finally seems to be a bit of wind. That suits us just fine, as we want to continue slowly towards Bonaire. So we head for the last planned anchorage: Cayo de Agua. This is said to be one of the most beautiful beaches in the world. Accordingly, there are lots of tourists who are brought here on speedboats from Gran Roque to spend a day sitting in a camping chair and being spoilt with drinks from the cool box. We therefore anchor on the other side of the lagoon, where we have our peace and quiet and can easily take the dinghy over to the Instagram beach.
We do that too, and it really is fantastic. There's not much more you can say. And the wind actually is back 🤩! But wait a minute, now we're waiting two weeks for wind to kite and when it finally comes, we're leaving? We can't do that. So we treat ourselves to another day kiting and chilling before we set off for Bonaire. Captain's rib still hurts, but kiting is fine 😉
And so, after almost three weeks, we leave this paradise on the Venezuelan coast. What a fantastic stopover. For me, one of the most beautiful places of our trip so far, and definitely the most beautiful underwater world. It makes you want more! 😉 Our next destination is Bonaire, one of the world's top 10 diving destinations. We can't afford to miss it 😉
How friendly barracudas are when you get too close to them, and how the weather once again throws a spanner in the works?
You'll find out next time...