Calypso's Journal: Venezuelan Offshore Islands

The Venezuelan Offshore Islands

We have now spent the last month on islands which I can only describe as WOW! - the Venezuelan offshore islands. These have got to be one the world’s best kept secrets as they beat, hands down, anything we’ve seen to date. Whenever one dreams of idyllic tropical getaways, these are the pictures that come to mind.

Blanquilla

Once we left Margarita, we sailed northwest on an overnight passage to the small island of Blanquilla. There is a small coast guard station there, some makeshift fisherman’s shelters for the occasional overnight stay and NOTHING else but splendor! We spent a week snorkeling, fishing, wandering and BBQing our fresh catches on the beach with a couple of other boats we know, one of which was Sunshine another of the yachts on our Governor's Cup race from Cape Town. We anchored in a tiny bay only big enough for two boats and felt just like Robinson Crusoe.

Cayo Heradura

Our subsequent trip was another overnight passage to Cayo Heradura, a sandy reef just of the north coast of Tortuga. Miles of beautiful white sand and turquoise waters. We were there for Christmas Day hoping to find lobsters however, they are only found in very deep waters here and all the local fishermen had gone to the mainland for the holidays. Needless to say, we and another couple in the anchorage, joined up and had an enjoyable meal aboard Calypso, Christmas tree, cake and all!

Again, our next stretch was another overnighter northwest to Los Roques, a large archipelago (about 14 by 25 miles) of exquisite islands and reefs, outstanding beaches and protected waters. Although the main island has a small town, the remainder is more or less uninhabited. We anchored at many of them thoroughly loving the swimming, snorkeling and walks on the beaches. Part of the charm of the place is that it is not well charted which means one has to eyeball your way around the reefs and coral heads. Paul managed to catch quite a few fish both on line and by spear gun which kept us in fresh food. Now, if we could only figure out how to fish for fresh veggie

s! We met up with other friends and spent New Year’s Eve in this little bit of paradise.

Baby Boobie

Then on to Aves de Barlovento, another archipelago further west which got its name for the thousands of birds in the mangrove forests there. These are primarily boobies who nest in the trees and create a major raucous as they vie for branch rights and feed their young. They seemed totally unperturbed by us when we motored around in our dinghy taking close up photos.

Snorkeling here has been terrific and the reef fish spectacular. One must wonder why the human race was left with such dreary colours (brownish, whitish, yellowish, etc) when the fish and the birds are painted so vibrantly! I think we drew the short straw!

We have not seen a shop of any description since leaving Margarita, in fact, phones, water, electricity, or even a permanent building have been notable by their absence. We’ve long since run out of fruit and veggies so are relying on tinned or dried and home-grown bean sprouts. Despite this, we would happily stay here and certainly intend to return. Our stay here has been totally out of season as cruising is really only recommended for the summer months, however, we aren’t complaining as it probably gets a little on the crowded side in season. We’ve been completely on our own several times now – whole islands to ourselves! We’re actually glad that we visited the Windwards and Leewards before coming this way as I’m sure they would have been a disappointment in comparison.

Barlovento really caught our fancy for several weeks. We even managed a couple of scuba dives off the southern rocky shores in an effort to get ourselves into shape for Bonaire. We were thrilled to be in the company of an American trawler, Argo, who are also keen scuba divers and even have a compressor aboard. The rest of the time, we thoroughly enjoyed bird watching, snorkeling, fishing and watching the fabulous sunsets while sipping our sundowners in the evening.