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Diving
The seabeds of the Venezuelan archipelago of Los
Roques are amongst the most beautiful of the Caribbean. Certainly,
they cannot compete with the sights and colours of the Red Sea or
the Indian Ocean, but for the variety of marine life; the archipelago
has few rivals.
Los Roques is a biological paradise, home and breeding ground to
a large number of species, and is visited by a similar number of
migratory species that come to feed.
Occasionally one can see whale sharks and large pods of dolphins.
Diving in Los Roques is simple and you don't need to dive to great
depths. Visibility is usually within the range of 10 to 20 metres
and in some spots can be up to 30 metres. There is diving on the
coral reef at a depth of 15 to 20 metres, and in some spots there
are vertical walls of over 45 metres.
The underwater flora and fauna are very diverse. Gardens of multicoloured
coral, full of marine life, enormous Common sea fun and Deapwater
gorgonian are amongst the sights you can encounter within the first
10 metres. Further down are brein coral and sea sponges.
There are innumerable species of reef fish, parrotfish of all colours,
barracudas, morays, snappers (here known are "pargo"),
all breeds of colourful groupers, sting rays of enormous dimension,
lobsters in abundance (which breed in the inner lagoon of the archipelago),
turtles and the occasional shark.
In the lagoon there are a lot of Tarpoon.
The most attractive spot for diving is the fantastic southern reef,
which has the best visibility (as far as 60 metres given the right
wind conditions and current). Here the reef drops away to extreme
depths and you can witness enormous sea creatures, underwater caves
and giant lobsters.
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