Approximately twenty nautical miles South West of the city of Cartagena in Colombia lies small archipelago called Islas del Rosarios. These islands offer tranquil get away within couple of hours reach from the city hustle. This archipelago is part of the National Park of Corals, Parque Nacional de Corales.
The archipelago is made for cruising adventure stop over, as well as exploring the underwater world. The islands are surrounded by coral reef formations, which also makes navigation challenging and fun. You’ll see crystal clear water and colorful reef and islands with unique ecosystem.
Apart from tourist and fishing boats cruising by every now and then, we had our overnight anchorage all for ourselves, neither we encountered other cruisers. Lodging options, few seafood restaurants and luxury hotels on the islands are all connected by dirt roads, and the in land is well worth a stroll. The best way to get around the archipelago is defiantly a dinghy.
Islas del Rosarios seemingly are Cartagena locals weekend destination and we found it to be a hidden gem.
We did this next mentioned dive and overnight stay from 44 ft Catamaran, and had a 15hp outboard and dinghy in use for cruising around.
In April, the water temperature was around 31 C°, visibility around 25 meters.
Dive site
10°10.338’N 75°45.084’W
Anchor:
Closest over night stay spot is on the North side of the dive site, where you can anchor just South of a narrow channel in between Isla Grande and Isla Marina. It is a calm shallow and sandy area.
We anchored and stayed overnight on the West side of Isla Grande, in front of hotel Cocoliso. Cocoliso also has a dive shop attached to the hotel, and from there we were able to rent tanks and equipment for any crew that needed gear. The staff at the shop were very helpful and attentive. They have a little pier that makes it easy for picking up and loading the equipment from the dive shop to you boat.
The anchorage itself was calm, tucked inside the reef on the East side, that gives you little protection from East.
Pay extra attention for reefs around and be aware of sudden shallow depths when navigating around the area!
Good holding. 2.5-5 meters depth, small island gives a little shelter from N, NW and E.
Dinghy:
You can ride the along the South Coast of Isla Grande, in between the beach and the reef 1.3 nm to the closest dive buy. There are more buys placed on the South coast of the islands. The dive shop staff was very friendly when we asked about the dive sites and happy to tell us about the spots! Moorings were well maintained and for the public use. The islands had made it easily accessible – lucky us!
Dive:
Current check advisable. Medium currents are not uncommon. Drop along the mooring using it as a reference point to sandy bottom in between coral formations in 7-8 meters and head South (away from the islands). You’ll come to a wall that drops approx 20 meters down.
Navigation with the potential current advisable!
Easy dive, advanced level desirable.
Expect to see life and colors! Islas Rosarios truly surprised us with the quantities of fish, colorful corals, beautiful formations and variety in typography on a single dive.
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Sailing Divers 