The Roques

Los Roques is an archipelago of Venezuela, located in the Caribbean Sea, 168 km north of La Guaira, the port of Caracas. Due to its beauty and ecological importance, it was declared a national park in 1972.

To get to Los Roques, if you do not have your own yacht (or a friend with a yacht), you can take commercial flights from Caracas, Porlamar (Margarita) and Maracaibo. The arrival by air is an unforgettable spectacle, thanks to the variety of blues that can be observed from the air. (Aerial photos of Los Roques)

The archipelago contains about 50 different islands. The most important, El Gran Roque, is the only one populated and it is where the airport is. The other most important islands are Francisqui, Nordisqui, Madrisqui and Crasqui. (See map). However, do not settle for these keys only.

The keys

You can see the little Rasquí Key: the closest thing there is to a private island.

You can also go to Cayo de Agua, a desert key with crystal clear waters.

Geography

Los Roques has an atoll structure, 8 rare in the Caribbean but typical of the Pacific Ocean, with two external barriers formed by coral communities, which protect the archipelago from strong currents; also, an internal lagoon8 of shallow waters and sandy bottoms. This park is constituted by 40.61 km² of surface, 1500 km² of coral reefs, 8 42 keys of coral origin that surround a central lagoon of 400 km²8 and shallow waters, 2 reef barriers (East of 24 km and South 32 km) and 300 sandbanks, 8 islands and cays ranging from a considerable area, such as Cayo Grande of 15.1 km², to the Gran Roque that despite being the most populated has only 1.7 km² (170 hectares) of extension.