Los Roques is a beautiful archipelago of small coral islands about 150 Km. due north off the central coast. This arquipelago consists of some 40 islands big enough to name and perhaps 250 other islets, sandbars and cays. The whole arquipelago, complete with the surrounding waters, was made a national park in 1972.
 
Many tourists visit this beautiful archipelago. Here, the tourists can enjoy beaches of white sands and coralline reefs that are a paradise for the snorkelling and scuba diving.

The fastest and easiest way to get there is by plane. Since 1988 there have been regular and even daily flights, leaving from Maiquetía (Venezuela's main international airport) and Porlamar (Margarita Island, State of Nueva Esparta).

For amateur and professional sailors, the trip from anywhere around the world to Los Roques is both feasible and fascinating, since this is the only way to visualize and become acquainted with key after key. The wealth of this tropical paradise has taken the breath away of even the most seasoned travelers.

Foreign flag vessels arriving in Venezuelan waters must generally take care of the initial red tape at the harbor office located in Pampatar, Margarita Island. Venezuelan ships may request their nautical charts at the harbor offices in La Guaira or the one nearer to their sailing port (for example, Puerto La Cruz, Puerto Cabello, Higuerote).

To guide the ships, there are lighthouses located at Cayo de Agua, at Boca de Sebastopol and atop the iron pyramid at Gran Roque. Together they form a buoy triangle, visible from any approaching route to the archipelago. The abundance of coral reefs at Los Roques has been responsible for a large number of stranded ships and even shipwrecks, the remains of which are still resting at the bottom of the sea. Listening to channel 218 VHF-marine (NAVTEX) which offers weather information and warnings to sailors, can be quite useful.

Gran Roque is the most important island in the archipelago and also is the largest settlement in the Venezuelan Caribbean islands which are part of the Federal Dependencies. In this island there is the main airport and the small town with its permanent inhabitants -known as "roqueños"-, a few bars, very simple grocery stores, sheriff's office, the small church, Inparques Station and, of course, many tourist accomodations which, from the capacity and comfort point of view, could be classified into two types: those managed by the natives and those owned by authorized tourist operators. Generally, the latter have a larger number of rooms with private baths and air conditioning, boat service for tours and trips, and offices in Caracas offering packages that even include air fare.

Today, it's truly a marine paradise. Los Roques is swiftly becoming a popular ecotourist destination in our coastal zone. The tourists should be prepared to enjoy the varied activities that they can carry out in this marine paradise (to practice the sport fishing, the snorkelling and scuba diving, to observe and to photograph the nature, etc.).

If you would like to see a video of our coastal zone, please click here