Blanquilla Island Venezuela
Venezuela
Frequently Asked Questions
On the beach, by tender from the ship. The island has no quay, no village and no road: it is a line of pale sand set on translucent water, visited only by a few small ships and long-distance sailing yachts.
No permanent population lives there apart from a small Venezuelan military post. The rest belongs to wild donkeys, descendants of herds left by earlier occupants, along with iguanas, parrots and hermit crabs.
An alternation of pale sand beaches, scrub plateaus and low fossil coral cliffs sculpted by the swell, where in places the water hollows out pools refreshed by the tide. Its name says it all: the white one.
It is the island's real treasure. The fringing reefs shelter French angelfish, butterflyfish, surgeonfish and sea fans, with a visibility few Caribbean sites match: no river, no town and no port disturbs these waters.
Sea turtles pass regularly through the coves of the west coast, and divers occasionally report black coral, now rare elsewhere. Coral heads begin in shallow water, very close to shore.
None. On an island without infrastructure, everything comes from the ship: the tenders, the parasols, the refreshments, sometimes a barbecue set up for the occasion. The crew builds a beach camp for a day that the tide will erase the same evening.
A hat, sun protection and water shoes, bearing in mind that natural shade is scarce. A mask and snorkel usefully complete the bag: it is underwater that this call earns its keep.
Better not. The island belongs to the Venezuelan Federal Dependencies and its natural balance rests on very little. Collect with your eyes, and only your eyes, is among the instructions crews repeat at landing.
Spanish is Venezuela's language and the bolívar its currency, but the question barely arises here: there is nothing to buy on the island. Everything you consume comes from the ship.
December to April, the southern Caribbean dry season, with a kinder sea for tender landings and very clear water. The island stays hot all year; it is the state of the sea, not the temperature, that decides.
