Boca de Cote Channel
Los Roques · Venezuela
The Boca de Cote is one of the major tidal passes connecting the Los Roques lagoon to the open Caribbean, and the current that pours through this 400 m gap creates conditions that aggregate marine life in spectacular concentrations. Nurse sharks cluster in the shallows on either side of the channel, piled on top of each other on sandy resting ledges in the way that has made Los Roques famous among shark photographers. Great barracuda in schools of 50 to 100 individuals hang motionless in the current at mid-water while Caribbean reef sharks patrol the deeper channel margins. The channel's coral-encrusted walls provide a counterpoint to the pelagic action, with large brain corals and meandering colonies of mountainous star coral forming the substrate for lobsters, moray eels, and the full complement of Caribbean reef fish.
Conditions
Depth
5 to 28 m
Open water and up
Current
Can be moderate
Can pick up on the edge
Visibility
15 to 25 m
Clearest in the calm season
Water
25 to 29°C
3mm wetsuit
Month by month
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Water (°C) | 25 | 25 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 27 | 27 | 27 | 27 | 27 | 26 | 25 |
| Vis (m) | 20 | 20 | 20 | 18 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 12 | 12 | 15 | 18 | 20 |
| Current | Strong | Strong | Strong | Moderate | Moderate | Moderate | Moderate | Moderate | Moderate | Moderate | Strong | Strong |
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