Cayo Sombrero Reef
Dive site
The most celebrated dive in Morrocoy — a shallow to mid-depth coral garden stretching from the Cayo Sombrero shoreline into deeper water. Healthy elkhorn and staghorn colonies crowd the upper terrace while massive star and brain corals anchor the deeper zone. Queen conch are common in the adjacent seagrass, and nurse sharks rest under coral heads in numbers rarely seen in the Caribbean today. Eagle rays pass regularly in the afternoon. The restricted permit system keeps boat traffic low enough that coral recovery is visible year on year.
Conditions
Depth
3 to 22 m
Open water and up
Current
Usually gentle
Can pick up on the edge
Visibility
10 to 20 m
Clearest in the calm season
Water
24 to 30°C
Tropical wetsuit
Month by month
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Water (°C) | 24 | 24 | 25 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 27 | 26 | 24 |
| Vis (m) | 15 | 15 | 20 | 20 | 15 | 10 | 10 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 15 |
| Current | calm | calm | calm | Gentle | Gentle | Gentle | Gentle | Gentle | Gentle | Gentle | calm | calm |
Your chances of seeing each animal
Queen conch
Sometimes
About 1 in 3 dives
Nurse shark
Photo: Rafael de la Parra · CC BY-NC
Sometimes
About 1 in 3 dives
Spotted moray eel
Photo: Kevin Bryant · CC BY-NC-SA
Sometimes
About 1 in 3 dives
Hawksbill sea turtle
Photo: Kevin Bryant · CC BY-NC-SA
Sometimes
About 1 in 3 dives
Eagle ray
Photo: michel candel · CC BY-NC-SA
Rare
Now and then
Field journal
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