The highlight of the snorkeling we did was definitely the "Grottoes" or "Caves". Our friends on Gilana had told us about them, showed us pictures, and sketched a chart in our logbook on how to find them. But the chart was not specific enough for us to figure out where they were. We finally asked around the anchorage, and Deb on Runner said she couldn't describe to us specifically enough how to find them, but she volunteered to lead us out there the next day.
Deb knows the area really well. They are semi-permanent residents of the Swimming Pool, and while here, she sets up 2 or 3 aquariums on board. So she spends her days snorkeling around looking for interesting additions to her aquariums, and for food to feed her current population. Most of the things she catches end up going back into the water after a few days of study/amusement. I think she must release all of them before Runner heads to Cartagena for a few months in the winter.
Anyway, Deb led us in our dinghy out to the Grottoes. And we took our handheld GPS along to mark the position, so it could be shared with others, if Deb doesn't happen to be around.
The Grottoes are a series of deep pools and caves on the back side of the reef about a mile NW of the Swimming Pool anchorage. The caves are linked together and it's possible to swim from cave to cave underwater, with one passage almost 100 feet long. We did a cursory exploration, to locate them all. We plan to come back and maybe dive them when we re-visit the San Blas this summer. (Though word of mouth from other cruisers has told us that
The dinghy route to get there is listed below. The "shallows" are very shallow, and the passage out to the reef should therefore be done as close to high tide as possible. At high tide, it was possible to motor the dinghy carefully through the shallows. At a lower tide we would have had to get out and walk and drag the dinghy. You should also pick a day that is fairly calm, as the swim-thrus would be difficult in rough weather.
The other interesting place we went in the calm weather was out through the cut to a wreck of a freighter in shallow water. This was challenging even in fairly calm conditions, and would be untenable in rough conditions. It was an interesting snorkel.
Other days, we just picked some likely-looking coral heads inside the reef to explore, and 'counted coup' on the lobster and conch we found. It is 'closed season' on conch, lobster, crab, and octopus, so we can't take them, but it is fun to find them and say "Pow, you're dead". We are amazed at how few lobster we have found, and only one we found was 'legal' size (by US standards). The Kuna and the cruisers have nearly cleaned out all the edible reef creatures in the San Blas. (Though the cruisers
seem to take the 'closed season' much more seriously than the Kuna).
But there are lots of little fish and beautiful live corals and invertebrates, and we seem to never get tired of poking around in the clear water. Occasionally we stumble across something really interesting like a sleeping Nurse Shark, or a large Spotted Eagle Ray.
Grotto Waypoints
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NW of Swimming Pool anchorage about a mile. Stunning caves with swim-thrus. Recommend near high tide and fairly calm conditions.
#1 09-35.44N 78-40.72W West of anchorage
#2 09-35.82N 78-40.79W Start of shallows
#3 09-35.95N 78-40.79W End of shallows
#4 09-36.02N 78-41.02W Beginning of Grottoes area
#5 09-36.04N 78-44.13W End of Grottoes area
Wreck in Cut N of Swimming Pool
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#1 09-35.827N 78-40.283W Small dinghy cut to get outside reef
(anchor just inside)
#2 09-35.867N 78-40.286W Reef side of wreck
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