Cruising Notes – Caribbean Sea 

Weather & Seasons

Because of the hurricanes, weather planning is very important in the Caribbean. The area north of about 12’ N is affected by hurricanes, the risky season being July through November.

 North of 22’N (Bahamas especially) In the winter – Dec to April, the weather is affected by cold fronts. They bring a change in wind direction and sometimes nasty wind and rain. (see “Gentleman’s Guide to Passages South” for how to utilize these to your advantage).

South of 22’ N are the Northeast trades, which blow pretty steady night & day always in the same direction. The Trades blow strongest during the dry season - Jan to May.

Tropical ‘waves’ affect the trade winds area (south of 22N) in the pre-hurricane season (April through about July) every 5 days or so. These are always tracked and reported on the ‘nets’ and show up as a vertical line on the weather faxes. Originating in the mid-to-east Atlantic, they are similar to a front line, oriented roughly north-south and traveling to the west or west-north-west, usually at 10-15 knots. They bring a change in wind -- direction (eg changing from NE to SE, but always from an easterly direction) and speed (strong and/or gusty) usually accompanied by rain squalls sometimes strong. They are not dangerous and last a few hours. Many times you won’t even notice them passing through. Just plan to be on your boat during these times in case you or your neighbour drags.

Hurricane planning - Be south of Grenada (12’ N) for hurricane season – eg Trinidad, Venezuela, ABC Islands (Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao), Colombia, or Panama.

Grenada is not hurricane free. Neither is the Western Caribbean (Belize, Honduras, Guatemala). Neither is Florida or the east coast of the USA for that matter, but many people spend hurricane season here. Mangrove hurricane holes in the hurricane belt become crowded very quick with local boats and other cruisers, so don’t count on running to a hole.  The only sensible policy is to NOT be there during that time.

IF you somehow get ‘stuck’ in the hurricane belt during hurricane season, and one is coming your way, we have heard of an extensive, little-used mangrove area on the south coast of Puerto Rico called Jobos (roughly 17’ 56 N / 66’ 14 W). The Rio Dulce River in Guatemala is reported hurricane free.

Island Hopping Strategy – Hopping from one island to the next is not as easy as it sounds. There are wind acceleration zones at the north and south ends of each island. At each end of the islands, the wind curves along the shore, causing the wind to go North at all the northern ends of the islands, and similarly will blow more from the south at the southern tip of each island (a real beat until you get out in the channel). It is fun to watch the charter boats get knocked down when they leave the calm lee side of the island, and get hit with the gusts. Put a reef in and stow your gear. The inter-island channels are usually ‘boisterous’ to say the least, and you and your boat will get all wet and salty. The lee of the islands are wonderfully calm, but you will usually have to motor in these areas.

Our strategy for island hopping is to get the inter-island channel over with first, then relax along the lee of the destination island. Eg. If going from Martinique north to Dominica, anchor at St Pierre in Martinique. The next morning, get the bashing and crashing across the channel over with, then have a smooth trip and a civilized lunch in the lee of Dominica for the rest of the passage. The winds are usually lighter early in the morning, so get an early start.

Another good strategy is to sail on the windward (east) side of the islands, if wind conditions and seas are light enough (10-15 knots). The good anchorages are usually at the extreme north and south ends of the islands anyway, so it is easy to get to them. Traveling on the windward side allows you to sail instead of motoring - it just sounds scarier to go out into the big ocean on the windy side!

If you want to cruise Cuba, try to figure out how to do it downwind (east to west). Going upwind is truly difficult and everyone who has done it says they would never do it again. Political situation is constantly changing though, so check recent information with someone who has been there to be sure of a good reception.

Charts & Guides

Florida to Virgin Islands (upwind island hopping) - “Gentleman’s Guide to Passages South” (Bruce Van Saant)

Eastern Caribbean –Sailor’s Guide to Windward Islands, Cruising Guide to Leeward Islands, Venezuela & Bonaire (all Chris Doyle), Trinidad & Tobago (Doyle ?), Cruising Guide to the Virgin Islands (Scott). These books all are full of ads in order to keep the cost down, and the ads are useful if you are looking for supplies & services. But they only mention the suppliers & service providers who are advertising and so are not representative of everything. Also, not all the anchorages are covered. For more detail and no advertising, use Donald Street's guides.

Panama – The Panama Guide (Zydler)

Cuba – Nigel Calder’s Cuba Cruising Guide

Western Caribbean – Cruising Guide to the Northwest Caribbean (Nigel Calder) for Mexico, Belize, Honduras, Guatemala and Cruising Guide to Belize & Mexico’s Caribbean Coast (Freya Rauscher) for more details on Belize & the Rio Dulce 

Get all your charts & guides in Trinidad if continuing west and through the Panama Canal. There is no convenient place to buy them further west.

Radio –

 In St Martin and Trinidad, and wherever there is a large gathering of cruisers, there will probably be a morning VHF net. 

Customs & Immigration – You must check in and out of each island (each is a different country). As a general rule, the smaller the country, the more extensive is the paperwork. Just be patient, smile and go with the flow.

 It is free and no hassle in the French islands and they don’t stamp your passport. In St Martin, which has a French and a Dutch side, the Dutch are charging a $10/week anchoring fee in the Lagoon. Just come through the bridge on the Dutch side, anchor on the French side (check your chart) and it's free - take the dinghy through the Lagoon to the French side and check in there.

There is a small charge ($20 or less) elsewhere. The most expensive is in the Bahamas (300 US!) where they admit they are trying to discourage liveaboard cruisers. It has not reduced the number of cruisers there. Probably because of this, the Dominican Republic is starting to charge $100 now (and only give you a receipt for $25 so guess where the other $75 goes!) Trinidad plays a game with overtime charges so don’t even enter their waters until office hours or they will nail you. Also regarding Trinidad – you need to ‘clear in’ and ‘out’ when going between Trinidad & Tobago even though they are the same country.

Anchor the boat, put up the yellow flag, and go in by dinghy. The only exception is Trinidad, and Barbados where they want you to go alongside a customs dock.

Nobody inspects your boat, except Cuba which really checks thoroughly – wanting descriptions and serial numbers of all your boat equipment.

Venezuela wants you to use ‘agents’ and want you to clear in and out of each port; you really could do it yourself, but it is time consuming and you need good Spanish. 

Also along the lines of officialdom: in the Eastern Caribbean islands, there is often a coast guard presence. So, in your dinghy, be careful not to speed (usually they will yell at you and can fine you for speeding anywhere you could endanger swimmers), and carry a light at night. The US Coast Guard is not endearing themselves here - boarding and inspecting sailboats, which pisses everyone off.

Security – There is a lot of fear among cruisers as to safety & security in the Caribbean. Some of it is justified but most of it is exaggerated. You can deal with these fears with strategies ranging from ignoring the problem to arming yourself and your boat with guns & knives and motion detectors. In the Caribbean, people are not wanting to kill you, they just want your stuff.

So, the most sensible approach is to lock up your stuff. The biggest target by far is dinghies, in particular their motors. Yamaha 15hp is the motor of choice, so if you have one, keep it locked up tight. But that doesn’t mean your little 3hp is safe either. Don’t leave things like masks & snorkels out. Theft tends to happen at night (whether you are home or not sometimes!), to boats in the ‘danger’ areas and to boats anchored alone in remote places near towns.

Listen to the Safety & Security net to find out about the ‘danger’ areas. People make fun of it, calling it the ‘doom & gloom’ net, but everybody listens anyway. Forewarned is forearmed. Check the Safety & Security website for details - all the reports are on the site, by location. To find it, start with www.caribcruisers.net and find the link from there. Don’t announce to your buddies on the VHF radio that you are going on an island tour or to town or out for the evening – there may be opportunists listening!

The other sensible thing is to figure out how to lock yourself into your boat. Just a simple stick from the inside, to jam your companionway hatch in the closed position works great. Sounds bad, but you would lock yourself into your house or apartment at night, right?

Venezuela is most notably a place where I think there is a real danger to cruisers. The government is corrupt and in turmoil, and lawlessness prevails. The robbers have guns and may shoot you if you resist, and maybe even if you don’t! The USA has tried to help by providing coast guard boats and training, but it is not enough. Advice: Stay away from the mainland coast (except the marina at Puerto La Cruz) and travel in company. We have heard really scary reports of bad guys boarding boats, armed with machetes and hacking away at cruisers. Ask around for the local gossip on bad areas and the current situation.

 The Margarita Island area, especially Porlarmar, is bad for theft, especially dinghy motors. Raise your dinghy out of the water, AND chain it to the boat. We have heard many stories of dinghies lifted ‘on the hip’ of the boat by a halyard, being cut free with machetes and dragged away in high speed pirogues (local boats), leaving you, the owner, standing helplessly on your deck cursing the thieves. The other offshore islands of Venezuela, like the Roques & Aves, Tortuga etc are fine – beautiful and safe. 

Provisioning –

Best - easy, reasonable prices, and good selection in:

 St Martin (Dutch side) - Grand Marche, Cost U Less,  USVI Charlotte Amelie, St Thomas (Kmart),  Trinidad (‘JesseJames’ cruiser friend arranges free transportation),  Porlarmar, Margarita excellent, Puerto Rico (Mayaguez) but you need to rent a car to get there from Boqueron.

Provisioning is getting better in St Lucia (Rodney Bay), and Antigua at Jolly Harbour is OK only if you buy local chicken and veggies.

Unaffordable in:

 BVI,  Antigua 

Different foods than we are used to:

 All French islands (also expensive)

Poor selection and expensive but basics available:

 All other small islands

Fresh stuff and basics are available everywhere. Except for St Maarten and Puerto Rico, Beef is scarce, poor quality and expensive if you can find it. The frozen ‘boef hache’ in the French islands is the closest we ever found to hamburger beef. In Venezuela, you can get very inexpensive beef but we find it a little 'gamey' because it is not cured like North American beef. Chicken is the mainstay everywhere. Buy the local chicken quarters that the islanders eat; it is better than the imported frozen stuff. The best cheese is found in Trinidad and St Martin, we found some great local white cheddar in St Lucia Rodney Bay, and the French islands have good cheese although it is expensive. 

Laundry – DIY laundry in St Martin lagoon at the Tradewinds Hotel - (across from Palapa, go behind the hotel and there is one washer and one dryer in a little hut in the parking lot. Open 24 hours, coin operated $2 in quarters for wash or dry. The dryer has been broken for a long time and works with NO coins!).   Next stop for DIY laundry is at Bequia - about $3.50 for wash or dry. Grenada has DIY laundry at the yacht club in St Georges. Trinidad (TTSA) has good machines close to the dinghy dock; Portobelo, Panama (a short walk from the dinghy dock); Colon, Panama (Panama Canal Yacht Club). There are probably lots others, so just ask around. Otherwise laundry is expensive because they insist on doing it for you ($10.00 -$15.00 US per load or more!) so get a couple of good buckets and a plunger.  

Water – Catch wonderfully clean fresh rain water from the deck (best), dodger/bimini (next best) or piece of canvas (good if you can figure out how to stop the canvas from flapping around too much in the wind). It rains all the time in Portobelo, Panama, and lots in Trinidad. Trinidad rain water these days is bad - full of soot from the oil refineries - we did not drink it. There is very little rain in the Bahamas and water is hard to get. Most anchorages are clean enough for watermaking. Water is also often available ashore from taps, and at all marinas.

In some anchorages – Bequia Admiralty Bay, the Grenadines, Porlarmar, among others – some enterprising individuals have ‘water boats’ and will come to you at anchor and fill up your boat.  

Grog –

- Rum – The drink of choice. It is cheap ($2-3.00) everywhere but very poor tasting in Trinidad where they age it in oak barrels. Stock up on rum in Porlamar Margarita, Venezuela – great rum (Cacique or Anniversario) about $2.00 a bottle. Also, if you didn't get enough, Cacique costs a little more, but is still dirt cheap in Colon, Panama. You can get Brugal rum in St Martin dutch side for about $3 for 750 ml, and Absolut vodka in Philipsburg St Maarten in the duty free shops for about $7 a liter.

- Other Spirits – stock up on these in Colon, Panama using “Motta” as the duty-free supplier.

- Wine – Best deal is in Porlamar where you can get good Chilean wine (Sunrise brand (red) was popular with cruisers) for $2.00 a bottle. Colon, Panama – is a little more expensive than Porlamar but still very cheap (2.50 a bottle) and the same brands are available. On the French side of St Martin (Marigot Bay) is a distributor for wine & rum – good selection and not bad prices. In St Maarten, the box wine of cruiser-choice is Franzia at $12.50 for 5 liters.

- Beer is cheap in Puerto Rico, and it is reasonably affordable in St Maarten, but gets progressively more expensive all through the Eastern Caribbean. It is unaffordable in the BVI. In Porlamar, Margarita Island, Venezuela beer is about $6.00 US for 24 cans. Stock up but beware – lots of cockroaches!

In summary – stock up big in Porlamar and again in Colon if you are headed to the Pacific. Making a grog run to Porlamar and back to Trinidad sounds easy but it is a very upwind slog to get back to Trinidad. 

Diesel, Gasoline – Usually good quality and available everywhere there are boats. Go to the busy spots where it gets turned over a lot. Diesel is very inexpensive in Venezuela and reasonable in Trinidad.

Propane – Camping Gaz in the French islands, and American fittings with your own tanks elsewhere. If you are going to Panama, you can get American-fitting aluminum propane tanks FREE for the cost of buying the gas. 

Boat Parts – The best chandleries are in St Maarten and Trinidad.

In St Maarten (in the lagoon, on the Dutch side) there are two big chandlery chains – Island Water World and Budget Marine. Both will bring in merchandise from the West Marine catalogue duty free and freight free at catalogue prices. Or you can ship parts in yourself, duty free no hassles. St Maarten also has several canvas places but they are very busy in the cruising season Jan-April.

In Trinidad there are lots of general chandleries and many specialists such as rigging, paints, canvas, engine and all your subsystems. You can import your own parts but there is a little more hassles (specify Yacht-in-transit and you won’t have to pay duty). Get all your chandlery items, canvaswork and spares in Trinidad before you head west – there is really very little selection at the Panama Canal.

We thought chandleries in the French islands were expensive, not as well stocked, and you need to speak French to explain what you want. 

Good buys:

 St Martin - bedsheets and clothing (Philipsburg, on Back Street)

Carriacou – Welding and engineering – floating trimaran in Tyrell Bay

 Trinidad – Jotun Red antifouling (buy a 5-gallon pail), Canvas including Sunbrella in Chagauramas & Port of Spain, Upholstery fabric (in Port of Spain), Upholstery foam – closed cell & regular (Chagauramas & Port of Spain), ordinary clothing and household fabrics (Port of Spain), Kiss Wind Generator (Chagauramas), Trojan T105 batteries (Chagauramas). In Trincity you can get a good mattress made to any shape - but it is out of the way, and they insist you take your old mattress in so they can use it as a model. But everyone who got one loves it. You can get FREE vaccinations for yellow fever, Hepatitis B, diptheria, tetanus, measles, mumps and polio (they ask a donation) at the Carenage Health Center, the 4th Wed of each month.

 Venezuela – corrective eye surgery and all medical services (Puerto La Cruz – ask other cruisers). Chain re-galvanizing in Puerto La Cruz..

 Panama – Dental, Doctor including Dermatologist to check for melanomas in Panama City. Bulk chandlery items like anchor rope rode in the duty-free zone  

Repairs – The best is in St Maarten by permanent businesses and cruisers who are working there. Repairs are OK in Trinidad - prices are becoming higher but still reasonable.  Reportedly the climate is best (nice & dry) to paint your boat and do other work in Venezuela at Puerto La Cruz, but it is best to bring all your own parts, paints & supplies because there is sometimes trouble getting materials in.

Haulout – Trinidad (Peakes and PowerBoats are the big ones), Carriacou – small friendly yard in Tyrell Bay – nice & dry here for painting the boat, Grenada (St David’s good but isolated from town), St Martin (lots of repair and supply services).                       

DIY yards – Trinidad is particular and won’t let you hire own contractors, St Martin French side is a DIY yard called Time Out with poor shoreside living facilities, St Martin Dutch side has Bobby's which also allows DIY - 2 locations one in the Lagoon and one in Philipsburg with better living facilities (showers & toilets). Grenada St Davids lets you do your own work but you can’t hire your own contractors. For climate, Venezuela is nice and dry (but hot), Trinidad is really sticky humid hot and rainy, Grenada a little less so.           

Refrigeration - St Martin & Trinidad but also lots of other little businesses on other islands. Check cruising guides or ask around.        

Life raft servicing – St Martin French side near the bridge entrance to the lagoon (called “Sandy Ground”) is good, cheap (about $125 US) & you can see it inflated and add your own stuff to the kit. Bring someone to translate, though, if you don’t speak French. St Lucia Rodney Bay has a place to do liferafts but I don't know how much they charge. Trinidad is reported to be very expensive to service a liferaft. 

Attractions – The following are (we think) good things to see and do, Island by Island. 

Bahamas – Ugly islands but the water is the attraction. Wonderful snorkeling, lobstering and spear fishing. Some areas (eg. Abacos) are very shallow so check the charts if you draw 6 feet or more. Pick up your company in Nassau, cruise down to Georgetown along the Exumas, and they can fly home from there. Reprovision in Georgetown. 

Turks & Caicos – Like the Bahamas but more remote and trickier reef sailing. Great snorkeling. 

Dominican Republic – inland travel, very lush & tropical. 

Puerto Rico – rent a car and tour the island. Leave the boat safely at anchor in Boqueron. See old San Juan and the big rain forest on the east side of the island. Provision in Mayaguez (coffee, beer, American supermarkets), Walmart, on the way back. There is good cruising, anchorages and snorkeling on the south coast. 

Virgin Islands – crowded with charterers and expensive. Especially the BVI. But beautiful and easy sailing, a good easy place to have company visit you. 

St Martin – ordinary to ugly island, really. But the cruisers community, happy hours, the convenience of supplies and repairs, and the safety of the Lagoon make it a great place to hang out. You can pick up company here and cruise Anguilla, St Kitts, Nevis, Statia, Saba, St Barts and back to St Martin. 

St Barts – the northern anchorage (Colombier) is beautiful & tranquil. Gustavia is sometimes crowded and not well protected. 

Saba – pick up a mooring in Ladder Bay (use chafe protection on the line because it is rolly there), take a wild and wet dinghy ride to Fort Baai and hitchhike to the top, then hike the stairway up the volcano. Great diving. Alternatively you can leave the boat in St Martin and get a ferry there. 

Statia – Pick up a mooring (deep anchorage) for about $10 and hike to the top of the volcano “The Quill”. Take lots of water, it is a long hike! You won’t want to stay long because the anchorage is very rolly. The town is uninteresting.  

St Kitts – nothing special there. The main town BasseTerre is trying to set up for cruise ships and will become just another cruise ship port. The people in Basse Terre are unfriendly and eyeball you. 

Nevis – pretty, quiet anchorage though sometimes rolly. The volcano is spectacular but there seems to be no trail to the top. The town is cute, and you can arrange for an island tour around the base of the volcano. Anchor at Pinney’s Beach across from Sunshine’s and get plastered on “Killer Bees”. 

Barbuda – Part of Antigua, it is supposed to be great, isolated  anchorages, pink sand beaches. Bring all your own supplies. 

Antigua – Provisions and restaurants very expensive but not sure about chandlery prices. The anchorages outside of the crowds at Falmouth/English, and Jolly look very nice for snorkeling.  Jolly Harbour is now a port of clearance and has good holding and a supermarket for reprovisioning.

Montserrat – can only go to the northern anchorage if you really need to stop and it is not all that good. The active volcano has wiped out the town in the leeward anchorage and that anchorage is still not safe. 

Guadeloupe – The trip up the Riviere Saline which separates the two sides of the ‘butterfly’ is reported good, but it is shallow so check if you draw 6 ft or more.

The Saintes – just south of Guadeloupe and same country is very nice, quiet, quaint and nice for hiking. There is an interesting hike up a long hill to a fort there where Nelson had a famous battle and now it’s a little museum (bring water). 

Dominica – North end (Portsmouth) is a nice anchorage. Don’t fight it - pick a boat boy – they are nice actually and trying to become more professional by forming a ‘boatman’s association’, and he will defend you from others whether you do business with him or not. Do the Indian River tour, and take an Island Tour. Very pretty. If you really don't want to deal with boat boys at all, anchor at Castaways, a little way down the coast.

Rosseau (south end of the island) is very rolly and steep to, so you need to pick up a mooring. The boat boys are not very nice and may fight each other for your business. There is nothing much to see ashore but is is a place to stop if making day hops. 

Martinique – St Anne is the best anchorage and where the cruisers hang out. Anchor at Marin, dinghy ashore to the big marina to clear in then take the boat over to St Anne.

Fort de France is a pretty good anchorage now that there has been a speed limit set for the ferries. It is super easy to clear in at the chandlery. There is decent provisioning.

St Pierre, at the north end is steep to and can be rolly but there is a spectacular view of the volcano and a good staging anchorage if heading north the next morning. You can hike up Mount Pelee, and there is supposed to be good diving on the wrecks.

St Lucia – A pretty island but let's face it, the people don’t really like you. Dinghy theft has been a problem in Rodney Bay and the authorities don't much care. Must-sees, though are the Pitons. It is quite safe to rent a car and tour the island yourself.

St Vincent – as above but the people don’t like you even more. The boat boys are very persistent but if you don’t need their services, just be firm. The people are poor so lock up. Island exploration by car and hiking is supposed to be great but it is risky to go without a guide. There is lots of marijuana farms around and you might happen to get into the wrong place!

The anchorages can be rolly but Chateaubelair is usually OK for an overnight stop. Don’t let the persistent boat boys ‘help’ you anchor. Lock things up and consider locking yourself in here.

Grenadines –

Bequia – Admiralty Bay is a major cruiser hangout. The holding is not consistent, so just keep trying and put out lots of scope. There are good hikes up and down hills. The Turtle sanctuary is a long hike or taxi and interesting. Provisioning is expensive so you just buy what you really need. You can get caught up on your laundry here.

Mustique nice and clean ('rich and famous' island) but $75.00 to pick up a mooring (no anchoring allowed) for 3 nights minimum! The snorkelling on Montezuma reef right from the mooring field is decent.

Mayreau (Salt Whistle Bay) very pretty, and so is Saline Bay.

Tobago Cays are great. Anchor the boat and take dinghy to the moorings provided, for snorkeling. No supplies, so come fully provisioned.

Union Island is dry and ugly and the people not real friendly (but you have to check in/out there).  Check in/out in Clifton then move to Chatham Bay if you are planning to stay awhile. Clifton gets crowded and it is windy & exposed. Chatham Bay is tranquil and lots of room - there are good hikes up the hill from Chatham.

Carriacou – Check in – take the boat in to Hillsborough, check in then go to Tyrell Bay. They are very picky about this. Don’t go to Tyrell first and try to take a bus to Hillsborough. They can see the boats in Hillsborough from their office so you can't cheat.

Tyrell Bay is OK and very popular with cruisers. We find that there is not much going on in town. It is a major cruiser hangout for some reason. Dinghy up the mangrove area in the north of the bay, there is one hike which is not bad, and the water is pretty and clean. 

Grenada – Prickly Bay is our favourite. Hog Island is the major cruiser hangout and is usually great, especially if you have kids. St Georges anchorage is the pits – dirty, and some reports of theft and swim-aboards at night while the owners are sleeping! I think they have got the bad guy now. But there is free WiFi in the lagoon, so the cruisers really flock there. We go to the south anchorages instead and take a bus to the city. There is hiking inland, waterfalls, take the local bus around the island or take an island tour. Lots to do if you want to have guests fly in here – can cruise up to Carriacou or even the Tobago Cays and back. 

Trinidad – Major cruiser hangout. Cruiser friendly. During hurricane season, it is very hot and rainy (June - Dec). Here, if you stay for any length of time, it could be worthwhile to get into a marina and rent an air conditioner. There is good jungle-like hiking (but awfully hot!), sea turtles nesting, lots of cruiser activities. Chachacare island is a good weekend getaway, deserted and abandoned leper colony interesting. But check your anchor for holding and that it is not going to snag around a rock. Of course, the yearly Carnival in Feb is the biggest one outside of Rio.

Tobago – Good snorkeling, hiking and nature touring. Clean and uncrowded. But hard to get to from Trinidad (upwind) See cruising guide for strategy. We did it – it’s a little hard but worth it. 

Venezuela – Hundreds of cruisers head to Puerto La Cruz for hurricane season every year. There is a big marina complex sometimes called Little America. It is all nice and safe and has armed guards but is dangerous outside of the marina complex. It is reported to be a good place for boatwork but bring your own supplies. It was very inexpensive, but due to its popularity, the prices are going up. If you get away from the marina, snorkeling, spear fishing and going ferile is possible in the offshore islands. Land travel on the mainland – Angel Falls, Merida, and other places have been set up by enterprising tour operators for a price. You can also go to the Orinoco river by land excursion or take your boat there for real adventure. 

ABC Islands – Bonaire is really great for snorkeling and diving. Moorings compulsory (marine park) but $10 US per day. (I think it's even more than that now).  Curacao has a huge protected lagoon where the cruisers migrating towards the Canal go. There is also a marina and haul out in the lagoon which has a good reputation among cruisers - safe and dry climate. Nobody goes to Aruba – rolly anchorages, uninteresting island - just full of hotels and casinos. 

Colombia – not as bad as reported. Don’t go too late (try no later than November) or big waves. Don’t go too early (before October) or big lightning storms. Cartagena especially is very safe and a must-see. Many cruisers spend Christmas in Cartagena. 

Panama – Great cruising ground, very diverse. Colon is a real dive and very dangerous, but Panama City is a nice modern city. San Blas Islands for snorkeling, spear fishing, buying ‘molas’, river exploration (come fully provisioned up). Good cruising on the Pacific side too – the uninhabited Las Perles Islands, and the mainland south of the Panama Canal, which has its own tribes of Indians. Nobody goes there because they are all in a hurry to get to the Galapagos so it is very unspoiled.