The Coral Lagoon Lodge

activities

Check out the Coral Lagoon Lodge Slide Show!

The steep coastline of Henri Pittier National Park offers some of Venezuela's best diving and snorkeling sites. Whether you are an experienced diver looking for new challenges or a total beginner interested in a full diving course or a snorkeling induction, we offer a professional hands-on service with multilingual guides.

Diving, snorkeling and kayaking at our lodge in the coral lagoon of "La Cíenaga" is just a 20-minute boat ride from a local fishing village. La Cíenaga is a tranquil lagoon nestled between the mountainous cloud forests of Henri Pittier National Park and the Caribbean coastline. The scenic journey is just 3 hrs from Caracas' international airport. The lagoon and its bordering mangroves teem with underwater life – snapper, parrot fish, angel fish, trumpet fish, moray eels, lobsters, sea turtles and octopus amongst others – not to mention the many types of flourishing corals and sponges.

Just a small distance from the lodge there are some unique dive sites where the accented coastline hides underwater grottos and canyons waiting to be explored. Nearby are two locally renowned wrecks – the Carmen Fabiana, an impressive 10,000-ton freighter laying at 30 meters; and the Gran Roque, a typical tugboat lying at 18 meters. If you don't want to go too far, you can simply take a "shore dive" straight from the lodge's doorstep to explore the abundant coral and marine life or take the dinghy to other dive sites close by.

We work with PADI, SSI and NAUI-qualified instructors that offer scuba diving courses and discovery dives.

A dinghy and kayaks are also available for your use and are great to explore the surrounding mangroves and the wildlife they sustain.

We offer accommodations in two lodges, with a 6 total rooms. Each room has a capacity of 2 to 4 people with fans and en-suite facilities. Hammocks, deckchairs, kayaks and snorkeling equipment are available for your enjoyment. Fresh fish meals are served under the shade of the mangrove trees on the water's edge by our multilingual hosts. Due to its secluded remote location, Coral Lagoon lodge is only accessible by boat so often you'll find no other people there except on week-ends and Venezuelan national holidays!

There are plenty of things to do other than snorkeling, diving and kayaking. We can offer our clients the opportunity to go fishing with the local fishermen to catch their own supper as well as some interesting trail walking in the xerophytic forest surrounding the lagoon. Here one may see monkeys in the rainy season or if early enough in the day some of the other animals that frequent the area such as the “crab eating dogs”, deer, wild pigs, pumas and ocelots as well of course a variety of bird life such as flocks of scarlet ibis and parrots.

Please check out our other itineraries for other eco-adventures throughout Venezuela.

Dive Venezuela’s Pirate Coast

It is said that the pirate Captain Morgan used to anchor his galleon in La Cienaga lagoon to wait for Spanish ships to pass by. Along the rocky coastline are walls, caves, grottos, coral reefs, two sunken vessels (Carmen Fabiana - a small freighter and Gran Roque - a tug boat) and even your own lagoon, right on your doorstep, just waiting to be explored by adventurous divers.

With a choice of 16 dive sites, Coral Lagoon Lodge is a great location to simply kick back and spend a few days of underwater exploration. What makes this place unique is the prime location of the dive lodge, sitting on the edge of a pristine coral lagoon, surrounded on three sides by mountainous rain forest, only accessible by fishing boat and about a 20-minute boat ride from the local fishing village. When you want a rest from diving or have any non-divers in your party there is something for everyone – swimming, snorkeling, kayaking, hiking trails in the xerophytic rainforest, wildlife observation and even relaxing in a hammock strung up at the waters edge!

People who want to learn to dive or take a discovery dive can do that right in front of the lodge – no cold swimming pool and ugly dive locations for these lessons! We have multi-lingual PADI and SSI-certified dive instructors – with locations suitable for beginners and experienced divers alike.

Pirate Coast - Dive Sites

1.	Morro de Turiamo – explore a rocky outcrop at the mouth of Turiamo bay. Ocean-going fish, groupers, lobsters and conger eels are all abundant.
2.	Punta de Turiamo – a sheer mountain wall that drops 20 meters below the surface to end on a sandy bottom offers a myriad of marine life with plenty of fish and sea creatures hiding in the nooks and crannies.
3.	Pared de Turiamo – a mountain wall, lots of nooks and crannies with chance to see larger fish.
4.	Carmen Fabiana – this 100 meter (300 foot) freighter was purposely sunk to cater for experienced divers and lays on its side at a depth of 30-40 m (90-20 ft). Carmen Fabiana’s cabins, decks and hold play host to colorful fish large and small. Although visibility is challenging, sometimes exploring the cabin’s decks and holds is rewarding as they are teaming with schools of fish, large groupers and lobsters.
5.	Gran Roque – a 30-meter tugboat was sunk at 18 meters next to a pinnacle that is teeming with marine life. End your dive exploring the wreck. Groupers are abundant.
6.	Pared de Guabina – explore the mountain wall with three shallow caves. Conger eels are found here.
7.	Pared de Guabinita – explore the mountain wall and the forest of soft corals.
8.	Punta de Guabinita – descend 6 meters to a sandy bottom, dive through a forest of soft coral and explore the sheer mountain walls that reach the sand at 25 meters. Return at 10 meters along the mountain wall and explore the grottos where the fish hang out. Conger eels also found here.
9.	Jurelito – a mountain wall with sand bottom at 25 meters featuring a shallow hard coral reef with giant brain corals. Good for night dives also.
10.	Roquero de la Cienaga – a rocky out crop at 30 meters within the bay of the Coral Lagoon with large snappers, groupers and lobsters amongst many fish.
11.	Bajo de la Cienaga – in front of the lodge lays a 10-meter shore dive featuring the internal fringe of Coral Lagoon. Lobsters, soft coral, fan corals etc. teeming with shoals of fish. Good for night dives.
12.	Pedregales – a boat dive featuring a rocky mountain wall with a rockery at 18 meters teeming with fish.
13.	Punta de Cata – bottomless rocky mountain wall with plenty of marine loaf in the nooks and crannies and many ocean-going fish.
14.	Pared de Cata – shore dive from Cata to explore the western rocky wall – a good place to see Slipper Lobster!