Albacora also has a beautiful and ample terrace, free internet service, and an optional private mobile phone per room at disposition (prepaid line). All meals are included in your stay, and optional excursions can be easily arranged through the guesthouse.
If you are interested in scuba diving, Lost World Adventures can arrange diving and instruction at the local dive shop for a variety of skill levels. From the "Discovery Scuba" course, where you can dive safely with a dive master (no certification obtained) to the highly advanced "Rescue Diver" course (for professional diving), and even the "Jr. Open Water Diver" course in which divers aged 12 to 15 may obtain an internationally recognized certificate, you can find what you need. Diving at different keys will give you the opportunity to see marine life such as stingrays, grouper, angelfish, barracuda, moray eels, and coral, among others.
For those who would prefer to snorkel, Los Roques is still an underwater wonderland. Healthy reef systems are packed with life and contain thick forests of soft coral, long stretches of virgin hard coral, black coral bushes, brain corals, mounds of star coral and great clusters of gray and brown gorgonia. These warm, unspoiled, azure and aquamarine waters contain as many fish as were found in Belize, Cozumel or the north wall of Cayman, 30 years ago. Although of the same reef system as Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao, this is no underwater petting zoo. Designated a National Park, all sites in the archipelago are limited to 10 divers, so you get the intimate feeling of diving in untamed, untouched waters. Most often, you will be the only divers in any given area. Visibility varies, but can reach 100 feet.
No matter where you dive, you will swim among and marvel at immense swirling schools of fish: armies of glassy sweepers, southern sennet, spotted drum, jacks, Spanish mackerel, barracuda, grouper, red, gray and yellowtail snapper, hogfish, tarpon, Queen angels, thousands of silvery blue bogia, trumpet fish, white spotted filefish, smooth trunk fish, colorful tropicals, parrotfish, porcupine puffers, stingrays, moray eels and more.
Among the many spectacular dive sites are the Rock of the Jewfish, which provides an excellent introduction to the following days of diving. Although there are no longer any Jewfish, there is still plenty to see during a 30-minute circumnavigation of this seamount. Nurse sharks are occasionally spotted at Los Noronkys. At the coral-laden wall at Cayo Sal, you can take a break inside a cavern at 100 feet and watch as tens of thousands of fish swim by castles of hard coral and tall, swaying bushes of soft corals. The wall at Punta Salina starts at 30 feet and drops straight to 180 feet. You can also include a visit to the Turtle Sanctuary, located in Dos Mosquices Key, a 2 to 2 ½-hour boat trip from Gran Roque. Here you will find an incredible reefs-cape of pristine hard and soft corals.
Fisherman will find Los Roques to be a heaven for flats fishing. Bonefish are abundant year 'round, and tarpon and permit also easily caught in these waters. In this National Marine Park, all fishing is strictly catch and release, and a very limited number of fishermen are permitted to fish daily.
For those who enjoy windsurfing, there is a first class windsurf club located on adjacent Francisky key. They rent a variety of equipment for excursions ranging from one hour to a full day of windsurfing. Private instruction for beginners is also available. From the resort you may spend the day exploring the surrounding islands via windsurfer.
From the guesthouse you may also arrange a full-day boat tour to visit Dos Mosquices Biological Station, located on one of the farther keys from Gran Roque and home of Los Roques Scientific Foundation's biological station. The standard trip includes a visit to three keys. Departing early in the morning, you'll visit Carenero, Cayo de Agua, and Dos Mosquices keys. Most of the day is spent on Agua, where lunch will be served. At Dos Mosquices visit to the biological station escorted by a guide, who will provide you with a tour of the marine turtle hatchery.
For those who want to stay on dry land, the area offers an abundance of optional excursions. Gran Roque's lighthouse, the oldest on the Venezuelan coast, is recommended for a late afternoon visit as a great spot to enjoy the sunset. Or if you are just looking to get away from it all, the guesthouse will provide complimentary transfers to nearby keys, along with a box lunch, sun chairs and parasols. The only thing you'll miss is the crowd.
