Kategorie: News
A few days of sun and many question marks
This visit is a return: already 14 years ago we visited the island for the first time and after a long time of forgetting we now return.
What should you know about "Cape Verde" or more precisely Sal? In the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, the destination is provided with all the advantages and disadvantages of this rough ocean. Unlike other Atlantic islands, Cape Verde is a year-round destination. There is little chance of rain throughout the year. The water is, for example, with an annual average of 22 degrees, but much warmer than in the Azores. Best conditions for a dream holiday destination?
Report by Jan Finsterbusch
After our arrival after midnight we rub our eyes in surprise for the first time. No, it is not the tiredness that causes this. Rather the attempt to bring the memory in line with the current picture. The formerly sleepy fishing village "Santa Maria" with some hotels and isolated all-inclusive large hotels seems to have changed fundamentally. Thus, the access roads are now lined with hotels of all sizes and price ranges. Accordingly, the bus of our tour operator stops at least six times before it finally releases us at a small apartment complex as the last guests into freedom and the well-deserved night's rest.
The first impression is confirmed the next morning, when we look for a breakfast restaurant. The offer is varied and ranges from a simple breakfast in the beach restaurant to a cafe with an ecological touch.
In the afternoon we go to the dive center and check in for a first dive.
Certain things do not change: Like 14 years ago we go by jeep to the pier to change into the rubber dinghy.
Hedgehog fishes in masses
The approach to the dive sites within the bay is short and the first dive is an "old" acquaintance: the wreck of the "Santa Antao". No nothing that a scrap metal junkie can be happy about. Not deep, no penetration worth mentioning and only a few parts of the ship's structure are preserved like this. Most of the dive site consists of a rubble area where you can find some bigger fish as well as "small stuff". In the jagged debris stingrays can be found again and again. Also a sleeping nurse shark as well as a frogfish is found by the attentive guide. What we can't remember, however, is the last time we saw hedgehog fish here. No, don't misunderstand, one hedgehog fish is nothing special, not even two, but hundreds of them? The cute comrades form here real swarms, you should remember something like that?
However, the dive site has one disadvantage. Whenever the current "prevents" many other dive sites, divers of all bases and experience levels meet in the protected corner. Accordingly, the visibility develops and this not to the positive...
The ocean is amazingly diverse
Also in the following days we see each other again and again at well-known places. Always beautiful and in memory remain the "Three Grottoes". This place is also not for cave divers, but let's not fool ourselves, for the normal diver and photographer the play of light at the entrance area is the most beautiful thing. Even more so when the entrance area is surrounded by large schools of soldier fish.
At the shallow near shore dive site "Lost Ancor" juvenile sea turtles can be observed again and again. The dive sites merge into each other especially at the near shore sites, so that with a little current you can see three of them at once.
In spite of the lack of colorful coral fields as you might know them from Egypt or Asia, the sea is amazingly diverse. Under the countless overhangs and crevices are true colonies of lobsters. On almost every dive we meet small moray eels but also their bigger brothers and sisters can be seen from time to time.
Sundowner on the beach
In the evening - if you are not an all-inclusive guest - you have the choice between the different restaurants in town. Tip: Do not only visit the restaurants in the first row and the second row, which has been beautifully developed into a pedestrian zone. In the rows behind are a variety of restaurants, some of which offer Creole cuisine, but also Asian cuisine is not uncommon. Also numerous bars and beach bars offer a snack. Sitting on the beach and enjoying the sunset with a cocktail in hand has its own charm around the world.
We also visit the wreck of the "Kwarcit". The Russian fishing boat was picked up while transporting Senegalese refugees and sunk for divers in early 2006. The ship lies upright on the bottom at a depth of almost 30 meters. Marine life has completely taken over the wreck. In addition to schooling fish and a variety of smaller creatures, hard corals have also conquered the ship for themselves as a habitat. Also worth mentioning is the offshore dive site "Tchuclassa". The rock massif is located about four kilometers off the coast and is one of the most exposed dive sites. Theoretically even big fish is possible here.
The caves on the other side (Buracona and Palmeira IV) are not possible this time because of the weather. This is also Atlantic diving!
Who wonders now why the question marks are in the title of this article? Atlantic diving? At first we think of destinations like the Azores. Surely the blue sharks off Pico or the mobulas off Santa Maria (Azores) are not a fair comparison here at first sight! The point here is also not to determine what is bad, but what could be even better.
What about sharks?
You are on a group of islands in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. The ocean drops off all around and the big pelagic fish are sure to be encountered. The reports of a lost longline washed up with dozens of sharks are certainly nothing pretty but proof that the predators of the seas are also out and about in this region. Whales and mobulas should live in the surrounding sea. What about sharks? From the dispersal areas, there should be a lot of sharks here. We are talking about blue sharks, makos, whale sharks, hammerheads and many more, not to exclude that tiger sharks or even the great whites are native here. However, we do not get to see them!
That is not quite true. In a shallow bay north of the village "Santa Maria" which also bears the name "Shark Bay" you can go into the water with baby lemon sharks. Unfortunately, according to the reports of the dive guides and the reviews on Google and Tripadvisor, the water seems to be so shallow that not even snorkeling is possible. But still, here is proof that predators are present around the island.
So why don't you see them while diving? 14 years ago we did not face this question. With different experience, however, one may and must ask this question. The answer seems to be as simple as it is unpleasant: The diving area is not sufficiently developed for such trips.
Sure, diving in the Atlantic is not always the easiest. The constant wind on Sal and the resulting waves complicate a lot. The location in the Atlantic creates logistical problems and yet, other destinations also struggle with this. South Africa, for example, is also not an easy diving area. Even in the Azores, we experienced rough weather / water conditions from time to time - or rather most of the year - and even in summer not every activity is possible every day. The development of such diving areas would enhance the adventure Cape Verde again for many experienced divers. We remember well our first dive at "Ambrosia" Santa Maria (Azores). What do we want with a rope in the middle of nowhere? Well wait for mobulas or bigger stuff and that works!
Unfortunately, on Sal you are limited to dive sites in or near the home bay. This has then not only the consequence that one sees only few big fish, but also that the diving groups of the different centers meet again and again under water.
No, don't misunderstand. We don't regret a minute of our much too short trip. Therefore, enough complaining and talking about possibilities. Cape Verde is a really diverse diving area and definitely an alternative to established destinations. The underwater world takes care of that all by itself: caves, caverns, schools of fish, rays, file fish and all the small crabs, flabellinas that we forgot to mention so far because the photographer just mounted the wrong lens again. And if you forget all that now, there are still the piled-up hedgehog fishes that you can only see very rarely and that belong to the experiences that you keep forever in your memory as a diver.
Capo Verde on Taucher.Net