This is an authorized adaptation in English of a post in French by @marc-allaria: PLONGER A CARICAL
As my primary language is not English, there are probably some mistakes in this post.
All photographs by @marc-allaria
DIVING IN CARIÇAL
CABO VERDE
SÃO NICOLAU
I certainly must have already mentioned or told about my stopovers in Cariçal. Each country has within it a tiny village of irreducibles ... I think Cariçal is that in Cape Verde. Two friendly souls, living in a totally isolated village, and a life focused on artisanal fishing. The dream stopover for an "anti-agitation" guy like myself!
The little thing in addition to Cariçal is undoubtedly for me to offer 20kms of coast on the right and 20kms of coast on the left without any other human installation. Virgin coasts whose desert and unwelcoming cliffs facilitate conservation. So you have to be the happy owner of a boat to enjoy it and it does not displease me!
Underwater, then emerge nearly 50kms of coasts to spy, to prospect, to do an underwater exploration work that nobody has ever done before. Because here, apart from the local underwater hunters who know the first 10 meters deep, no one has regularly gone beyond this depth. A bargain not to be missed as it is so rare nowadays.
Of the many launches that I have made, I must admit having spent a lot of time on two vertiginous drop-offs, the particularity of which is to be located a few tens of centimeters from the edge! Drop-offs giving a verticalness exceeding 100m on the coast itself, I can guarantee you that you don't find that everywhere.
The decor is grandiose: imagine yourself glued to the bottom of a 100m building and raising your head to look at its top floor ... It is more or less the feeling I have during these dives, all increased tenfold by my solitary condition in this underwater setting. The walls are often covered with yellow anemones, the schools of fish are numerous and form incredible balls, and a few sharks rarely come to satisfy their curiosity. Cabo Verde is also the country of underwater caves, and these places are no exception to the rule. The volcanism having left many submarine labyrinths here.
In several stopovers, I have only been able to explore a tiny part of the coastline as the exploration possibilities are so numerous, but I intend to come back there soon!
