VIDEO Rosario Islands, Colombia: Sun, Sand and Shark Feeding

WRITTEN BY Mark Chesnut

Cartagena de Indias is Colombia’s biggest destination for international tourism. And one of the most popular side trips from this vacation hotspot is to the Islas Rosario, a group of some 27 islands about an hour away by boat.
I did a day trip to visit San Pedro de Majagua, a tiny resort hotel that offers a day trip package that includes roundtrip transportation and access to two small but attractive beaches. You can also join optional excursions to snorkel and scuba dive. The high-point for me, however, was a boat trip to a nearby aquarium. En route, I passed both quaint and luxurious private homes on impossibly tiny Caribbean islands. But the real point of this boat trip is a visit to the Oceanario, a small, open-air aquarium. The facility’s small size allows you to get quite close for the shows, which include a predictable but fun dolphin performance.
The most interesting — and bizarre — part of the live show was feeding time, during which the staff works up some of the aquatic residents into a feeding frenzy. And if you think the small fish are exciting, wait until you see the nurse sharks. These creatures, which can weigh up to 330 pounds, are not known to be the most trainable of animals. But at the Oceanario, they’ve got to work for their meal. A brave trainer gets on top of a floating platform and uses food to convince the sharks to pull themselves right out of the water at his feet. You won’t want to miss the video I made of this strange shark feeding.
For additional reports about my most recent visit to Cartagena, look around the South America section here on LatinFlyer.com and check out my Cartagena posts on LatinFlyerBlog.com.

Hotel San Pedro de Majagua: http://www.hotelmajagua.com/en/index.php
LatinFlyerBlog.com: http://www.latinflyerblog.com/search/label/Cartagena
Proexport, Colombia’s official tourism site: http://www.colombia.travel/en/