Isla de Mona

Welcome to Isla de Mona, a place affectionately and accurately known as the Galapagos of the Caribbean. As you set foot upon this extraordinary thirteen thousand five hundred and ninety acre sanctuary, you are stepping into a…

Our journey begins at Sardinera Beach, the primary point of entry for the select few who are granted access to this formidable island. The transition from the turbulent waters of the Mona Passage to this tranquil coastal…

A short, deliberate walk inland from the sandy expanse of Sardinera Beach brings us to a clearing dominated by a remarkably sturdy structure known to locals and visiting researchers simply as the Ponderosa. Constructed in…

Leaving the sunlit clearing of the Ponderosa behind, we follow a rugged, ascending trail that leads us to the entrances of Isla de Mona's magnificent subterranean network. The island is essentially a massive, porous geological…

Navigating away from the cave entrances, our path takes us to the precipitous edge of the island's southern coastal bluffs. Here, the sheer limestone cliffs drop a staggering ninety meters directly into the churning, sapphire…

As we hike further inland from the dramatic coastal bluffs, following a faintly defined trail that cuts directly across the harsh limestone plateau, the environment begins to undergo a subtle but profound transformation. We are…

Having ascended from the localized humidity of the depression forest, we now find ourselves standing upon the vast, exposed surface of the island's central arid plateau. This is the geographic heart of Isla de Mona, a sprawling,…

Emerging from the punishing, thorny scrub of the arid plateau, the landscape suddenly opens up to reveal the eastern precipice of the island. Here, standing in stark defiance of the surrounding wilderness, is El Faro, the great…

Situated immediately adjacent to the towering, rusted framework of El Faro lie the quiet, crumbling remains of the Keeper's House and its associated storage building. While the lighthouse itself represents the grand, industrial…

As we stand upon the precipice of the eastern cliffs, the rusted iron lattice of El Faro casting a long, intricate shadow across the limestone behind us, our journey across Isla de Mona reaches its physical and philosophical…