East Trinidad

The eastern and southern shores of Trinidad face very different water bodies — the Atlantic Ocean to the east and the Gulf of Paria to the west and south — creating coastal conditions that vary dramatically within a single island. The eastern Atlantic coast at Manzanilla and Mayaro is fully exposed to South Atlantic trade wind swells crossing an open ocean fetch from West Africa; 1 to 2 metre waves are the background state, with larger surf in August and September during the southern hemisphere winter swell season. The coast is backed by the Nariva Swamp, Trinidad's largest freshwater wetland and a RAMSAR-listed site, one of the last habitats in Trinidad for the West Indian manatee (Trichechus manatus). Leatherback turtles nest on the Atlantic beaches from March through August — Trinidad's leatherback population at Grande Rivière on the north coast is one of the largest in the world, and eastern beaches also see significant nesting. The southern Gulf of Paria coast is sheltered but heavily influenced by the outflow of the Orinoco River from Venezuela, which carries significant sediment load into the nearshore waters; visibility is poor and the coast is more important for fishing and industry than for recreation. The Boca del Dragón in the northwest and the Boca de la Serpiente in the southwest are the passages between Trinidad and Venezuela through which tidal exchange is funnelled — currents through these passages run 3 to 4 knots at spring tides, creating navigational hazards that Christopher Columbus noted in 1498 when he named them the mouths of the dragon and the serpent. The Institute of Marine Affairs and the Trinidad and Tobago Hydrographic Survey Office are the domestic reference authorities for tidal and marine data.