| Start Point: | Fisherman’s Dock, Spanish Water |
| Duration: | 2 hours |
| Difficulty (1-5): | 1 |
| Height of Ascent: | 100 ft |
You can see the hill from the anchorage in Spanish Water. It’s a very easy walk and can be done in a couple of hours. We did the ascent in sturdy sandals, which was OK, but it might be better in shoes with stiff soles as the volcanic rock is very sharp. You get a great view of Spanish Water from the top.
Start from the fisherman’s dock and turn left out of the gate walking along the beach. You’ll see a big dock in front of you and eventually a road heads off to the left which you take. You can see Fort Beekenburg on your right. You will come to a set of stone steps to the right that take you up to the fort, which is an interesting little diversion.
Fort Beekenburg was built in 1703 to protect Spanish Water bay. It is named after Director van Beek, who planned the city's defense from 1701 to 1704. The fort had to ward off pirates as well as the French and English fleets more than once during the 18th century.
In 1874, Caracas Bay was designated as a quarantine station for ships with infectious disease on board. The yellow building that you can see on the headland was a quarantine hospital. From 1882 to 1925, seamen from disease carrying ships were quarantined here for forty days.
Returning to the road follow the beach until you see a road heading off to the left. This road climbs up and, after ten minutes, there is a fairly sharp right bend with a smaller track going straight ahead, which you follow. The track leads into an open area with lots of building rubbish – keep going straight ahead and you will see a small path.
After approximately 50 metres, there is a small path leading off to the left which you should take. You now follow the sometimes indistinct path through arid vegetation. The path is slightly overgrown in some places but we had no problem finding our way. There were some yellow ribbons tied to a few of the bushes when we went up. The path is mostly on volcanic rock which is very sharp.
After about twenty minutes of easy climbing and zigzagging, you will come to the edge of a cliff where you are rewarded with a great view of Spanish Water
The route down is directly opposite the route up. It took us about 2 hours round trip with a short stop at the fort. Remember to take some money, so that you can get a nice cold drink at the beach on the way back.