The Caribbean Sea

The Caribbean Sea is a large expanse of water - part of the Atlantic Ocean - between the islands of the Caribbean and the coasts of Central and South America.
The Caribbean Sea gets its name from the original inhabitants of the Caribbean - the Carib people. These indigenous Indians inhabited the region at the time of arrival of the first Spanish explorers. The Caribbean Sea is one of the world's most colorful and marine-rich bodies of water and a great sailing vacations cruising ground.


It is also one of the world's greatest crossroads for ocean shipping. The main ocean current in the Caribbean Sea is an extension of the North Equatorial and South Equatorial currents, which enter the sea at the southeastern extremity and flow in a generally northwestern direction.


The Caribbean Sea covers an area of about 1,020,000 square miles or 2,640,000 square kilometers. With a few exceptions, the Caribbean Sea is more than 6,000 feet deep with many sections exceeding 12,000 feet in depth. Its greatest known depth is between 24,720 feet (7535 meters) and 25, 216 feet (7686 meters) in the Cayman Trench located between Cuba and Jamaica. It is divided into five basins- the Yucatan, Cayman, Colombian, Venezuelan and Grenadian basins - separated from each other by submerged ridges.