Playa Funchi is the easiest entry in the park: a sheltered bay with flat water and a shallow bottom. The reef is less spectacular than at Wayaka or Bengé, but the site is accessible and good for snorkelling. On the shore sit iguanas used to visitors.
Playa Funchi is a beginner shore dive in Washington Slagbaai: a sheltered bay with seagrass at two to four metres and a slope to twenty-five metres.
Shallow sand and seagrass at two to four metres with juvenile fish, then loose coral heads and a top at six metres. The slope runs gently to twenty-five metres. Tarpon and schools of sergeant majors swim in the bay.
Year round in light wind. In an onshore wind the shallow bay stirs up and the visibility drops fast.
Poor visibility as soon as there is wind: the bay is shallow and stirs up easily. Little relief and little depth. Park entry and a gate that closes at five. Do not feed the iguanas.
Decisions on diveability, technique and health belong with STINAPA, a dive school or a doctor. This page only describes the conditions.
Funchi was a landing place of the Washington plantation; the bay is named after the maize dish funchi. The park has been protected since 1969, and the iguanas by the car park have grown so used to visitors that they come for food — feeding them is forbidden.
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