Mona Passage
| Mona Passage | ||
|---|---|---|
| Connects waters | Atlantic Ocean | |
| with water | Caribbean Sea | |
| Separates land mass | Hispaniola | |
| of land mass | Puerto Rico | |
| Data | ||
| Geographical location | 18 ° 30 ′ N , 68 ° 0 ′ W | |
|
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| Smallest width | 130 km | |
| Coastal towns | Mayagüez | |
| Islands | Mona , Monito , Desecheo | |
The Mona Passage ( Spanish Canal de la Mona ) is a strait in the Greater Antilles that separates the island of Hispaniola in the west with the Dominican Republic from the island of Puerto Rico in the east. The strait connects the Atlantic with the Caribbean .
The Mona Passage is an important shipping route between the Panama Canal and the Atlantic. The 130 km wide strait is one of the most difficult sea routes in the Caribbean. Bad visibility due to haze, extensive sandbanks, tidal currents and water eddies caused by the two islands are the reason for the difficult passage.
Almost in the middle of the strait is the eponymous island of Mona and the much smaller, neighboring island of Monito , both belonging to Puerto Rico . 50 km northeast of the island of Mona is the island of Desecheo , which is only 21 km from Puerto Rico. The island of Saona lies off the southeastern tip of the Dominican Republic , 70 km from the island of Mona.
Most of the cruise ships that want to travel from the Atlantic through the Mona Passage to the Caribbean make a stopover in Samaná , on the northwest coast of the Dominican Republic, and then travel 380 km through the Mona Passage to Puerto Rico without a further stop drive. Sailing ships having to fend off the wind from the east cross . The port city on the west coast of Puerto Rico, which is located on the Mona Passage, is called Mayagüez .