Swimming With Sea Turtles
When you think Barbados you think rum, sandy beaches and coconuts. But the one thing we wanted to do was swim with the sea turtles and yes, you can do this really cheap in Barbados but also you can do it with a little bit of style.
Nothing screams tourist like going to the virgin holidays desk at Dover Beach but with the weather being so bad (to us it was perfect) we felt it was best to talk to the people who truly knew what was going on. The team at the virgin holidays desk were extremely helpful and told us openly and honestly about the fact that many of the cruises have been cancelled due to the winds just offshore and to be honest in land too.
They gave us the prices and some leaflets to go and look at, there are several companies who perform catamaran cruises in Barbados and the most well-known is Tiami. Yes they may be a few pound more but they have a fleet of excellent boats and crew who make you feel at ease at all times.
From the moment you are at sea they tend to your every need. They wait on you hand and foot this includes bringing you fresh drinks throughout the trip. With an open bar you have to you use your brain a little as they advise to only have one or two drinks before snorkelling.
We decided to do the five hour lunch buffet cruise which included two snorkelling stops, full buffet lunch, complete open bar and the opportunity to get off the boat and have a swim later on after lunch. We definitely felt that it was worth that extra indulgence.
Have you ever just sat there and watched everything around you and thought seriously how did I get here?
Well when we got off the boat into the sea and swam in the sea turtles that was exactly the thoughts we had.
We knew this was something that we really wanted to do and yes okay there was another 30 odd people with us in the water but actually seeing a real-life Crush (Duuuuuude!) it was just breathtaking.
I really really wish they had gave us a little bit of training on how to snorkel beforehand as I am not great in water especially with my head under, it was a tiny bit of a challenge.
Turns out when we thought I was doing really well paddling away sticking my head under filming everything that was going on around me...I wasn't. I didn't have a clue until we were back on the boat and I looked at my footage that we realised I was a panicking mess the entire time. So my footage was pretty crap but luckily Cass managed to chillout enough to capture some real amazing clips of Sharkey the sea turtle.
I want to rave more about how amazing it was actually getting to see such a beautiful creature up close, but I really don’t have any words, pictures say far more. This is definitely something I want to do again.
The next stop was further along the coast to where they have sunk two boats to create an artificial reef bring wildlife into the area. By the time I got on this paddle I was a tad more comfortable in the water and was truly amazed by what was swimming around me. The fish really don’t care that you’re in the water they literally just push past you. This is definitely not something that you want to do if you do not like fish or you don’t like things touching you in the water.
The amount of people we heard screaming was hilarious but seriously if you know that you don’t like fish why get off the boat? It’s a bloody artificial reef in the sea designed to attract fish duh?!?!
