Swimming with Sea Turtles

Whilst we were staying at the Tropical Sunset hotel in Barbados during our recent holiday we were asked if we wanted to go swim with the turtles.  Although we had done this a few years ago we decided it would be a fun experience to do again!

We set off with 5 other passengers, the captain and a guide.  The boat left from right outside our hotel which was great and very convenient.  We set off and it felt nice to be back on the sea again!

Our first stop was to swim with the sea turtles.  We got our snorkels on and jumped in the water.  Straight away we saw them.  It is was very cool how close they got to us, a few people even touched them.  Our boat guides had pieces of bread and they fed the turtles to keep them close to us.  It is an amazing experience seeing what’s under the water.  I found there was also something very calming about it.  Keil took charge of the GoPro and captured some great underwater images – Much better than the disposable one we took a few years ago!

A few times I got a mouth full of salty sea water, which is probably why I don’t look too impressed on the picture below!  I worked out the best way to use my snorkel was to breathe slowly a couple of times before going under the water.  This seemed to do the trick and I could then stay swimming and watch the sea turtles.

After quite a while of swimming we headed back onto the boat and sailed north.  All along we could see the fabulous West Coastline.   We went past the exclusive Sandy Lane, Tom Selleck’s house and a new condo which Rhianna has just bought.  There were many more expensive properties owned by successful business people along the coast.

Our second stop was to swim and see a shipwreck.  Here there were so many fish swimming around.  Our guide showed us all the different types of coral and told us the names of some of the fish.  It was amazing to be so close to them all!  After plenty of swimming we got back on the boat and continued to sail.

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Our final stop was just outside the Lone Star restaurant.  This brought back memories of when we went there for lunch a few years ago.  Here there were more sea turtles so we had another little swim.

Finally we got back on the boat and headed south to our hotel.  It was a great morning out and so much fun to snorkel and see all the amazing fish and turtles beneath the sea.