Swiming with Sea Turtles in Barbados

Most Caribbean sailing excursions start and end the same:

- Get on the boat, often a catamaran
- Sail to the destination
- Go snorkeling
- Sail back while the crew gives provides snacks and plenty of refreshing drinks

It's the destination that matters the most. We have taken quite a few sailing and snorkeling excursions, and the most memorable ones for us have had the most interesting sea life -- Stingray City in Grand Cayman, barracuda in St. Thomas and this one, a Barbados turtle swim with wild green and hawksbill sea turtles.

Our Barbados excursion fit the pattern as we came aboard a large catamaran with about 20 other people, chugged out of the port at Bridgetown and headed to our first stop, a simple and brief snorkeling swim over a reef that revealed nothing special.

It was our second stop that made the difference. We joined several other boats near a beach and spotted sea turtles and people in the water together.

The brown-green turtles were about three to four feet long, rose occasionally to the surface for air and dropped back down again.

We immediately entered the water with our guide after getting instructions about how to be careful around the turtles.

As we pushed our masks under the water, we could see them swimming toward people for food and swimming away again. They were remarkably calm.

Our guide pulled out his own food, swam toward a toward and attracted its attention. We all came nearby, but not so close to touch or disturb the turtle. It munched through the food and drifted away.

Unexpectedly, a large turtle swam under me from behind toward the guide. It was so close my flipper grazed its shell. It didn't react to the touch at all.

So we had at least a half dozen turtles swimming close to us to get to the food. They expertly and easily swam among us, underneath us and around us, and they didn't seem to mind being within a few feet of us.

Clearly they were used to human contact.

Their large brown eyes and beautiful colors made their serene behavior all the more beautiful as we shared the water with them.

In time the guide ran out of food and directed us back onto the boat. We parted with the turtles still swimming among passengers from other boats.

The catamaran made one more stop, this time on a secluded white sand beach, where the crew served us our snacks and plenty of refreshing drinks, and we strolled on the sand for another half hour or so.

Swimming with sea turtles in Barbados ranks among the best snorkeling excursions in the Caribbean.