Sailing through the Caribbean Grenadines

Tobago Cays: Incredible Beaches and Snorkeling with Sea Turtles!

It was a short motor over from Salt Whistle bay on Mayreau to the Tobago Cays. We arrived to find that our route was blocked off by this block head catamaran captain who had anchored in the middle of the narrow channel we had to pass through! We dropped our own anchor off to the side. There is a $10 EC charge per head from the park rangers but it's worth it.

	We took the dingy over to a small island where we could get some snorkeling in. I wandered away from my family and finally saw a sea turtle. It was a green sea turtle and he let me hang out with him for five minutes before taking off after I ran my fingers down his shell! After getting back to shore I told my story and the rest of the family jumped back in to try their luck.
		After they had got their fill of the turtles eating sea grass in the cloudy water we dingied over to this other small island with a small empty white sand beach. There were palm trees that protruded out over the sand at precarious angles! It was too much and my dad made a run back to the boat to get his camera.
While he was gone I convinced Pete to climb up and grab a coconut. 30 minutes later he had managed to peel it and crack the shell open. We only had a small sailing knife and were quite envious of the sharp machetes the locals used to make quick work of coconuts. Regardless, the white coconut meat was some of the best I have ever had as we sat in the sand and munched away. I started building a little sand wall around me to ward off the occasional rouge wave, as we sat in the sand. Soon Pete and I were in a competition against the waves as we built bigger and bigger pushing our walls deeper into the territory of the waves. The ocean always wins and this was no exception. The palm trees tempted us again as Bill (Dad) showed up with food provisions and his camera. It was a balancing act as the trunks swayed under the load but you could scamper all the way up and out over the beach along the palm trunks! Perfect!

Next we were off to Petite SV and Martinique.