The Tobago Cays are full of turtles

The last charter I had this season was with three ladies as we sailed from St Vincent down to Grenada through the Grenadines. The one that booked the trip said her number one thing she wanted to see was lots of sea turtles like she did on vacation in the USVI.

Well halfway through the charter we went to the Tobago Cays, which are probably the most spectacular anchorage in the entire Caribbean. As I was looking for a good place to drop the anchor in the 10-12 foot depth over glorious white sand, I noticed several turtles near a spot of sea grass. I steered the boat upwind of this spot about a hundred feet and by the time I had the engines off we were swinging with our stern 20 feet away. That is when the show began. I knew there were turtles there, but I was not prepared for the sheer number we saw without moving. It seemed as if one was popping up all around the boat. There were several times we saw 3-4 turtles on the surface at the same time.

As awesome as that was it was nothing compared to when we slipped into the water and snorkeled with them. I found them grouped together on a particular section of sea grass and counted 12 within a 25 foot area. It was truly amazing. In fact over the next 24 plus hours the ladies must have snorkeled with them half a dozen times.

To say I met her request is the understatement of the year. I exceed my own experience of sea turtles and that is saying a lot. Do you like swimming with turtles? Well then why don’t you come down and charter with me so I can show you some. 🙂