Tobago Cays – Maybe Our Favorite Place Yet

Sailing the Pudgy by the turtle sanctuary.

Breathtaking.  If we had to pick one word for the Tobago Cays that would be it.

As we left Mayreau and sailed closer to the Cays we were more and more entranced.  Yes, the water is really that color.  Actually the camera can not do it justice, I don’t have the skill in Photoshop to balance the colors just so to really reflect the stunning colors in the water, sky and sand.  The closer we got the more enthusiastic and excited the children became.  When we finally dropped the anchor within minutes the kids were deploying “the fleet” with the fervor of a combat crew deploying for an beachhead assault at Normandy.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen the Pudgy, the kayak, and the main dinghy deployed so quickly and energetically.

One thing that makes the Tobago Cays such an interesting place to be is the protection afforded by the horseshoe reef that encloses it.  The trades blow constantly, but the reef breaks up all the seas leaving a relatively calm and quiet anchorage amidst the open natural beauty.  The boat stays cool in the breezes and you can see for miles.

The Tobago Cays consists of a handful of small Cays (islands, except without any natural water source on them) surrounded by a number of beautiful reefs.  The water is a clear as we’ve seen it anywhere in the islands yet.  Near the Cay of Baradel is a turtle sanctuary where you can snorkel with Green Turtles as then feed and swim around.  Each Cay has a nice sand beach on it.  With the steady breezes this is heaven for someone like Will, with good sailing and places to explore on shore.  Snorkeling and turtles and reefs – Danielle was ready to go before we had the hook down. In fact she was so excited to be here she even agreed to go camping on an island with Will if it was permitted in the park.

Reefs

The large horseshoe reef that surrounds most of the Cays is where the most visually stunning snorkeling can be found.  Most of the protected side of the reef is 7-10 feet deep which is perfect snorkeling depth.  The reef itself is a delightful maze of paths over white sand bottoms through winding corals.  The reefs are a constantly display of colorful fish and intriguing structures.  

Exploring these paths provided some fascinating findings; reef fish, corals, sponges and other sea life.  As we approached the Elkhorn coral in the picture to the right I got a ghostly glimpse of a shark fading off into the distance as it swam away from us.  Unfortunately I wasn’t close enough to identify it’s species exactly, but the tail looked more like that of a reef shark (one of the genus Charcarhinus, perhaps a Grey Reef Shark, as the tail had no black tip) rather than one of the slower and lazier Nurse Sharks that are common around reefs.  We also were treated to an inspection by a rather large Great Barracuda, by my estimation about four feet long.

We spent a few hours on the reefs, they were so captivating.  Before we left, when the wind and weather were starting to pick up a bit, Kathy and I made one more visit as well.  The currents then were a bit stronger and it made for quite a workout!

Turtles!

Turtles in the Caribbean have become for us like the seals in Maine.  Sighting them popping up for air generally attracts everyone’s attention and admiration, though admittedly they do not have quite the same anthropomorphic charm as seals they still are appealing creatures.  Danielle in particular has become quite fond of sea turtles, and the few brief glimpses of them we’ve gotten as we’ve snorkeled around the Caribbean have always been special.

In my reading and discussions with people about the Tobago Cays, I’d learned that we’d be pretty sure of seeing some turtles in our time in here.  With the Turtle Preserve they have a protected area to swim with lots of their preferred sea grass.  But I didn’t want to get Danielle’s hopes up in case we were disappointed.

I needn’t have bothered.  There are turtles aplenty in the preserve, and they aren’t terribly shy about snorkelers since they seem to largely ignore us.

Chillaxing turtles.  Like the ones in Finding Nemo, but mellower.

We saw turtles swimming and feeding from the moment we got close to the buoys marking off the turtle watching area.  At one point we could see as many as five turtles at one time feeding on the bottom and swimming up for air.  We were surprised to see a few turtles with healed injuries; one with a crescent shaped bite mark on its shell and other missing a front left flipper.  We shouldn’t have been surprised though, young turtles have a hard go of it before they get big enough to ward off the largest of predators.

Most of the time the turtles spent on the bottom eating.  They would occasionally come up for air, but generally they settled on the bottom in a patch of grass and grazed.  Extending their necks they’d crop at the grass on the bottom for a while.  It seems that these turtles went up for air more often than some turtles we’ve seen elsewhere.  Our theory is that the water is shallower, so the turtles need not breathe so deeply or dive so deep.  So they are basically chillaxing with the easy pickings in 7-8′ of calm protected waters, not working too hard and enjoying the grass and sun.  Not a bad way to be.

In addition to turtles in the sanctuary, as usual we saw some other interesting things.  Some schools of ballyhoo – small baitfish with little bills, were coming through and we spotted a small long armed octopus on the bottom.  That one was near impossible to see, and we lost him after looking away for just a minute.

There’s that octopus, don’t look away!

Camping

As you may have heard in prior posts, one of the things Will has enjoyed doing is camping on an island when it gets a chance.  Ideally the camping expedition will involve sailing to the island with no adults in the Portland Pudgy with all the camping gear in the boat.  After beaching the boat for the night you make camp and sleep on the beach, returning to Evenstar by sailing back in the morning.  The camping trips so far haven’t quite fulfilled all that.  A couple of the ones in Maine had issues where the tides were so extreme there wasn’t a place to beach the Pudgy, requiring the campers to be unceremoniously dumped on the island like being dropped at the mall, then having to radio for a pickup in the morning.  One Maine trip had one too many adults on it too.  The camping trip in Antigua was close, but the camping was actually on a beach that was not on a separate, small island it was on mainland Antigua.  But here we had a real possibility and Danielle had agreed to go.  If it was allowed.

When the park rangers stopped by to collect fees (the Tobago Cays park asks 10 $EC per person per night for stays in the park) we asked for permission to camp – just the kids, no fires no cooking.  They looked around and said “like on that island?” pointing to nearby Jamesby island.  “We’re not really supposed to, but for the kids for one night we could overlook it.  You have to check on them.”  Excellent!  We promised to send a radio with them and leave ours on all night so we could check on them and they could call us with any problems, and the kids were on.

A damp sail back from Jamesby Island (background)

We had an early dinner and send them packing with snacks and drinks.  After a quick easy sail to the island we watched from the boat as the tent came up and kids ran around on the beach.  Eventually they settled down and had a good night.  Until a squall came through just before dawn.  We heard it on the boat and watched the winds climb to 35 knots at the mast head.  It was a short squall, and we went back to sleep.  An hour or so later another squall came up.  We woke up and went up to check on the kids since it was light.  We noticed them out running around the tent in the rain.

Apparently what happened is the first squall loosened the tent pegs a bit.  The tend has the small wire style pegs, easy and convenient in the woods or a yard, they don’t hold so well in soft sand.  When the second squall came through it pulled the rain fly off the tent and uprooted the pegs.  That was the running around we saw, the kids in the rain sorting out the rain fly.  Eventually the squall stopped, and soon after the tent came down and the Pudgy was launched.  They sail was upwind into some stiffer breeze than the night before, there was a fair amount of splashing and no one arrived dry – unusual for a sail in the Pudgy.   Of course, everyone started the sail a little damp to begin with!

In spite of the mishaps with the squalls and then rain fly, apparently a good time was indeed had by all; a successful expedition!

We hope to find the time to get back to the Tobago Cays before we leave the Caribbean.  Perhaps some visiting family will provide a convenient excuse to make the trip again.