A Little Snorkeling Away From the Resort
For someone who spent part of his grade school years in another country (West Germany) and moved from state-to-state every two years or so, you’d think traveling would be a prominent part of my lifestyle. Quite the opposite is true. Sure, I did my share of excursions to trade shows and conventions as part of work, but actual vacation getaways always alluded me.
Now that the kids are older and more self-sufficient, we’ve been able to schedule long weekend trips with more frequency. We’ve also been fortunate. To be able to extend conference stays at Disney to be able to take in unscheduled activities or even just grab a nap by the pool.
For the past few days we’ve been soaking up the sun at Beaches Resort on Turks & Caicos Islands. Nicole was attending as part of the 2nd annual Social Media on the Sand gathering, and of course we decided to tag along. I mean, we’d have to be crazy to stay behind in the lovely (50’s and raining) weather in Iowa!
So what’s the purpose of this story? I’d like to share an exciting activity we discovered just steps from the Beaches sand, and one that need not cost you a cent!
Just a few minutes walk west from the Treasure Beach section of Beaches is a National Park area in the middle of the surf called Bight Reef. Walking on the beach, you cannot miss the bright orange/red buoys positioned in a circle extending nearly 350 feet into the ocean. And while it is tempting to work your way into the coral-covered area, it is strictly off limits to everyone. Fortunately you can still get a great view from the dedicated swimming lane circling the region.
It is said this reef isn’t as healthy as it was just 15 years ago due to tourism and the number of small watercraft that visit. On a rough sea day, the sand makes the water too cloudy to see much activity. Lucky for us we happened to arrive on a relatively calm afternoon and were greeted by quite a number of different species of fish.
From grouper to parrotfish, snapper to bluehead, we completely lost count of all the marine life we encountered. There was a sparse amount of living coral around the edges, but more healthy and untouched samples could be seen further inside the habitat.
We had heard rumor of sea turtles if we swam out to the top of the circle (remember, this is 350 feet from shore), and even though we had neglected to bring flippers, we managed to pull ourselves along the barrier rope until we reached the apex. Even though the turtles weren’t around that day, it allowed us to witness even more fish and sea life that was too timid to roost nearer the shore.
It was upon our return to shore that we experienced our only scare of the entire activity. My daughter looked straight down, only to see a great barracuda resting on a rock, staring up at us with mouth wide open! I’d be lying if I said it didn’t concern me, but after a few seconds of surveying the situation, I realized he was not being aggressive and we continued back to shore unharmed and with a great story to tell!
I’m sure you’ll hear more from Nicole about how great the conference was, the people she met for the first time and friends she hadn’t seen for a while. But for now my daughter and I can tell the story about all the fish we saw, and the one that stared us down. A new “friend” that we don’t care to run across again!
If you’re planning a trip to Beaches, make sure to explore down the shore and look for Bight Reef. You can borrow snorkeling gear from the hotel at no charge, or do like we did and bring your own. The hotel’s version does not include anti-splash protection, a necessity in the surf. Next time we’ll definitely bring ours again and just borrow flippers!
I can’t remember the last time I went snorkeling. It’s always fun to go to the beach!
I was just reading several of you’re older posts and had read you say that you were only eating a miserable 1500 calories a day and the post also described several of youre dietary choices. First, I hope for goodness sake you dont still eat like this. Second, you should consider reading the book “The Whole 30” and visit the website whole9life.com. Common myths about good nutrition such as dont eat meat, restrict/count and obsess over calories and food, and restricting dietary fats do your body much more harm than good. I just dont want another fellow pursuer of health to fall due to the lies of the health industry and usda which have led to the increase in american obesity weve seen over the past 3 1/2 decades.
Wow on the baracuda! Glad it didn’t get aggressive. What a fun story and video you took. Snorkeling is fun. I did it once in Ixtapa Mexico, we saw an anchor in the blue blue waters from on old abandoned ship. The anchor was huge!
I would love to go sometime soon, i think it would be so much fun.
I would love to go sometime soon, i think it would be so much fun.
I would love to go sometime soon, i think it would be so much fun.
I love being able to get away and get away while being away.. it sounds like paradise was found as well as a great adventure!
I’d love to travel there and so some snorkeling. Beautiful
Ughhh so jealous that y’all went to beaches!!!! I was picked to go but there was no way to work it into hubby’s work schedule -_- judging by all the pics on Instagram I’ve seen, I should of just left hubby at home hehe 😉 looked like a fabulous time!
That happened to us last year. The schedule didn’t work and we found out how much we missed out on. So glad we were able to pull it off this year!
And as an extra bonus, Nicole won admission to next year, so we’ll be back!
Great article!
Wow! What a great adventure, I wish I could go there and enjoy the beach.
Beach is always so much fun to enjoy with family & very particularly with kids. This looks so much fun, a great adventure to enjoy & the videos are so exciting as well.
Wow. I’m sure this place is worth a visit, especially on Summer. I want to try a snorkeling next time we visit a beach.
How did I miss joining everyone on this trip. My son would have loved to do his video reviews from location 🙂 How fun!
That looks like an amazing adventure. I have always wanted to go snorkeling.
This would be SO much fun, but even in my 30s I still can’t swim!
Wow! This sounds like an amazing trip! The snorkeling looks like so much fun!
It’s great you were able to have a family activity that didn’t cost money. It’s even better the new “friend” wasn’t aggressive!
The Turks offer some of the clearest water in the world and some of the best diving in the world!! I’ve been twice now and definitely plan on returning. What an awesome experience, the variety of marine life here is truly impressive. The only comparable dive I’ve had was on The Wall near Grand Cayman.
Best,
Greig
It’s been too long since I’ve gone snorkeling or diving, great fun.
That sounds like such an amazing experience. I’m sure it will be remembered for years to come.
I’ve seen a barracuda while snorkeling too. It is an ‘oh my gosh’ moment. I saw a moray while tank diving once too, got his picture. 🙂
I would imagine the differences between Iowa and Turks & Caicos would be astronomical, so good for you for being able to get away for a bit. Snorkeling is one of those things I have always wanted to try but am just too anxious to actually make the plunge.
I’ve never been but it would be fun!
This looks like an amazing experience! One that provided years of lasting memories.
I was in Puerto Rico once and my girlfriend (at the time) and I drove to the nearest Walmart to buy some snorkeling gear. We then drove around just about the entire island stopping here and there along the different costs looking for spots to snorkel. We had a big rainstorm come through so we headed back to the hotel after covering about 90% of the entire circumference of the island. The next day, we decided to just try our luck snorkeling at the hotel’s beach. We should have done that in the first place as it turned out to be the best spot we tried. I remember seeing an octopus, eels, and some beautiful fish. Snorkeling can be so relaxing and adventurous. My only regret is that we missed going to the bio-luminescent bay which we learned about after we got home.