Destinations
A paradise of Turtles - Barbados
TheLionVoyager
Swim with the turtles in the Caribbean Island of Barbados
Barbados is one of the few places in the world where you can swim surrounded by these sea turtles in their natural environment
Where to Swim with Sea Turtles in barbados?
Barbados is home to beautiful blue beaches and lots of sea turtles such as the Hawksbill turtle, Leatherback turtle, and the most popular green turtle. Swimming with the turtles is a popular activity to do in Barbados, for both locals and visitors. It makes an excellent experience and a ‘must-do’ activity during your time on the island.
On the west coast of the island and especially in Carlisle Bay, you will find the best spots to see turtles, other nice spots are Paynes Bay and Alleyne’s Bay.
The good news is that you don’t need to book a catamaran cruise to go swimming with turtles in Barbados, you can find them in many beaches along the west coast. Some of them are slightly further out than others and for that reason locals organized boat tour of one or two hours to show you the best spots.
From 1998, the Government of Barbados made it illegal to catch any species of sea turtle in Barbados, as well as possess any kind of turtle product such as their shells and eggs. It is a severe offense in Barbados, so please keep this in mind during your stay on the island.
Carlisle Bay & Brownes Beach
My favourite part of the Island is Brownes beach in Carlisle Bay, is the best spot to see huge turtles, rays and starfish. You can join a tour of 2 hours organized by the locals on the beach or if you don’t mind to swim for a while you can easily reach the best spot from the beach by yourself. I took so many pics and videos of the turtles, they are fantastic creatures.
If you are spending the day at Brownes beach and Pebbles beach, you can spend some time swimming with sea turtles here, you will love it. Swim out carefully, there are lots of boats in the area. There are also a few ship wrecks slightly further out but it is recommended to go with a group since the area is busy. The hawksbill turtles, the green turtles and leatherback sea turtles call Barbados home, as this is where they do their feeding and nesting. Due to the calmness of these West Coast waters and the friendliness of the sea turtles, visitors are able to swim freely with them, just make sure to respect their space and don’t touch them. Sea turtles have always been locals to the island, and over the years, they have started to become an endangered species. For this reason the Barbados Sea Turtle Project was started in 1987, to restore local marine turtle populations to levels at which they can fulfil their ecological roles while still providing opportunities for sustainable use by the people of Barbados, and to support similar efforts in other countries of the Caribbean.
Each species also plays a specific role to protect the marine environment of the island: the Hawksbill turtles help to keep coral reefs healthy by feeding on sea sponges which, the Green turtles graze on sea grasses making nutrient-rich new growth available to other grazing species, and the Leatherback turtles help to keep pelagic fish populations healthy by controlling the abundance of jellyfish which, if left unchecked, would decimate populations of fish larvae. Tourists love the chance to swim with turtles, and have the chance to interact with sea turtles is one of the many special characteristics that attract visitors to Barbados.
