Snorkeling and beaches

[Piia]

Neither of us had snorkeled before, but it was easy to learn. I bought a mask and a snorkel from World of Watersports at the Hilton as recommended, but Anssi bought his from a diveshop at the Grafton Beach Resort in Stonehaven. We would recommend World of Watersports as it was cheaper and the equipment was better there. We went snorkeling mainly in three different places: Stonehaven, Englishman’s Bay and Little Bay in Castara. We had a book about the fish in the Caribbean, but we found it hard to recognize some of the species after snorkeling.

The best place of the three was definitely Englishman’s Bay. We snorkeled by the rocks on the right hand side of the beach. Visibility was usually good and we saw a lot of fish. Among other things we saw really big angel fishes as well as a spotted moray eel. Englishman’s Bay beach was lovely as well, really beautiful and not crowded at all. There you can also find the most beautiful souvenirs made from coconuts, calabashes etc. We couldn’t find that pretty carvings anywhere else.

At Stonehaven we also went snorkeling from the right hand side of the beach by the rocks. The fish there weren’t so big as in Englishman’s bay, but it was still a nice place to snorkel. Although, the waves can be too strong sometimes. We saw lots of small squid, parrot fishes, flounders etc. The beach itself is nice as well and past the hotel part ,you can have the whole beach to yourself.

Little Bay in Castara… Perhaps we didn’t go deep enough, but the visibility wasn’t the best possible. This is a great place to see rays, though, if you snorkel by the rocks on the left hand side of the beach. We saw them every time. I have to admit that the first time I saw a sting ray I got so scared I practically ran to the beach. The ray was huge, appeared out of nowhere and when I looked down, there it suddenly was. My boyfriend also saw a ray, which had a really short tail and it was more lighter than the one we saw earlier. Couldn’t find that one from the book. Little Bay is a beautiful beach and it wasn’t crowded at all, we had the whole beach to ourselves. But the access to the beach is via a steep hill.

And the worst thing for last… We didn’t have any problems with sandflies at first, but then on our second week they tried to eat us alive. And the bites itch like hell! Fortunately the weather was cold in Finland, when we returned so I didn’t have to show my legs to anyone. I was even given antibiotics as few of the bites looked so bad.

[Steve Wooler]

Thanks for another lovely report, Piia

During a visit to the Coco Reef a few years ago, another guest had a wonderful laminated card with photographs to help you identify all the fish you were likely to see while snorkelling in Tobago. It was brilliant, becuase you could carry it while snorkelling and refer to it under water. I don't know where he got the card, or even if it showed fish specific to Tobago. Has anyone got any ideas? This would be a wonderful aid to visitors.

Yes, sandlies can be little bxxxxxs! It is vital to treat all bites as soon as possible - long before there's any chance of them becoming an infection. I would strongly recommend first-time visitors to check out our Insects article at http://www.myTobago.info/insects.php and go well prepared. No system seems ideal for everyone and, of course, so people get bitten alive and others remain untouched. However, a good stock of antihistiamine cream (Anthisan) and tablets is pretty essential. We always have a ritual "dabbing of the ointment" before we go to bed and first thing in the morning, and it really does work at preventing any bites from becoming other than a minor inconvenience and irritant (and Cortizone cream does wonders at preventing the 'irritant' itching).

[Steve Pitts]

Hi Steve

I think that you have spotted a gap in the market with your comment on laminated fish I.D cards.
But how will we get the fish to carry them?
Only jesting.

These simple, but effective recognition cards are available from good sub-aqua shops in the UK and are invaluable for budding fish-spotters (what is the sub-aquatic version of a 'twitcher'? - bird watcher).

As an alternative, how about a D.I.Y version - using a scanner or colour photocopier (just not the same in black and white) to print off selected pages from any number of books on fishes of the Caribbean.
Just laminate them to make sure they don't go all soggy.

This would be highly illegal of course, as this infringes every copyright law under the sun, but the fish won't tell on you - unless you bump into a barracuda - they've got really big mouths.

Cheers
Steve

[Marc Jones]

me and my boy did a sketch of fish we had seen and soon picked up "new" fish.

The best snorkelling we did (by far) was at Arnos Vale.

We saw many French Angels and the highlight of our trip was swimming in a shoal of about 100 fish here only yards out from the beach.

We also snorkelled Speyside, Angel Reef and whilst enjoyable and great for parrot fish we still preferred Arnos Vale.

The second time we snorkelled Angel Reef (using the wonderful Frank's Tours - NB Franks, not Frankies) we saw a 4-5ft barracuda. To say I was scared is like saying Scooby-Doo and Shaggy get nervous. It looked like a torpedo with teeth! (for those thinking it's a fisherman's tale, Peter Cox later confirmed in a conversation that he'd seen it and that it is often spotted there!).

We visited Englishman's Bay (by far and away my favourite beach) but the day we went the sea was crazy, 2-3ft waves. The body surfing was superb fun but snorkelling was a no-go.

The other place we snorkelled was Cotton Bay c/o Coco-Motion. I couldn't recommend Coco-Motion enough. We had half a day with them but wished it was longer, the time flew by. At Cotton Bay we saw squid, that is something I'll never forget either, they seemed perfectly spaced apart, I mean exact! A great day.

[Peter Allday]

We heard that Anos Vale was supposed to be good for snorkling, but didn't get to try it, as we couldn't pull ourselves away from mount irving hotel beach (though we stayed at the Grafton). The snorkling was excellent. We saw several big (6ft tip to tip) stingrays, turtles, octopus, crab, loads of eels, parrot fish, 3ft porcupine fish (like puffer fish) and lots of others I could name but won't bore you. It started about 10yards off the beach in front of the hotels bar.

We just stopped there on the off chance one day, and kept going back.

At Grafton (Stone Haven Bay) the best place to go snorkling is over a string of rocks just away from the right hand edge of the beach, near the fishing boats. There was a fair amount to see there too.

Peter

[Marc Jones]

wow. Sounds great.

That's on the "next visit" list

[Toine & Lia]

Being on a holiday means for us, being on, in or under water . When we're not out fishing or diving we usually hit beaches en go snorkeling. We have been to all the mentioned bays on our previous visits and found some great spots for snorkeling. One of our favourites is Mount Irvine bay. The rocks left off where the fishing and tour boats are moored is known for its big scoals of reef squid.Viz is subject to the height of the waves. When it's calm and viz is good you just won't believe your eyes.
The reef close in front of the beachbar, right of the moored boats at Mt Irvine bay, has it all. You'll have the change of finding morays, stingrays, turtles and lots of reef fish. Swim straight out and snorkel along the edges of the reef great change you will encouter stingrays and barracuda. Upon the reef it self you'll meet the moray eels. We found one of the biggest parrot fish we ever saw at this reef.

Try it some time. You won't be disappointed.

Cheers,
Toine & Lia