If you ever told me that one day I’d be swimming side by side with sea turtles, my answer would be “Yeah, right.” I was never the adventurous type. To be honest, my adventures primarily included great food, drinks, lots of shopping, and historic tours, but definitely not snorkeling in waters off tropical islands. But, as I have tried to step out of my comfort zone more and more, I have become more open to trying new things. And each trip that I have taken over the years has allowed me to take that risk. Barbados was no different.
When we arrived in Barbados, the first thing my friends and I did after we checked into our room at the Southern Palms Resort was to jump into the beautiful Caribbean Sea—literally! Since the day I had booked my trip, I was looking forward to the day when I would walk on beautiful white beaches and jump in the Caribbean Sea. Little did I know what was awaiting us.
The water was lukewarm (just like bath water), clear, and very blue. We sat in the water and played in the waves until we heard a woman yell out to us.
“What did she say?” my friend Sri asked.
“Look behind you!” she yelled. “You are swimming with sea turtles.” We turned around with excitement in search of the sea turtles, and there they were, swimming in front of us—three of them to be exact. You would see their heads pop up from the water and then back down. The tide rolled in, the waves grew larger, but the turtles remained on track. And we began to swim toward them.
“I want to pet them,” Kathy yelled. But by the time we looked back, they were gone. And though you would think that was the last experience we would have with sea turtles, it was wasn’t.
A couple of days later, we took a catamaran around the island. The day tour consisted of several stops in bays surrounding the island. On our second stop, we were all asked to stick on our snorkeling gear and get into the water. As I made my way through the water, I felt something brush against me. It felt hard and rough, yet soft and warm. In front of me was the most beautiful sea turtle. It simply paddled toward me. It seemed so happy, so serene and so content, and inviting. Here I was swimming in its home, and it didn’t seem to care. This lovely turtle simply said hello and made its way to find food. It was the one moment when I wish I had an underwater camera to photograph this moment. Well, I guess the photograph will remain in my mind. For a girl like me, who tended not to adventure out of her comfort zone, swimming with these turtles was one of the most life-altering experiences of my life.
