Chance swimming with turtles at Blue Monkey or pay for tour?

[jschafer6161]

10 of us, including 2 kids, will be cruising March 1. We all really, really want to swim with turtles. Should we chance this and go to Blue Monkey or just pay for an excursion??? We don't want to be disappointed.

[fishy1]

My husband and I went to the blue monkey not knowing that that is where the turtles are. We were able to swim off the beach to wear all the tour boats were. We saw 5 different turtles it was awsome :)

[jschafer6161]

Cool... did they hang out by you and allow you to touch them or did they try to get away from you?

[woodofpine]

I've done the turtles on four occassions. I swam from shore once. Maybe it was the water conditions that day, or my starting point which was not the Blue Monkey - but I must have been just a property or two from it (based on what's posted). I started pretty much immediately on shore from the boats.

 

Frankly, swimming from shore can be done - but I don't recommend it, particularly if this is a major must see for you and you 'don't want to be disappointed'.

 

It can be a reasonably taxing swim. If I had children with me (or less than strong swimmers) I'd be too safety conscious to really relax and enjoy myself.

 

While booking a group on a day boat will cost you, you WON'T be disappointed and the excursion otherwise will pay off. This is an excursion that is worth the splurge. Some days are better than others (if you get there early, that's better) but I've seen turtles up close each time.

 

The turtles come up to be fed by swim guides. They don't loll about with the swimmers; usually, they stay on the move but they're not afraid to swim through the swimmers. They are WILD animals with a decent sized mouth; it is suggested that you can touch their backs but to not touch around their flippers or head. This is a marine sanctuary after all (Folkstone).

 

Good luck however you do it.

[Miss Vickie]

I'd go with the excursion - the catamarans are particularly enjoyable. I'd recommend Silvermoon, a day we particularly enjoyed.

 

The only time I've been to Barbados that I didn't enjoy was the time we decided to go to the Blue Monkey, for a variety of reasons. Crowded beach, vendors who won't take no for an answer, are very pushy, and argue with each other are two of the reasons. The day we were there the water was quite rough, and I've heard of that more than once, making the swim challenging. In addition, there are jet skis, glass bottom boats, other boats, etc, frequentling the area, and they aren't necessarily looking out for swimmers, so that can add to the hazard factor.

 

You shouldn't be touchng the turtles, just looking, and if you're with an excursion, they'll have you go in without your fins to avoid hitting the turtles. If you do decide to swim out from shore, please leave the fins on the beach.