We set out from union island and headed across to Tobago Cays

This has been a bucket list destination for quite some time. We have always been fascinated by the incredible blue water, reef and being able to swim with the elusive turtles we’ve been trying to catch a glimpse of since arriving in the Caribbean Sea.
We always thought people’s videos were obviously very over edited because the colours were way too bright and blue.
Welll… as we sailed towards Tobago Cays the colours started to change, it had us all hanging over the side of Saoirse catching a glimpse of the suddenly turquoise water. Little did we know what we were in for when we dropped anchor and had a look around at this incredible island paradise. The water was crystal clear, and an unbelievable turquoise that you didn’t look real, I kept reaching to take my sunglasses off in the effort to make sure i
Was seeing the true colours but I wasn’t wearing any sunglasses.

Trying to get video of this amazing destination was hard because we constantly felt like we needed to adjust settings to bring down the saturation but it wasn’t the settings of the camera it was just what was actually in-front of us.

Tobago Cays is located in Saint Vincent and grenadines. It is part of the tobago cays marine park.

It is home to a series of globally significant habitats including coral reefs, sea turtle nesting sites and feeding areas, aswell as small systems of mangroves.

The only thing protecting this area is the horse shoe reef that surrounds the islands. That is the only form of protection between tobago keys and the North West coast of Africa. I think that is pretty incredible. You are able to anchor on the windward side of the cays because of the protection from the coral reef. It is still bumpy and the wind still howls that side but it is so worth it for the view.

We took shelter behind Petite Bateau because there was some swell and wind coming through. There was also a massive amount of yachts on the other side of the park. We picked up a beautiful and new mooring ball. We were told that they were 3 weeks old. We guess this came into effect around the same time the fees went up over new years.

We took the dingy across to Baradal , it is known for the turtle sightings and it is cordoned off by bouys around the south side of the island.

There is growing evidence that this ecosystem is being affected by non-sustainable use and natural environmental impacts. Significant sources of "natural" threats to corals are storm damage and white band disease and bleaching.

The impacts associated with visiting yachts are anchor damage to sea grass and coral aswell as yachts running aground, snorkeling and diving, and bilge and wastewater discharge from yachts.
We noticed while we we in the park and snorkelling the lack of knowledge people have about the coral eco systems. While we were snorkeling we saw Many people stand on the coral aswell as touch it.

There has been a recent uproar about the Tobago Cays marine park because of the increase in marine park fees. You used to be able to anchor for free and only pay per person but now they charge you for anchoring too. There is no aproblem with charging to be in a marine park especially one as beautiful as tobago cays but maybe putting some money back into pamphlets that are given out to visiting yachts on how to protect the marine park and it’s eco system would help enlighten people about how to treat it.

Our stay in Tobago Cays was nothing short of magical. We hope to head back there again.

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