Mayreau- Tobago Cays 2 February 2024
It was a lovely morning and I (as well as others) had a swim and snorkel round the boat. The water was very clear and the bottom was sand and weed. I did not see any fish life but Stig and Simon had seen a stingray the day before. We had breakfast and decided to go ashore. The beach was beautiful and it was lined with palm trees bent by the wind. We walked along the isthmus and looked from the windward side toward the Tobago Cays which was our next destination. You could see a whole load of masts in the distance.
We wondered along the beautiful beach and came to a few bars and the odd restaurant. Stig, David, Ian and Cari had a fresh coconut and Simon and I a rum punch. It was a perfect setting and very beautiful and we had to pinch ourselves we were here. We returned to Stormbird and prepared our passage plan to Tobago Cays which is surrounded by reefs and little Islands and shallow water and rocks. We upped anchor and headed over to the transit line where you line up the markers on the Cay -Petit Rameau with Petit Bateau and the bearing is 142 magnetic (compass course) which means you avoid the shallow patches and rocks. I turned on my Garmin forward looking sonar which scans the seabed ahead and warns me of shallows, rocks and coral bommies.
We got on to the transit and followed our plan and before too long we were approaching Petit Rameau. It was quite shallow between it and Petit Bateau and so we could anchor on the west side of Petit Rameau or we could skirt around its North side and anchor on the other side near Badel Island which is a turtle sanctuary. We headed on round and you could clearly see the Horseshoe Reef in the distance. A man in a boat came over called Taffs and he knew Tim the old skipper and showed us a sandy spot near Badel Island. He then suggested we come to his restaurant for supper on the beach and have lobster. How could we not do this so we agreed. The water was a vivid turquoise blue and it looked stunning. We anchored in about 5m and the position was fantastic. It was as if we were underlit by turquoise blue light and we could see the reef and Cays and we could look through the gap between Petit Rameau and Petit Bateau. We settled down and had a great salad lunch in this wonderful setting and many of us had a swim in this lovely water. The water was very clear and we had a sandy bottom with the odd patch of weed or rock.
Tobago Cays is five small Islands lost in a mass of coral, accessible through a number of passes and protected by the huge Horseshoe Reef and World’s End Reef. It has beautiful beaches, clear water and lots of fish. However it gets very popular and we could see so many boats here. Man does ruin things.
We chilled after lunch and I suggested we went over to Badel Island for a snorkel. It was quite rocky for the dinghy but we found a spot to pull up on the beach in its northern side. We saw some people snorkelling and headed in their direction. I was suddenly in a Jack Cousteau film where there were shoals of different fish and coral and sponges. It was the best fish life I had seen for many years and with such a variety of fish and all sorts of colours. Stig saw a turtle and we all agreed it has been very special and a great day so far. However it got better.
We returned to Stormbird for a quick shower turnaround and then headed for the beach on Petit Bateau for our supper. We had to pull our dinghy up on the beach and we had the best table right at the front of the restaurant (an old shack with quite a few tables on the beach). We all had a rum punch as the sun came down and I saw some fins in the water to our left and thought it must be a shark. This was where the cook was and who was throwing bits of lobster/fish into the water. We went to have a look and saw that it was actually stingrays coming to feed and I also saw a puffer fish. Our supper arrived which was delicious. Five of us had lobster and David had fish. It was delicious with potatoes, rice and vegetables. The lobster was special and I rarely eat it. It was a great setting sitting on a beach with palm trees, turquoise water and yachts sitting quietly at anchor in front of us. It was obviously popular as many dinghies and people came ashore. We did not notice them as they were behind us. By the end we were full and headed back to Stormbird by torch light. It had been a memorable day and we felt so lucky to be able to experience this. We switched on the blue underwater lights but we did not see much other than a Stingray.
We went to bed with a smile on our faces.
The blog will continue as we explore the Caribbean further and beyond.
If you have any comments or suggestions about the blog do email me on hine.nick9@gmail.com I can only upload one picture a day.