Typical day at Pigeon Point
05 May 2012 | Pigeon point / Tobago
Georg
As planned we walked up the 1/2 mile to Pigeon point Heritage park .. expecting to get a shot at snorkeling one of the best reef's in the world ( according to Jacques Cousteau back in the late seventies or so)
They charge a small entry fee into the park ...18TT or so .. The place reminded me of old days back in Mallorca or Rimini ... but in a much prettier setting ..
First thing we noted, was a rather big sign indicating that there is no swimming allowed outside the buoyed areas ???? Hups .. that probably won't fit us to well
We started wandering around checking out the place (looking more and more like Mallorca to me) ... We left without breakfast so we pretty fast settled on having some fish and chips ( The bar was already in full swing at 11AM)
... To my surprise Jill seemed to enjoy the fish and chips .. she must have been very hungry ..)
After taking the scene in for awhile we came to the sad conclusion that the only way to snorkel the reef in this place is by going on one of the many Glass Bottom Boats (Can you imagine Jill on a glass bottom boat ..)
So there we go 120TT each for 1-1/2 hours tour with some snorkeling time at the reef)
We jumped on the boat with a family of 4 from Trinidad ( all non swimmers) Also a group of visitors from India joined us.(also non-swimmers).
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JUST FOR NIYA & ALEX - To enhance the experience please start FAST READING HERE !
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Off we go - staring down the glass bottom .. Depth about 1m - fish to see - NONE !!!.. This goes on for about 15 min - my neck starts to hurt from starring down the glass bottom .. then a big event - it get's deep - 10 meter or so according to the captain - "everybody" gets excited - finally we reach the reef - it's actually rather pretty - Jill knows more fish then the captain- of course she does - Now we pick up a mooring - finally snorkeling?- Safety first said the captain- everybody wears a life jacket- everybody HOLDS ON TO THE LINE DANGLING FROM THE BOAT - at this point I thought Jill might loose her mind - we reason with the captain - and he actually let's us go in without life jackets if we promise to stay behind the boat so he can see us at all times - surprisingly Jill shows herself with best behavior and stays close -
Not a bad reef just 15 min is not enough time for "us" - while we paddle around behind the boat the captain manages to get 2 people "wet" - meaning, hanging off the boat holding on to the line with there arms spread out as if they would take off into the air any second- but I guess if you've never done it it's an adventure all right- off we go to the next spot- a small sand bank about 1m deep - there goes the hook in front and the snorkel line in the back - The Indian group all jumps in, holding on to the line standing in 1m of water ... Jill seriously want's to go in with her snorkel - that's how she's wired I guess - water = snorkeling - The little boy from the black family want's to join and jill helps him getting the courage and getting in the water- Jill "dives down to get sand for everybody from the ground and they rub it into their face - Day spa they call it - then scene is unreal but well worth the 120 TT :-) :-)
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We finish the day at the bar with two beers (Georg) and share another fish and chips ....
I thought is was a success !