Snorkeling Culebra: Tamarindo Bay

They said to see the sea turtles, get in the water by 9 am. When I went to bed last night, I thought, I’ll go in the morning, but not by 9 am. I’d just arrived in Culebra, Puerto Rico, this morning after traveling fifteen hours across four time zones on the red-eye.

I woke well-rested on a cloudless, sunny, quiet 80° day. I leisurely had coffee on the deck while watching a family of pearly-eyed thrashers, a couple of Antillean hummingbirds and a green-throated Carib hummingbird (all new to me).

I’m on vacation; I’m not going anywhere in a hurry. I’ll get there when I get there. If I don’t see turtles today, I’ll go again tomorrow. I’ve got all week.

Tamarindo Beach

The small parking lot at Playa Tamarindo was almost full, and there were two large snorkel tours already in the water when we shimmied the golf cart into the last spot in the lot at 11:30 am. Not far off the beach, in the sandy seagrass, were green sea turtles. there were so many that everyone could have their own! (I didn’t have to deal with people swimming in front of me or chasing the “my” turtle).

I floated lazily on the surface ten feet above the turtle, watching her graze on the sea grass, marveling at the geometric patterns and radiation of color on her head and flippers. The brush strokes of darkening hues on her shell. The way she occasionally tucks her front flippers in as if giving herself a hug. The way she glides to the surface with just two strokes for a breath of air.

Turtles can hold their breath for 45-60 minutes during normal activity, but usually come up about every five minutes between dives. When asleep, they can lower their heart rate to one beat every nine minutes, conserving oxygen and only needing to surface after four or more hours!

Moving along to the left, the seagrass beds give way to shallow coral reefs. Sea urchins are tucked into all the rocky crevices where small fish seek refuge. Swimming further from shore, I’m struck by how quickly the gradient to larger and larger fish progresses.

Edge habitats tend to hold the greatest diversity of life. (Edge habitats are the spaces that exist between two different types of ecosystems. For example, the boundary between a forest and a meadow is an edge habitat). With this knowledge, I swim along the edge of the reef, where it meets the sandy bottom toward the deep unknown.

Letting the sea propel me, I drift over corals, studying their intricate structure. Corals are animals, polyps that are works of art, delightful patterns, textures and movement.

Feather worms look like plants but swim too close, and they recoil and disappear!

Reading Nature’s Signs

A cluster of discarded scallop and clam shell halves tells me to look closer. Two eyes are peering out of the coral at me. Octopus!! This octopus seems as curious about me as I am about her. If I get too close, she scrunches down to hide, but as soon as I move away, she pops back up. These cephalopods are ridiculously smart. They form relationships, problem-solve, and keep aquarists on their toes with their propensity for escape.

There was a postcard I saw in a gift shop with a picture of a creature I’d never seen. Today, I saw a hundred if I saw one! I thought it was a nudibranch, a diverse group of fantastically colored, frilly, shell-less snails, but it turns out it’s a different kind of sea slug called a flamingo tongue snail. (This naming makes me wonder what a flamingo’s tongue looks like. I checked. It’s a disappointingly ordinary pink tongue). They were all over the sea fans swaying in the roll of the ocean. I’m obsessed. I tried to photograph almost everyone I saw. And I went back and bought the postcard.

Sunny days bring out the colors of the reef fish in extravagant fashion – electric blue, blaze orange, sunshine yellow, and vibrant chartreuse.

While we snorkeled, a fish friend joined me. This little guy hung around under me for quite a while, occasionally swimming right in front of my mask and startling me. I laughed every time!!

While in Culebra, I snorkeled at several other sites, too.  Stay tuned!

If you’re interested in purchasing or licensing any images you see here, please email me at SNewenham at exploringnaturephotos.com, and I’ll make it happen.

Subscribe here to receive an email whenever a new blog posts.