Turtle Beach or Black Sand Beach

Today we went to Turtle Beach, also known as the black sand beach. We were lucky enough to spot turtles right away! There were areas roped off to protect spots where the turtles were laying their eggs, and signs were posted everywhere warning about the hefty fine if you tried to touch one. No worries there—I was perfectly content admiring them from a distance.

It was a bit overcast and cooler that day, so I wasn’t in a rush to get in the water. Robb and Lester, however, got their snorkel gear on and jumped in. They said the visibility at the beach was great, and they were able to see turtles swimming around. Not wanting to miss out, I decided to give it a go, too.

I found a spot where I could watch a family of sea turtles feeding. As I swam around, keeping a safe distance, I didn’t realize that two more turtles were swimming up behind me. As the waves receded and the water got shallower, one of the turtles crawled right over the back of my legs. Let’s just say I didn’t handle it with grace or poise. I shot up out of the water, ripped off my snorkel mask, and screamed, "A turtle touched me!" To be clear, I didn’t touch him—he touched me.

While it was a pretty cool experience, I decided that I was done swimming with turtles for the day.