Amber Toy's Wildest Adventures: Swimming with Squirt and Crush

Esmie and I took ferry from Farjardo to Culebra so that we could visit Flamenco Beach. The ferry ride there was about two hours long on a large ship, packed full of people. I was very ill while on that ship, I ended up putting my head between my knees and tried hard to fall asleep. Quite a few people on the ferry also got sick, some even threw up. It took me an hour to feel like I could walk properly again once we made it on the island. But even though I was sick the ferry ride was well worth the trip!

The ferry!

Here is a little bit of history behind Culebra

President Theordore Roosevelt established the Culebra Naval Reservation. In 1939, the U.S. Navy used this island as a bombing practice site. It was used as a bombing site until 1975 for the United States involvement in World War II. They recently found a few bombs that were still active on Culebra! I ended up coming at the perfect time because they had just reopened the beach upon deactivating some underwater bombs. There are still U.S. tanks placed all throughout the island, and old (hopefully now empty) bomb shells. Here is a picture of a tank that was closest to where we were…

Flamenco beach is exquisite! It is rated one of the top 5 beaches in the world every year, typically it is rated the 3rd best beach to visit in the world. The mountains surrounding the beach are beautiful. The sky was clear when we got there but all of a sudden the clouds started rolling in and we were getting drenched! Haha We ran for cover underneath the trees but as soon as the storm came it seemed to disappear rather quickly! It was sunny again within 20 minutes.

Having fun in the sand!

Beautiful isn't it?

Esmie and I on our way to the next beach!

After spending some time at Flamenco beach we then went over to Tamarindo beach. This was a smaller, less populated beach at Culebra. We kayaked over to a coral reef and then snorkeled there for a little while. I am a good swimmer, but I struggled with snorkeling! I finally got the hang of it towards the end but it was still hard! There was a small coral reef there that was beautiful, but not nearly as breathtaking as the coral reef close to the Dominican Republic.

Getting taught how to kayak!

Esmie on the kayak!

Us attempting to get a photo

Snorkel snorkel!

Love this shot that I was able to capture beneath the water.

Me kayaking!

I met two Chinese people while on this particular island! They were from Beijing and they were a family there on business. The mother was at a meeting so the little girl would not let go of my hand as we were snorkeling in the water. It was very cute! She loved me and to be honest she reminded me of one of my 7th grade students in China. Oh how I miss them. It was a lovely reminder of how much I miss China, and the Chinese people. The father was kind to me and we talked and talked the entire ferry ride there and back. I'll never forget her sweet little hands clinging onto mine as we swam with the turtles.

We were out on the beach so much that we got third degree sunburns while there! We could not put on our clothes the next day after sailing and we could barely get out of bed! I have never been so sun burnt in my life! We were like zombies walking around-moaning and groaning and moving real slow. haha

We then kayaked over to where the turtles were, and swam with them for a little while. For those of you who know me, you know that the green sea turtle is my favorite animal, so you can imagine how giddy I was when I had the chance to swim with wild green sea turtles! I wasn’t able to get a good shot with me and the turtles, by the time my friend could swim down to the bottom where they were at, I couldn’t catch up with them! They were pretty fast in the water. I did get some shots with a disposable waterproof camera though! It has been a life goal of mine to get the chance to swim with sea turtles. I will never forget this experience-I highly recommend it!