April 23, 2010 - Carlisle Bay Marine Park, Barbados

Just a short dinghy ride away from our anchorage is the Carlisle Bay Marine Park. In this spot in 1919 the Berwyn, a French tug boat, was sunk by her own crew. Since then a handful of boats have been intentionally sunk in the park, including one that was seized for smuggling marijuana, and a few wrecks have been relocated to the park from other parts of the island. Old canons and anchors lying on the bottom point the way from wreck to wreck, making it easy to locate all the wrecks.


The older wrecks have a a lot of soft coral growth and large populations of very friendly reef fish. They must be fed by the local dive and day boat tour operators.


We waited until all the day boats had finished their daily runs, then went over for a late afternoon snorkel. Under us were three divers checking out the wrecks from a slightly different vantage point. Their air bubbles made the wrecks look like they were breathing, which was a little spooky at first.

Snorkeling the wrecks, happy hour at the yacht club, and learning that our friends Kate and Deb had booked their flights to come visit us in St. Maarten next month were the highlights of another great day in Barbados.