If I posted this on Facebook it would truly be shameless travel bragging, worse than our usual level of rubbing our best moments in everyone’s faces, but we were just snorkelling with sea turtles! Green sea turtles to be exact. Taiwan is home to five of the eight species of sea turtles in the world. Many of these endangered beauties live off the island of Liuqiu.
It was a cloudy day with a bit of drizzle when we took a catamaran over to Liuqiu, or Xiaoliuqiu, where we are spending Christmas Eve. This coral island has a population of 12,000 on 6.4 square kms of land. We easily cycled the 14 km road around the island to get our bearings and choose our swimming spots.
I wasn’t sure I would go for a dip yesterday, until Gord popped his head up and told me he had seen a turtle. He continued his snorkelling and saw six more. I’m a much more cautious swimmer, but I was also able to watch one as it gracefully glided over the sea bottom.
Today the sun was out and we spent the day hiking through various coral caves around the island and then stopped at a different spot for another wonderful snorkel with turtles, beautiful fish and a variety of coral. Gord also spotted a moray eel and several squid.
We were never alone. Both spots are now popular dive locations full of tour groups. Tourism is rarely benign. The island is feeling the effects of excessive tourism, particularly since Covid, and the coral is being seriously threatened. Impressive efforts are being made, however, to protect the turtles. I moved away from the turtle as soon as it approached me to try to establish the five meter distance required by law. The turtles are pretty friendly and don’t act like they mind the attention, but I still feel that my presence is problematic even if I follow the current laws which also prohibits feeding or touching.
A few tourists have been hunted down by the Taiwan coast guard after their Facebook posts have included pictures or videos of them touching the turtles. Penalties are steep and can run up to 10,000 U.S. dollars, which must be paid before departure from Taiwan. There is a well reported case of a German teen who posted pictures of himself touching a turtle. The coastguard tracked him down and arrested him 10 minutes later, before he had even left the beach.
Turtles are everywhere here. This afternoon we watched from the shore as eight or nine turtles surfed the waves in the late day light.
Yup. Tourism backlash in many places around the world. Tourism is a kind of colonization? Oh, my. So many triggers. I’m going to LA for a month. If the place you are visiting has already been destroyed by tourism, is it still tourism? Discuss. Merry Christmas!
Great photos. Thanks for sharing.
Merry Christmas to you both.
Wonderful photos, especially of the cute guy without the wetsuit. I’m jealous of you both: warm, stimulated by sights and sounds, and enjoying new food.
Merry Christmas!
Why Mary, you make me blush. We are indeed having a wonderful trip in this underrated country. I hope you are enjoying a lovely Christmas with family.
The placement of the snorkel in the pic of Gord makes for an interesting perspective!
We are laughing right now. We didn’t notice that particular detail.
We’re still laughing now. You’ve made our Xmas Eve and we’ll never look at Gord the same way!
Merry Christmas to you both and please feel free to continue rubbing your experiences in our faces. Its a delight to read about it and look at your pictures.
Also impressed by the Taiwanese efforts to project the turtles.
You are very sweet. Enjoy the comfort of home. If you get nostalgic for Canada just find someone with a van and spend the night.