The wildlife
We came to the Daymaniyat Islands for the turtles and we weren’t disappointed (we were also really hoping for a Whale shark but we knew we were just outside the peak season). It’s one of the best places in the entire world to see Green turtles and they are present year round.
It’s not a case of whether you’ll see them, but how many you’ll see. You might also spot Hawksbill turtles, but it’s less of a guarantee and to my knowledge we didn’t – though I am not the best at recognising different turtle species!
We’ve been lucky enough to see quite a few turtles when snorkelling at various places over the years, but more often than not we will spot one or two and they will swim off relatively quickly.
At Daymaniyat I honestly couldn’t tell you how many we saw, but my guess would be over 40 (with the 24 I mentioned in the intro being the amount we could see at any one time).
It was simply incredible to see so many, but on top of that they appeared to have no fear of humans and would swim right up to you – I frequently had to fumble to move backwards so they didn’t actually bump into me – not something I’ve ever encountered before!
They appeared to be feeding on the seabed and then would come up for a few breaths on the surface before resuming feeding again. You could be watching one mass of turtles and then turn slightly to see one taking a breath right beside your head, it was extraordinary.
As well as turtles there were plenty of colourful fish including Nemos and Parrotfish and many more that I wish I was able to identify!
You are also very likely to see Blacktip reef sharks, though not always in as huge numbers as we did. They tend to swim quite low towards the seabed, so it’s not such an intimate and interactive experience as it is with the turtles – but given they are (albeit harmless) sharks, that’s probably more to most people’s taste!
If you visit between July and September and sometimes even into October, you also have a pretty decent chance of seeing a Whale shark. We were utterly gutted to have missed them by a day. They had been seen the previous 10 days in a row (from October 21 – 31), but alas not on our trip on November 1st.
The price of the trip does not change at this time, so even if you don’t see Whale sharks (which there is no guarantee of even in season) then it’s still worth going for the experience with the turtles and sharks.
The one thing I would say about the snorkelling was that the coral was not particularly noteworthy. It wasn’t very colourful or elaborate, though that wasn’t really a biggie given the sheer amount of wildlife.
