Sand-dollar Hunting in the Turks and Caicos
My agenda for the day at Pine Cay in the Turks and Caicos was ready to be set into motion - snorkeling and sand-dollar hunting. The beach at Pine Cay is a great place to explore the reef and it is also a prime sand-dollar hunting spot.
I was a bit nervous as I put on my snorkeling gear as I hadn’t been snorkeling for over 5 years. As the instructor patiently explained all the instructions and rules that I had to keep in mind, I grew increasingly nervous. Soon I had put on my mask and was ready to snorkel. Breathing through the respirator was quite easy but when my mask began to flood I panicked. All the instructions that were explained were soon forgotten and before I knew it I had gulped in quite a bit of water.
In a couple of minutes I got used to it. Exploring the coral, eels, shrimp, and different-colored fish was exhilarating. Every time a new colorful fish would swim by, I would get increasingly excited. Thankfully I didn’t let the first few minutes of my snorkeling experience ruin everything.
As we headed back to the shore I was all prepared to explore a prime sand-dollar hunting spot. I had heard a lot about sand-dollars and was determined to collect a few as souvenirs for my folks back home. By the time we reached the beach the tide had substantially reduced. Guess what? There were quite a few sand dollars lying on the beach. This had to be my lucky day. Looking at all the sand-dollars lying there I realized why the place was called the prime sand-dollar hunting spot in the Turks and Caicos.
One of the sand-dollars I picked up turned out to be live and it had these tiny spines on it. I didn’t want to kill the little thing for the sake of some souvenir. So I gently put the little guy a little further in the water and continued on my quest. I was sure to find what I wanted in this prime sand-dollar hunting spot.
