Kayaking at sunset

Imagine yourself skimming along smoothly on the surface of the calm waters of Swallows Beach, Tobago, having a romantic moment as you face that special person, while the sunset splashes beautiful colours across the sky and you have a peek at the curious fish below.

With Valentine’s Day coming up on February 14, it may just be the perfect adventure for those looking for something other than, or in addition to, dinner, flowers and chocolates.

Think of that scene in the original The Little Mermaid animated movie on the boat. Except, most likely, neither of you are actually royalty, the row boat is a clear kayak and, probably, none of the sea life is working with or plotting against you.

You will also have to bring your own music and wear an unattractive, but necessary, life jacket.

At least, that is how it could be.

But when I visited Clear Kayak TT at Crown Point, Tobago, for the sunset/night tour, the water was rough earlier that day. That meant the water was cloudy so I saw no fish or corals. Also, I went alone, but I had a great time with the tour operator, Kerron Williams, who chatted pleasantly with me and mostly paddled since, when I did, the side-to-side rocking of the kayak made him extremely nervous.

He told me couples usually took the sunset/night trip around the area, including the water near the Coco Reef Resort and Spa. And the pink and blue LED lights attached to the kayak, which shone through the clear vessel into the water, usually attracted fishes which delighted clients.

Clear Kayak TT is a subsidiary of On The Go (OTG) Global, an online travel website where people could book services, like accommodation and activities, in both Trinidad and Tobago.

OTG Global owner Michael Bristol said his business started providing services in Tobago in October 2020, including private plane and glass-bottom boat tours, and jet skiing to car rentals or a driver. It later partnered with various hotels, guesthouses and villas across both islands.

The idea was to provide value to customers so it did not take commissions.

“But the request was coming in from customers for something different, something fresh because they were tired of experiencing the same thing every time they visited Tobago.

“When you look online at Jamaica and all these other countries, you see it around. And then it came to me – the clear kayaking would be something unique to showcase the beauty of underwater Tobago.”

So OTG Global started providing clear kayaking March 2022 and can handle 32 people at a time.

Clear Kayak TT also has day trips that are less romantic but equally fun, bioluminescent tours at the Bon Accord Lagoon where clients can be surrounded by the beauty of glowing plankton, snorkelling on the beach and guided snorkelling tours.

“The bioluminescent tour, which is by reservation only, is really a lovely experience as well. There are other tours doing that, but I believe clear kayaking offers the best experience for it because you can actually see underneath the kayak as the algae or plankton reaction is happening. It looks like stars under your kayak.”

Bristol said the only challenge for clients was that a low-light, high-definition camera was need to capture the reaction in the water.

Also very popular now was the drone photo/video shoots, available by reservation only. Bristol said people from across the Caribbean visited Swallows Beach just for that and, so far, every customer was left satisfied.