Bombinhas: Turtle Paradise Dive & Underwater Photos

4.99

(149 reviews)

What’s the experience like?

I was still tugging my wetsuit over my knee when our instructor, Rafael, grinned and handed me a mask. He spoke Portuguese mostly, but his gestures were clear enough — “relax, breathe slow.” The sand at Praia da Miséria felt cool underfoot even though the sun was already high. I could smell the salt and sunscreen mixing in the air. It’s funny, I thought I’d be nervous about this dive in Bombinhas, but standing there with everyone laughing about who looked most ridiculous in their rubber suits kind of took the edge off.

We waded out together — the water was colder than I expected and it made me gasp a little. Rafael kept checking on us as we floated just offshore for our quick safety briefing. Then suddenly we were under. Everything went quiet except for my own breathing and the distant clicks of some fish (or maybe that was just my teeth chattering). The first turtle drifted by so close I could see the scratches on its shell — honestly, it didn’t care about us at all. There were flashes of silver fish everywhere. At one point I tried to say “tartaruga!” through my regulator and nearly swallowed half the ocean; Rafael laughed and gave me a thumbs-up.

After about 30 minutes underwater (could’ve been more or less — time gets weird down there), we surfaced near shore again. My hair was full of salt and my hands were wrinkled like prunes. There’s a hot shower back at the dive base which felt like heaven after being in the sea that long. We checked out our digital underwater photos while drying off — I look mildly terrified in most of mine but also sort of proud? Anyway, if you’re thinking about a day trip dive in Bombinhas or want to try something new on your holiday, this is it.