We Traded in Our Pug for... a Chilean Sea Lion!

Not really! But it was tempting. Can you imagine the food costs? Whew! Meeting Remo the Chilean Sea Lion was definitely a highlight of our visit to St Thomas, US Virgin Islands. Remo lives at the Coral World Ocean Park which is approximately 1 hour from our room at the Emerald Beach hotel. The drive was remarkable and the park was just up the street from a small, white sand cove picture-perfect for snorkeling. In fact we jumped in with our masks, snorkels, and fins, just to see what treasures the USVI waters had to offer. There were plenty of brilliantly colored tropical fish that wouldn’t leave our sides and crustaceans on the rocky reefs, but the most entertaining was swimming on the outside of the underwater fencing for the park and peeking in to see the collection of pelagic fish and people in snuba gear.

We not only enjoyed the sea lion encounter and the amazing friendly sea lion trainer, but the whole park is like walking through a marine park that was in your own backyard. The Critter Corner with the lorikeets, iguanas, turtles, and ducks was informative, interactive, and entertaining. And my favorites, the Stingray Lagoon and Shark Encounter, were an excellent chance to be up close and personal with stingrays and baby sharks. Overall, for the small size of this well-structured eco-park, I was impressed. I’ve been to Sea World in San Diego, California, almost every year as a child, and loved it. But Coral World Ocean Park has an up close and personal feel that lends itself to intimate encounters without the commercialism experienced in larger sea life parks. And for the price, you can’t beat it!

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