Snorkeling in Budleigh Salterton

I recently had a weeks holiday in Devon. In that small time frame, we managed to cram quite a few trips in.
On one of the days that we actually got warm weather, we decided to have a day at the beach.
We spent most of the day in Budleigh Salterton, and the rest in Sidmouth.

 

Budleigh Salterton is a beach that actually has no sand, it is just stones – which is not comfortable to walk on! The sea is met by the river, and it’s so nice and clear to swim in!

We spent the first part of the morning walking around the beach and sitting in the sun ofr a while, and as the day got warmer we slipped into our wetsuits – more like sqeezed into them – and headed out into the sea!

 

I can’t say there was that much tos see while snorkeling around here, but I did manage to collect some really nice shells from the bottom of the ocean floor to take home with me! I also saw a fish, bigger than I’ve ever seen while swimming before which made the swim worth it. Unfortunately, only two pairs of flippers were packed, ones that fit my dad, and ones that fit me and my sister, and since I’m the stronger swimmer she had the flippers; this meant that after two hours my legs were tired and I got out! We swam around the sea though, getting quite shallow and swimming along the little fish – the bigger one I saw was further out and much deeper – and we also had a little swim along the ravine where the river and sea met.

I absolutely love swimming, I love the smell of wetsuits and the feel of floating along the water. Swimming gives me quite bad earache so it is not something I do as often as I’d like, but while on holiday I always just say why not, I probably won’t get the chance there again for a long time!

When I’ve holidayed in Scotland, I’ve gotten out of the water absolutely freezing, with hands so numb I can hardly feel them and jumped straight into a boiling hot shower to warm myself up before getting into jumpers layers of clothing. While in Devon, the water was almost pleasant, it was cold, but not too cold. I got out and didn’t feel the need to wrap myself in 10000 towels, I got dried and back into my dress and sunbathed – my hair dried in about an hour! It was so nice to get out and be able to just feel the warmth of the sun – which, stupidly, I managed to burn myself again. I, apparently, will never learn to put on sun cream.

Walking around here made me feel as though I were abroad. The temperature was about 30°c, the sea was blue and clear and the sun was shining down. There were palm trees, and other plants that you don’t often sea up where I live. I was walking around in a sundress and sunhat and for once, I didn’t care what I looked like, I was going to enjoy the summer!

A New Found Love of Palm Trees

Living in the north of England, I can’t say I’ve ever really seen a palm tree in person. We don’t have the climate for it, it would look out of place to be honest.
So when I was down in Devon, I saw palm trees dotted around the towns, I saw them in people’s gardens, and by the sea! I actually loved it.

We spent a day in Cockington and Torquay, and I just loved seeing the palm trees.

It’s weird, I’d never really given palm trees a thought, I knew it was something I’d see in another country, somewhere warm like LA, so I knew that it was unlikely I’d actually see them.

Palm Trees in Torquay – which is known as part of the English Riviera – really made me feel like I was abroad. The sea was a gorgeous blue and clear, the palm trees were swaying in the sea breeze, and it just made me feel nice and relaxed for a couple hours walking around. I’ve wanted to visit Torquay for a while now, to be able to say I’ve been to part of the English Riviera. I’m glad I now can.