Pacific Ocean was pounding the beach the resort sits upon the day we visited. Amongst the crashing dark blue waves, lay an aqua blue calm strip of water. I have no doubt the snorkelling in this area is good, but the idea of snorkelling in between the thunder of the sea, didn’t appeal to us resulting in a polite decline on the invitation.

This is a nice area which exudes a somewhat isolated feel. Maybe it’s the drive down the track to the resort, or perhaps the long frontage, then again it could have been the waves rolling in from open ocean to pummel the shore.

Whatever the reason, the feeling of isolation was further enhanced by a lack of people. The only human life around, were those who worked at the resort and conservation park. Given this is a large, sprawling resort, slowly being restored, the size was magnified by the small handful of people.

Lack of people was a good thing though, with a personalised tour, just for us. We were guided around the resort area to view the concrete tanks with different age turtles being grown until they reached their release, back to the wild, size and age.

Iguanas’, flying foxes, chickens, all were on display in their own enclosures, Although we did wonder if they were aware they were also on the menu in the restaurant! Iguanas were happy to socialise and pose for the camera.

Between the resort/park and the pool of sharks mingling with the three oldest turtles, there lies a village where Ni Vanuatu who work at Crystal Bay, reside during their work tenure.

Pigs, from little tackers through to a couple of massive ones, live in their own pens at the edge of the village.

The final stage of the tour, is the pool of massive turtles and a lot of reef sharks and a ray. The opportunity exists to swim in this pool, which apparently some people take. The number of sharks was a little off putting

I did negotiate the steep steps down to the pool to meet the turtles, the biggest around 80 years old.

Our guide demonstrated sand drawings, which he completed in no time at all. Outlines were neat, tidy and cleverly put together.

There is an entry fee here, around AUD 20 each which included the tour, snorkel and feeding the big turtles. Swimming with the sharks, ray and turtles did cost more and is available at high tide if you are interested. Families will find plenty here of interest to the kids, when you stop by for a tour. The resort itself still looked a little run down and basic, making a stop on an island tour probably a better choice than staying on site.

Keep in mind also, this is not the location of the blue lagoon, which is a different area on Efate altogether.