This is not a hallucination.
There really are pigs oinking, snorting and swimming around our tour boat in the crystal clear blue waters surrounding Big Major Cay in the leeward islands of Exuma in the Bahamas.
In what can only be described as a surreal experience defying nature, logic and standard tourist attraction, the swine are the highlight of the Full Day Adventure Tour offered by Four C’s Adventure Tours.
Of course, we’d heard about the swimming pigs – they are famous in the Exumas.
But nothing can truly prepare you for meeting these porkers in the flesh.
As our 30-foot tour boat rounds the point and enters the bay there’s an immediate rustling in the underbrush behind the beach.
Four giant creatures – three mottled brown and one the traditional piggy-pink – thunder onto the sand and plow into the water.
In no time they’re treading water around the boat and are scarfing down the proffered bread and watermelon, well, like pigs.
Before long the food is gone and the pigs immediately turn tail and swim to shore.
No one seems to know for sure how pigs ended up at Big Major Cay about a dozen years ago.
Legend goes that they are the survivors of a shipwreck who managed to swim to shore.
Cynics suggest enterprising tour operators planted the swine there to build business.
Either way, they’re a hit.
While the pigs are the stars of the show, the rest of the day is none too shabby.
Racing around in the 300-horsepower 12-passenger speed boat through the Exuma Cays is a feast for the eyes.
Shallow waters over white sand bottom in the sunshine creates the most amazing spectrum of colours from gin-clear and baby blue to turquoise and sapphire.
We stop at a sandbar in the middle of nowhere for another surreal experience of walking on water.
We don snorkel gear at the grotto where parts of the James Bond movie Thunderball were filmed.
We stop at a private beach for a dip and swim with nurse sharks at Compass Cay.
Over lunch at the Stanley Cay Yacht Club we chat about how lucky we are not just to be in the Exumas, but experiencing a tour of bucket list moment after bucket list moment.
Thinking the tour cannot be outdone, we are wowed again as we pick up a rental car on the main island and seek out Tropic of Cancer Beach, deemed the prettiest in the Exumas and sporting a famous name to boot (the 23 degree north latitude of the Tropic of Cancer really does run right through the beach).
The only way to top off such great natural beauty is with memorable accommodations.
To get a cross-section of the island’s offerings we stay a couple of nights in a luxury condominium at family-friendly Grand Isle Resort overlooking the Atlantic Ocean and Emerald Reef Golf Course.
And then a few nights at the magnificent couples-only Sandals Emerald Bay Resort where we are unexpectedly upgraded to a butler room.
What to do with butlers at your beck and call 24 hours a day?
Well, they packed coolers and towels for our excursions; secured the best dinner reservations; booked our couples massage at the spa; snagged the prime poolside cabanas for us; and then fetched champagne and snacks for us whenever whim struck.