No matter where you might be heading on holiday, there will always be a list of certain attractions and activities that take your fancy.
One such activity that regularly pops up for people heading overseas is the opportunity to swim with dolphins, with countless places around the globe where you can lower yourself into the water alongside these majestic creatures for a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
There are certainly plenty of places in the Caribbean where swimming with dolphins in possible, with the waters around Ocho Rios on Jamaica and Punta Cana on the Dominican Republic just two potential options alongside specialist centres such as the one found at the Atlantis resort in the Bahamas.
However, head for one small corner of the Caribbean and it isn’t dolphins that you’ll be sharing the water with but an altogether different species.
Hidden away amongst the hundreds of islands that make up the Bahamas sits the district of Exuma, which is a group of more than 300 small islands in itself.
Great Exuma is home to the largest town in the district and although it is relatively popular with tourists, it’s the island of Big Major Cay - around two hours away by speedboat - that is home to the major attraction within the region.
Big Major Cay is one of the many islands across Exuma that have no human inhabitants but that’s not to say no-one lives there - with the island instead being home to a herd of wild pigs that have helped to earn Big Major Cay it’s other name; Pig Island.
Exactly how the pigs came to be there in the 1990s isn’t known, with various stories doing the rounds depending on who you ask, but the one thing that is for certain is that it didn’t take long for them to settle and call the island their home.
Having spent much of their time foraging inland, the pigs were attracted to the coastal areas by tourists arriving by boat who brought with them food that the pigs were more than happy to share.
Over time, they have become more comfortable lounging around closer to the waters edge and are more than happy to take to the sea for a swim - and have no concerns about sharing the clear blue sea with any human visitors.
Although very much wild creatures, the pigs have become so used to human interaction that you can get up close and pet them in the water and as long as you respect them, they are unlikely to cause you any trouble.
Having become unlikely Caribbean celebrities, the Exuma pigs are well worth a visit if you can for an experience that you literally won’t get to experience anywhere else.