The islands originally received their names from sailors who heard barking when they moored there, and assumed that they must be dogs. However, the barking noises were made by Caribbean monk seals. The sailors also regarded the Caribbean monk seal as a good source of fresh seal meat, and as a result, they are now extinct.

The dog islands made my list as an excellent snorkel spot! We chose Great Dog island due to the wind direction, hooked up to a mooring ball and got ready to jump into the water!  Closer to shore the water is more protected from the wind and was considerably calmer.  Mom even decided to check it out! I had a blast swimming between the rocks and taking pictures of all the fish and critters that live there.