Today’s island
Another day, another beautiful tropical island. Same morning routine and away we went to sandy beaches, palm trees, and a reef with oodles of coral and fish. We first headed for the paddle boards to give them a try. We have paddle boards at home, but our only previous experience with them was on Lake Washington on a breezy day where there was a lot of chop. Tami had successfully stood up for about 30 seconds, Mike had managed maybe ten. We had hoped to try again in calmer waters. Yesterday it was very calm in the morning but we had never managed to try them out. So here was our chance!
Tami did start out facing the wrong direction on the board, but once she got herself turned around she got steadied, stood up, and away she went. Mike, too, was able to stand up right away and paddle off. He did find the drink a couple times, but was soon back up and on his way. There was a good breeze blowing so it was still choppy, but somehow we managed to stay upright and had a good time paddling.
Both standing!
Locals paddling by
A top local artist, he even had business cards!
But there’s more to do! We thought about taking the kayaks out, but decided to switch to snorkeling. We had so much fun yesterday just snorkeling on our own that we did the same again. We spent the entire morning snorkeling, exploring the reef and the coral, discovering more and more variety of fish and Mike even saw a snake on the sea floor. Tami also saw a manta ray laying on the sea floor. As she took a picture she thought, gee, that looks more rectangular than square, and where’s the tail? As she looked closer she realized that it was a piece of carpet. Appropriate color, mostly covered with sand. A perfect example of a carpet ray.
Heading out
We saw a LOT of different fish just off the beach
Not the best picture, but Tami loved this bright blue guy – almost glowing!
This one was close to two feet long
Sea urchin
Perfectly round brain coral
Sea urchin shell with little fish swimming into the hole on top
Filter feeders on coral
Shark!!
Lobsters in the bottom of the boat on shore
Lunch was back on the ship so we gathered gear, jumped in the skiff (Tami stayed off the boat bottom this time), and headed back for another wonderful lunch. Once we were cleaned up we decided not to go for the second snorkel. Up to the lounge to write, work on pictures, eat yet more treats, read, look at tropical islands out the window, and listen to Stan Getz and Joao Gilberto. Perfect.
Coming back to the ship
Photo editor Mike
The first indication that our fun and games would soon be over was the call to turn in our snorkels, fins, and water bottles. Sigh, it is all truly about to end. We then had the Captain’s dinner followed by a slide show put together by the crew. What a lot of fun to watch pictures of all of us, guests and crew, enjoying our glorious week. We will all receive a copy as well. Finally it was time to head back to our cabin and pack our belongings so we are ready for an early departure tomorrow.