One of the first things we did once in our hut was to start looking through all of the adventures they had to offer and figuring out what fun trouble we could get into. I have to say, the prices for everything here are much steeper than I’ve encountered anywhere else I’ve ever traveled-ever! I didn’t expect a simple lunch at the pool bar to exceed $100 or for it to cost over $300 to rent a wave runner for an hour and a half! I’m not one who likes to throw money around and I already spent a ton for the trip itself, so I wanted to choose wisely and get the most for our buck. Besides, the main goal was relaxation and unwinding. And we can’t forget tanning of course. J The activity I wanted to do more than anything was diving. Derek and I are both certified, so that was something I’d been talking about for a while. So we set up diving for Saturday and were able to get massages that afternoon last thing before the spa closed at 6pm. So that was one day set.
We decided to grab the 2pm boat to their “downtown” area where we’d be able to hit a grocery store and some shops. I wanted to get some fruit and juice so I could make some smoothies with the protein and vitamin powder I had from my nutritionist. Plus it was a chance for us to see more of the island away from our resort. The boat back to the St. Regis left promptly at 4pm. So we were off on our first adventure. We quickly realized that the black pearl was very big here. So we checked out a few shops and learned a bit about what we could only guess Captain Jack Sparrow was already an expert on. We took tons of pictures everywhere we went and made it back to our resort just in time to play with the perfect sunset. Check out some of these photos!
The next couple of days were spent laying out, snorkeling, biking, playing some night tennis, and relaxing in our wicked villa. The only real TV we got in English was CNN, one old movie channel and cartoons. So we mainly played music and borrowed some DVDs from the front desk for the evenings.
As Saturday slowly approached Derek started having nightmares about sharks. He admitted to being a bit worried about getting in the waters away from what seemed to be a safety net around the hotel. Of course, what at first looked like the hotel waters were contained really turned out to be a simple buoy for the boats. None-the-less, Derek woke up Saturday morning having had a horrible nightmare about being attacked by sharks and was very hesitant to actually get out of bed and go. But alas, he finally got up and off we went to the dive boat.
We jumped on the boat with a few other people, picked up a few more folks and were off to our first dive. On our way, our guide explained what we could expect to see in each location. The first location mainly consisted of Lemon Sharks and Black-Tip Sharks. I chuckled as a look of terror came across Derek’s face and he started asking questions about whether they might attack or not. The guides all assured us the sharks don’t attack people, but please don’t try to touch them or anything. So with all of the rules in place it was time to jump in the water and start exploring. Derek and I jumped in and while waiting for everyone else to get in the water Derek took a peek below us. I suddenly heard’ “Shannon! Look below us! There’s a shark!!” Funny thing was he was so excited! Once Derek actually saw a shark, all of his fears subsided. We started to go under, but I had a lot of trouble equalizing my ears for some reason. So I took some extra time, but never felt 100%. This might have contributed to the sudden fear I started to feel. We were near the ocean floor exploring and had at least 5 to 7 sharks swirling around us. It was crazy because I’d be looking in one direction and Derek would point out another shark coming up right behind us. I watched one swimming directly at us and started to get worried that it might not turn last minute. They all had up to that point, but what if one didn’t? Derek could feel me squeezing his hand harder and valiantly pushed me behind him. It was very sweet. And as always, the shark turned and really didn't mind us all being down there. I think the sharks were as curious about us as we were about them. But that was it. -Then there was this other little fish I was later told was a shark sucker. Well, this one little guy kept coming at me and the more I tried to swim away from him the more he advanced. Derek was laughing at me and the guide came over and just shooed him away. All I knew was this fish was getting too close for comfort, especially since I didn’t know what it was or whether it had teeth or not. He freaked me out a bit I have to say-for a second anyway. :)
Our second dive wasn’t that exciting. Both of our ears were hurting a bit, the visibility was really low and there wasn’t much to see. So that was it for our water activities for the day. Once back at the hotel we were so exhausted be both ended up completely crashing out until time for our massages. And what amazing massages those ended up being-definitely worth waking up for! So good, in fact, we decided to try to book other ones before heading back to reality.
Ok-I have to crash out, but there will be another chapter in this journey. I’ll have to try to get it all down in the next week or two. I was hoping to do it now, but there’s so much to tell. I wish I could have gotten it all down as it happened, because I probably have the worst memory in the world. So I’m hitting the main events that were probably the most interesting. Until I get the ending done…Happy Father’s Day…have a great week…smile and exert positivity and love fully! Here's a few more fun pics from the trip...
Love Always,
Xoxoxoxoxoxox SHANNON
