Another early morning today. And look at this beautiful sunrise over Kralendijk.
Our snorkeling tour with Woodwinds Bonaire started at 8:30. We booked this tour well over a year ago. It’s top rated for snorkeling trips. We had no idea what we were in for. I just gotta say … we thought we had snorkeled before. Boy were we mistaken. I guess we have gone through the motions, and Christmas Cove on St. John is amazing. We really thought that couldn’t be beat. Ha! How incredibly wrong we were.First off, the catamaran we boarded holds 24 passengers plus 5 crew (Dee – owner, 3 guides & a driver). There wasn’t enough wind to get the cat moving so we motored over to Klein Island to snorkel the reef around it. I was a little apprehensive about jumping in because the water in Aruba was so cold, but whatcha gonna do? Dee had everything you could possibly want on board to make the experience the best it could be. She had all kinds of regular masks, full face masks, fins, UV shirts in all sizes and more. She gave us a little “class” before jumping in about how the mask and snorkel work best and what to do if we ran into any issues to fix them.
She had three guides so we were divided into three groups of eight. The four of us were in the same group which happen to the the first in the water. Surprisingly, the water wasn’t that bad. It was cool but definitely bearable. From our first look at the undersea world through our mask to the last we were blown away. I just kept saying “wow” over and over again. Amazing doesn’t begin to describe what we saw. There were fish everywhere, and all different kinds of them! And the coral? Oh my, it was everywhere and so many beautiful colors? Snorkeling has always been pretty effortless for me and this was the most I have ever seen with the most minimal of effort. We just drifted with the current back to the boat after swimming probably close to 45 minutes. It was the coolest snorkeling we had ever seen. It put Christmas Cove to shame. But wait! There’s more!! Dee asked if we liked that and when the response was an overwhelming YES! she just said, “If you liked that, you’ll love the next stop.” (It was right around the corner from where we were – the reef continued.) And we’re thinking how in the world could it get any better?
But it did. The next time we jumped the underwater world was even more incredible. I sure hope at least some of the pictures and video turn out. To say it was amazing is an understatement. (Needless to say, this little camera did amazing! And this post is photo heavy. I was so tickled the colors are as vivid in the photos as they really were underwater.)
About an hour and a half of snorkeling reduced to a 9-1/2 min VIDEO. I am an amateur videographer and a beginner video producer but hopefully it gives you an idea of the beauty we saw.
By the time we were herded back to the boat we were tired. And that boat seemed quite a long way away. In the end it was. LOL I think if we had turned towards the boat earlier I would’ve been ok. As it was when we started back we were swimming against the current. And getting nowhere. I didn’t use any kind of floatation device on the second swim (used a noodle the first time), which I totally did not need until the end. Even then I’m not sure it would’ve helped much. No matter how hard I worked that boat was not getting any closer. Thankfully no one is left behind and they made sure I got back safely. Hahaha
Back on deck they started handing out the beer. Yup, I think we earned that!! None of us could believe what we had just done. We are so ruined for other snorkeling now. I don’t see what can even come close to comparing to swimming in an aquarium. Before we could blink they began bringing out these plates of food that smelled heavenly. And we were hungry!! Wow! We didn’t know we got beer and food too!! Dee sure knows what she’s doing. She told us when you take her tour you get what you signed up for – snorkeling. She said she isn’t one of those tours to take if you want to be part of herding the cattle and getting drunk – snorkeling only for a few minutes just to say you’ve snorkeled. Boy does she deliver. $65 for what we got? Well worth it! We thought we were kind of done with the ABC islands, now we can’t wait to come back to Bonaire.
I was still looking for a few gifts so we hit the shops in port on the way back to the ship. BINGO!! Found just what I had been looking for! Some hand made jewelry, made in Bonaire. Picked up a couple of pair of earrings for myself and several for gifts.
On the way to our cabin we went to the pool deck for waters and ran into Madigel trying to book guests for The Lawn Club Grill (specialty restaurant) for dinner. Bob talked him down to $25 so we made reservations for 6pm – it’s normally $45 (which is way too much). Back in our cabin we died. Or at least I did. It was nice not to have to dress up for dinner. The Lawn Club Grill is the only specialty restaurant on board you don’t have to dress up for. It’s on deck 15 and pretty laid back. We enjoyed it but probably wouldn’t do it again. Honestly, the filet in the Tuscan Grill was better. But the sunset while waiting for dinner? Incredible!!
There was a Battle of the Sexes game in the Celebrity Theater at 8pm and we figured that would be a good way to kill time before the 9pm show. We thought we were going to watch a show. Little did we know we had to participate in it. Girls on one side, guys on the other. There were several rounds (trivia, wheel of fortune, numbers) and I’m proud to say the ladies kicked butt! Of course the guys think we cheated. Whatever.
Savannah Jack (from Nashville) was the band on stage tonight. They were billed as a rock group but I think they’re closer to country, although they did a little of everything. The lead singer is Don Gatlin, cousin of the Gatlin brothers. They did covers of so many others – Garth, Neil Diamond, Dooby Brothers, Motown artists, AC/DC, Joe Cocker, Bob Seiger and ended with Kool and the Gang’s “Celebration.” And those old women in the front row were eating it up!! It’s so heart warming to see couples 10 and 20 years older than we are having so much fun.
Back to the cabin for the night. We are such party poopers. Tomorrow sea day!!
It's a Wonderful Life! 