Dan has got the travel bug. He loves to go to new places and try new food and do new things. I'm a homebody. I have a great time once I'm there, but I seem to need a little push. And it's especially hard when we leave the kids. For years, Dan has researched online the best snorkeling places in the world. He has PLANNED many, many trips that we've never taken. However, this fall, when he saw how cheap the prices were, he decided this was the time and the Carribean was the place.
Leaving the port in Miami
View from the top of the ship
Dan catching some sun.
Mike and Angie came with us which made the trip so much more fun.
Barefoot beach, Grand Cayman Islands
When ever we got off the ship, we snorkeled. Here we rented a car and drove to the north side of the Island to a place that's supposed to have great snorkeling. It was good, but the beach was filled with trash. I should have gotten a picture of the trash, prickly seaweed, broken bottles (don't go "barefoot" here), old washed-up flipflops, broken sunglasses, you name it.
Then we drove to Smith's Cove.
Much better snorkeling for me because the water was calm and clear.
This is our ship (the one on the left), the Carnival Valor. It's HUGE!
Chaakanab Park, Cozumel
Again, more snorkelling. But here we could also relax on the beach and get food. They also had a neat Mayan exhibit.
Our underwater camera didn't take the best pictures, but here's a cool one of Mike swimming with some friends.
Dan at Smith's Cove.
I have to quickly tell about Belize. It was our favorite part and we forgot our camera and we had used all the pictures in our disposable underwater one. We took a water taxi out to an island called Caye Kalker. We hired this guy to take us (just the four of us) out to the reef on his little boat. He was a snorkel guide. We saw the coolest stuff!! 6 foot long Moray Eels, huge sting rays, sea fans and whips, parrot fish, angel fish, I even saw a jelly fish right off the boat that had me freaked a little. I wish I could remember the names of everything! Very colorful fish and the corals were amazing. Then the guy to us to "shark/ray ally." I didn't dare step off the boat for fear I would step on a ray. They were everywhere! They would swim between your legs and up on your back if you got down to snorkel. There was a big barracuda about 10 feet away from us that never moved. I kept checking on him and he didn't move the whole time we were there. Then a nurse shark came over. The guide was going to make sure I touched it. It was rougher than sand paper. He was pretty big, but apparently harmless.
Such a fun time! When we weren't snorkeling, we were on the ship eating. Eating, eating, snorkeling, eating, snorkeling, snorkeling, eating, eating, eating. It was the laziest 8 days of my life! I was ready to come home and start taking care of the kids again. Thanks to Sarah and my mom and dad for taking such good care of them.
