Well hello again friends! If you’re here then you likely read all about our jet boating tour in Tortola and were just DYING to know more about our time exploring the Caribbean in true Amanda style…active.
Pulling in to St Thomas, I’d say it was by far one of the prettiest Caribbean ports I’ve ever seen. Maybe it’s the panoramic views of mountains and little houses dotting the hillside or maybe it’s the lack of a huge shipping port!Step one after disembarking is always the most harrowing… you board an oversized looking golf cart and it drives you haphazardly through the hills to your location. No seat belts and umm yeah driving on the wrong side of the road, those crazy people.
BUT then you arrive and all is forgotten.Jumping in to our two person kayak, I said a little prayer that my controlling tendencies wouldn’t be an issue. Hey it’s why I like kayaking over canoeing, my boat my pace!
Our tour guide was quite possibly one of the best I’ve ever had. Not just because he referred to us repeatedly as “beautiful people” or because he gave us chocolate, but his genuine joy of being on the water and sharing his knowledge seemed to just seep out of every pore!After kayaking along the mangroves, which are over 500 years old, our little merry band of paddlers found a beach to pull up our kayaks. My arms loved the workout and my brain was thrilled to find the waters were smooooooth as glass!
I stopped snorkeling after a few seriously rough water experiences that left me motion sick for days. But again this year has been all about pushing boundaries so back out I went and this time I was armed with the GoPro!Since we paddled to our location we didn’t see some of the insanely colored fish I remember from Key Largo, Key West and Costa Rica.
A little secret though…I’d take less fish and calm waters over more interesting any day!! We did see a couple of sting rays, some awesome coral and a few crazy colored fishes. Do I know their names, nope, don’t care.
After we paddled and then snorkeled, it was time to get our land legs back for a little exploration of the tiny island where we had parked our yellow boats. Off in the distance we were really lucky to see St Croix thanks to the clear skies, he said that happens once in a blue moon (did I mention we got to see a super moon on the ship?!).Sighhhhh.
Seriously doesn’t that photo just make your whole body relax? Blue waters, puffy clouds, islands in the distance, get me a hammock and I’d have stayed for hours. Alas we had more paddling to do and some crabs to race, but that’s another story for another day.
It was indeed a working cruise for me and I just couldn’t quite get my brain around a bikini + colleagues, so a one piece it was! I think this also made it easier to bounce around activities without wondering if I’d lost a top or bottom!
Have you cruised in the Caribbean?
Favorite activity on the water?
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Angie Newton says
Never been on a cruise but we have been snorkeling in St. Thomas and St. John. So awesome. We won a travel blogger trip with Marriott and had a blast. We bought my stepson a GoPro a couple Christmas’s ago and just saw pictures from their Jamaican honeymoon last month and I think I want to get Kev one for Christmas. Amazing pictures!