Thursday, June 28, 2012

Sail and Snorkel in St. John

On Wednesday, Marc and I went on a champagne sail and snorkel trip that was a Disney Cruise Line excursion. We were up early that morning so we could eat a nice breakfast at Cabanas before heading back to The Tube. Disney gave us our instructions, towels, and a cute little sticker that identified us as Disney cruisers. We were on our way! 

We made the quick walk down the pier and met with our open-air taxi driver. My, my, my...The ride to St. John was very interesting! St. Thomas is an island with lots of hills and curvy roads, and apparently, driving there is a free for all. Think of this way...Space Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, and Splash Mountain (and we'll throw in Everest Expedition, too, for good measure!) all mixed together for one hell of a ride. At least our group had a sense of humor, and we were throwing up our roller coaster hands and laughing uncontrollably! 

Quite a few from our DIS/Facebook group went on this excursion so we ended up with a few people we knew on our catamaran. We had a blast! 

Boarding the Catamaran

The sweet lady in blue was almost 90 years old. She was a spitfire! We met her a few days earlier when she was hitting on our Art of the Theme ship tour guide and kept asking him if he gave massages. She made quick work of the catamaran's crew and soon they were eating out of her hand. They danced with her, winked at her, took pictures with her, helped her around the catamaran, etc. and were so sweet to her. She was loving every minute!


As we were heading out to St. John, there were several catamarans around us. They were part of the same group, and thankfully, our catamaran had much less people on it than this one. We had plenty of room to move around.


I think I know where I want to retire!

Raising the Sail

I'm not sure what Marc is laughing about here, but it must have been really funny. One of the guys from our group wondered if this was taken before or after the rum punch starting flowing. (?)


I'll take one of these, please!

We ended up at Honeymoon Beach. This is the BEST place to go snorkeling in St. John, because it can only be accessed by catamarans, kayakers, and hikers. We really took a gamble when booking this excursion, because they had a choice of places to take us. I was thrilled when they announced we were going to Honeymoon Beach! 


Honeymoon Beach is part of a national forest. This is the park ranger's house. Can you imagine?!?! The captain said there is a 20-year waiting list to get this job. Where do I apply?


Marc took lots of underwater video of us snorkeling. It was AMAZING! We swam with sea turtles, stingrays, and lots of fish. There was also a lot of coral and other sea life. The closer you got to the park ranger's house, the shallower the water got, because you were swimming right over the coral reef. It was full of things to explore! The dark spot in this picture is the coral reef:


The sail back was just as much fun. I stood close to the bow of the catamaran and took it all in. The view were stunning, and I enjoyed every minute of it. I don't think I've ever been so relaxed in all my life. There was music playing in the background, lots of yummy snacks, and the drinks were flowing.

Sailboats Racing

Orlando Bloom was our captain! 
Disney knows how to do it right! (Kidding!)

This was my first attempt at "real" snorkeling. I think I have a new addiction. I cannot fully describe how peaceful it is to be swimming underwater and exploring all there is down there. It's like you're in a new world all by yourself, and it's truly something to be experienced. Get there if you can! 


No comments:

Post a Comment