So when first researching this trip, we learned that we could take a day-long snorkeling trip on a ship that was used in the Pirates of the Caribbean movies up through the Grenadines and the Tobago Cays. If you know me just a little, this was quite possibly the greatest news I could have received. So we immediately started looking into it and lucky for us, we got on a trip. As you know from the story in Part 2, we were weathered out from our scheduled day buy found out that there was room on a different trip scheduled for Friday.
So we made the arrangements again and got ourselves up early, sunscreened to perfection, and made our way to the other side of the Island. Fortunately for us, our speed boat driver Rameez was already there waiting for us. Challenge one was at least overcome.
The weather was better, but certainly not storm free. Upon getting into the speedboat and taking off to meet the ship in international waters to avoid the hassel and time of going through customs and immigrations (afterall we were never really going to step foot on land so we thought), I immediately began to regret this decision. It was probably the most terrifying thing I have ever done. The waves and the rain and Rameez’s “need for speed” had me terrified and in a panic. Tyler eventually asked him to take it a little easier on the waves and that helped, but I was praising God for bringing me safely to the dock of Union Island.
So we ended up on Union Island safe thankfully, only to be informed that due to overcrowding on the tiny 8 seat plane, we would need to wait for the rest of the passengers to arrive. So we were given instructions to explore the island. We instantly wished we had our passports because now we had time for customs and we both really wanted our stamp! But alas, we were illegal immigrants wandering around the cute little island that is part of St. Vincent and the Grenadines. It was actually an adorable little town and we had a ton of fun exploring it.
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After exploring Union Island we met up with the captain and he took us aboard the Satori (our ship). We got there before anyone else so we enjoyed walking about and had some delicious breakfast snacks on board. Then as a giant rainstorm rolled in we went below deck with the crew. It was cool to see all inside. They fit 3 full-size bedrooms on the thing! The crew were actually really cool and we had some fun hanging out with them before setting sail. We set-off a little late, but it was still so worth it.
Once we met our fellow mates, we set sail for Mayreau which was our first stop. This island is inhabited, but not by very many people. There is only one village with about 300 people. The captain said they just had electricity brought in like 10 years ago.
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Then we set sail for the Cays. The Cays are known to grow a special grass that apparently is like crack to sea turtles and it is supposed to be the best place to see them. Boy are they right! I could not believe how many there were. When we first walked into the water and put our head down, we saw about 8 of them all around us. We basically startled them by walking in. We would swim with one or two we saw, and when they got too fast, we would just wait a minute or so and another one would swim up. It was incredible! And to top it all off, they filmed some of the Pirates movies in the Grenadines and we were able to see the island that Jack Sparrow was marooned on in the films. So awesome! Our nerdy hearts were filled to the brim. After swimming with turtled for a while we headed to the reefs to see what kinds of fish and other sea life we might spot and then headed back to the Satori for lunch. A yummy Grenadian lunch with lots of rum punch to go around followed by rum cake and of course, coffee and rum! The rum is never gone down here.
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After that we made on last stop to a resort island called Palm Island. It is one of those islands that all it is is a resort and people pay like upwards of 600 dollars a night to stay there. In fact, we found it a little boring. But I guess it was cool to see. Not sure what is worth all that money since the beaches were were staying at seemed just as nice. But, oh hey. Our speedboat guy came and met us at Palm and we jumped in his little black boat and headed back to our little Carriacou. The trip back was a little less terrifying and I think I enjoyed it more. Our night ended with a delicious fresh fish meal cooked by the wife of the guy who owned the house we stayed at. We figured after all that swimming in the sea, we would want nothing more than to eat the deliciousness inside it.
And sadly all good things come to an end so we unfortunately had to fly out on Friday. So we headed to the airport, were the only ones there, went through the most pathetic excuse for airline security, and boarded our tiny little plane. We were the only 2 passengers – what a great deal! We were able to catch some sweet air shots of Carriacou as we took off. And that was the end of quite possible the best vacation ever. I suppose we will likely top it eventually, but whenever we travel together we always make the best adventure out of it. That is why I love Tyler, he makes everything a million times more fun. 🙂
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