Enjoying St Thomas

Thursday and Friday were days to rest. We were going to go to Magens Bay on Thursday but Carol felt a little punky so we just loafed around the pool here at the Castle. There were very few people around probably because of the large number of rooms being renovated here. I did get to look in one of the rooms being renovated and they are doing a major renovation; moving partitions and changing plumbing etc. The pool bar is still closed but getting ready to open up shortly.

Friday we picked up Hank and David and went to Magens Bay for the afternoon. David never had been there and if you have not seen it it is worth at least one trip. There were no crowds because there were no ships in. While in the water at waist depth I did see a 3 foot long barracuda swim by. There were not many other fish around and maybe that was why!!!

Carol and went to the Room With A View for their new happy hour. Five dollar wine and $5 appetizers. Too good a deal to pass up. Carol had some fried fish and I had the Calamari Provencal. Both are excellent.

This is Halloween and we plan on going to the Green House for dinner and may get to see some good costumes. It will give us the chance to see our friend Doug who is the night manager there.

Tomorrow is moving day for Hank and I will pick him up to bring him here to the Castle. We are lucky because we are going to be able to stay in the same unit and will not have to move. Hurrray, no packing and unpacking to do.

Dive, Dive!!!!

On Monday Hank and I met up with Peter at Coki Beach and went on our first two dives of ten planned. There was only one other diver with us but Peter and his new “helper” dove with us. The water was a little rough and we went to Grass Cay and dove on Mary’s Mounds. Down to 65 feet for 42 minutes. Got some decent pictures with the new camera and here a couple.

　

We then went to Mingo Cay and dove the Mingo Mounds. Another good dive for 40 minutes.

On Wednesday I had a new battery in my dive computer so I got good information on the dives. We dove a Congo Cay and Mingo again. At Congo there was a lot of surge and the bottom was covered with Coral fans and other soft coral waving in the surge. Very pretty but I didn’t take any pictures of it. I did see about 6 nice big conch but each one had a resident and I had to leave them on the bottom. We went to 77 feet, my deepest dive to date.

At Mingo we saw a sea turtle and several barracuda. Went to 64 feet for 43 minutes. Water temperature is at 83 degrees and I have not been using a wet suit.

We now rest until Monday and will do 3 days of diving next week.

The Day of the Dolphins

We were up early and caught the 830 AM ferry to Tortola BVI so we could swim with the dolphins. We got to Tortola about 945AM and our scheduled time with the Dolphins was 10 AM but we got a cab and arrived a minute early!! No problem, mon!!!



This was a really fun thing to do. There was only one other couple with us and it made it like our own private show. They had us put flotation vests on and we stood on a platform about waist deep in the very large pool. We got to pet the 2 dolphins. Shake hands with them, kiss them and even dance with them.



The real fun part was going out from the platform and floating with our arms extended and then the dolphins came up from behind on each side of us. We grabbed to their dorsal fin and they towed us back to the platform. Quite a ride. It got even better though.



The next time we floated lying flat with our legs extended behind us. The dolphins then came up from behind, placed their noses on the soles of our feet and pushed. They pushed you so you could actually stand up while being pushed along in the water. The one gal got pushed so high it looked like she was standing on the water.



Naturally they took video of this entire episode and it was so good we could not resist getting one. They did a high class job on the video and we will enjoy looking at it.



Tomorrow, Hank and I will be going on our first of 10 SCUBA dives.

A Great Start

We went to Bluebeards Beach Club to visit with Hank and his brother. Naturally the weather was great but there was a little higher surf and it was not very good for snorkeling as I found out later. Saw our friends from Albuquerque and visited with them also. We attended the Vendors presentations for the various trips and things to do while here. And wouldn’t you know it, Carol won a 2-for-1 trip to Virgin Gorda in the British Virgin Islands. We have been there in the past but it is a good trip and worth going to see again.

We had lunch there and then came back to rest up for our next day of fun.

Bluebeard’s Castle Arrival

Wow, we got a fine room at the Marriott. We got a room at the section called Morning Star. It is right on the beach and we spent most of our time under an umbrella on the beach reading and snoozing. I did go snorkeling some and took some pictures of the stuff I saw. It was a little tough getting good pictures because of the surge of the surf and it was tough seeing the picture-to-be in the display of the camera. I did see some squid and got a few good shots of them.

Last year Carol won a buy-one-get-one-free “Swim with the dolphins” at Tortola in the British VI. She called and got us an appointment for Monday. Sounds like it will be fun.

They had a cocktail party Friday evening and of course we took them up on their margaritas and snacks. They were trying to get people interested in their very nice timeshare which of course was of no interest to us.

On Saturday morning I went to the airport and picked up or rental car ….. It turned our to be a Jeep and is the best car I ever had in St Thomas!! Went back to Morningstar and checked out and then we stopped at Havensight to do a little shopping. I could not resist a new underwater camera that I feel will be easier to use underwater.

We then went to Bluebeards Castle about noon and lo and behold our room was ready to check in to. After unloading the car and getting set up in the room we went to the airport to pick up Hank, the fellow who bought our timeshares. He also brought his brother with him. On the way to the Beachclub where they are staying, we stopped and did grocery shopping. After dropping them at the Beachclub we came back to the Castle. We had a very light dinner in the room and watched the one ship depart.

Tomorrow we will go to the beach club and loaf at the beach.

Old Folks Fun

So far we have just been chilling in Puerto Rico and recharging our batteries. But we did take advantage of the sliding board at the pool that is for both kids and adults.

We left the resort at 730 AM to head for the airport and go through the morning rush hour traffic. It took less than an hour and it was not a bad ride. The airport was very low in activity and we sailed through the check-in and security. Our flight departed at 1015 AM and we landed at St Thomas at 1045 AM. Not even time for a cup of coffee!!

Naturally when we got to the Marriott so early our room was not ready so we checked our bags and had a light lunch. Carol is now napping in a comfortable chair in the lobby while we wait for our room.

More later!!

In sunny San Juan

We arrived in San Juan Saturday afternoon, after a short delay taking off from Miami, with good weather and warm temperatures. The Rio Mar Beach Resort is a very nice resort but we expected a Studio rather than a hotel room. It is a nice room but no refrig or stove as we like to have.

They have a casino and 5 places to eat right here at the resort. We are right on the Atlantic beach and have 2 pools also. We plan on staying here at the resort the entire time rather than taking any tours etc.. We just want to have some time to really relax and we are getting it.

Spent most all day at the pool today and had lunch there also. Good Rum punches were also available. We did take a short dip in the Atlantic and Carol got dumped over by the surf a couple of times. Luckily she did not lose glasses which she forgot to take off!!

We will depart Thursday for our 2 weeks plus in St Thomas.