Hubby & I are up by 6 am and we hear mini F-F calling from the tree house shortly thereafter. We rescue her from the tree house (and the apparent army of mosquitoes) and we’re all ready for breakfast. Gromit is up and whips up some yummy bacon, egg and cheese breakfast sandwiches. We’ve decided to head for Maho today since it’s early and it’s an ideal beach for the little ones – and honestly, the big ones too!
Tip #9 (I think) - If you want easy access Maho is a great beach for you. Parking is literally on or steps from the sand.
We head out & the ride there is exciting. We are all in our separate 4wds with our walkie talkies.
Tip #10 - If you are with a big group & have separate cars Walkie Talkies are great to have to make sure everyone's on the same page.
Gromit & hubby are in the lead giving the walkie talkie tour of Cruz Bay & the north shore. I think, hum … Caravan Tours might be a new business venture – give everyone a walkie talkie and tell them to follow.
We arrive at Maho & find it exactly as we left it 2 years ago. It is a great flat beach and very calm. The parking is ideal. We literally back right onto the beach and unload. You are right there!
We all hang out … sunning, swimming, snacking and just generally being completely useless. The mini Flip-Flop has taken to the water like the proverbial fish. Ok, so it’s definite, she’s mine! She’s a girl after her mom’s heart and we decide we’ll definitely keep her. She alternates between floating in the water with her ring and digging in the sand.
Tip #11 - If you are traveling with a little one buying 3 or 4 floats from Walmart & carting them with you is definitely worth it. They don't weigh much and they make life so much easier. And you can just leave them behind for the next lucky family!
Gromit has a couple of friends who live over on St. Thomas who are joining our hubbies on their night dive. Soon it’s time for her to head off to pick them up at the ferry. We promise to meet them at Skinny’s in about an hour or so for a burger. That is if we can pry ourselves off the beach.
12 pm – We’ve managed to pack up and are off to Skinny Legs for my 2nd burger of the trip! Yummmmm. And ice cream.
Tip #12 - THE COOLER MOVED! We find it is no longer in the super-secret, protected location and is now just there right in plain sight! Things change ;)
We decide to head back to the house – the pool is calling us & the guys have to rest up for their night dive with Colette.
4pm – the divers head off for the night dive & we continue to linger at the house. They are meeting Colette at Salt Pond so we decide we’ll all meet up for a late dinner at Shipwreck Landing. Pool anyone?
6:30pm – We finally get ourselves in gear and head out to Coral Bay again. The guys have taken our Jeep Liberty to the night dive, so Mini F-F & I catch a ride in the open jeep with Gromit. I am concerned that she won’t be happy with all the wind. Well, once again Gromit says it’s like a roller coaster and she’s all good. 10 minutes after riding with the wind, she passes out in the back of the jeep and continues to sleep alllllll the way to and through dinner.
The non-divers decide to go ahead and eat since we have no clue when the divers will arrive and it’s a good thing because we don’t see them until 11pm back at the house! I selected the dinner special of grilled wahoo with wasabi mayo. YUM! Service was slow but kind. We cut the lady a lot of slack as someone hadn’t shown up for their shift and she was handling the entire restaurant herself! Gromit had an order of conch fritters and I snagged a bite – also yum. A lime n da coconut later and I am feeling just fine. The girlie is still snoozing. We finish up dinner and decide to head back to the house.
11pm – The night divers finally return home from their night dive. It seems that it didn’t go all that smoothly but that they did get to see some pretty cool things – huge lobster, crab, cool fish, etc. The water was very rough. Hubby was displeased as he missed the first acclimation dive during daylight due to an equipment malfunction. He typically (without a wetsuit) sinks like a rock, so had taken on no weight. Well he gets out there and can’t manage to go & more importantly STAY under. He just keep floating to the top. He’s quite experienced & thus is upset with himself thinking he’s done something wrong but he heads back to shore so that the rest of the group can continue without him. So he’s sitting on shore and notices his b c is inflating all on its own. Now he’s really mad because he’s missing the dive because of the vest! Luckily it gets straightened out and he makes the 2nd dive without any problem.
Tip #13 - A word of warning from him to divers who tend to get motion sickness – its worse with night dives. Take some dramamine. He ends up tossing his cookies on the way back to the house. But still proclaims the night dive VERY cool.
I have waited up for them to return because I worry & am unable to sleep until I see the whites of the man’s eyes. You never know what can happen underwater in the DARK! Once he’s home I am off to snoooooze-land. It’s after 11pm – officially the latest I’ve stayed up since being on island & it feels like it is 2 in the morning!
Tomorrow – Rain, Shopping in town & Miss Lucy’s Full Moon Party
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