This was a magical day! We spent 7 hours out on the Caribbean water with Cari-Bean tours. First was a simple breakfast at the resort and then to meet our 9:00 boat at a nearby dock. At exactly 9:00 Captain Oliver and Joey pulled up for our 7 hour adventure...
It was a private tour with just us and the 2 of them for the day...we headed to the reef and first stop was some snorkeling for about an hour and "hunting" for our lunch...that was Joey's job.
So we all snorkeled while Joey was spear fishing and looking for lobster...I was back on board and I heard things being thrown into the ship from the side....
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| lunch!! |
Carleigh and I were a bit startled because everything was still alive and flopping around on the deck of the boat.
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| 3 fresh lobsters for lunch |
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| Oliver and Joey heading to the next stop |
Now that lunch was caught and we had all successfully conquered snorkeling, it was off to greater adventures. We lifted anchor - and headed to our next stop...snorkeling with manatees. There is an area of the reef that manatees frequent and Oliver took us there with assurance from some of his friends that there was one there at the moment...Joey led Don, Carleigh and Katie on a quick search mission and they found one!
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| taken with Don's Go-Pro |
Definitely a bucket list item for Don and so happy that the girls got to see this also!
After the quick manatee adventure it was time for fishing. Joey had already assured us that we would have lunch, so the fishing was an added item for us...good thing Joey was successful in his hunting mission because our fishing contribution wouldn't have fed us all. :)
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| Chef Joey preparing the lunch meal for later... |
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| Carleigh learning how to cast from Captain Oliver |
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| Fish number 3 from Katie... |
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| Carleigh's catch of the day |
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| How many fish did you catch Katie? |
Carleigh and Katie were successful during the fishing segment of the day - Katie: 4, Carleigh: 1, Don and Laura: 0.....We packed up our rods and headed to our private island for lunch. Carleigh enjoyed the roof of the boat and some sun.
Approaching the island we would eat lunch on...this island belongs to some of Oliver's friends. They own it and spend time on it with their families. Oliver is the only tour operator that uses this island. It was truly a Gilligan's Island eperience. Lots of crazy things on the island that have probably been collected over the years, no running water...just rain water collection. No electricity, no plumbing...just a spot to enjoy the world around you and rest from the water...
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| the outhouse, but not really...just a private spot for ladies to sit. :) |
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| our table for 4 - for lunch |
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| our catches of the day - spiced, seasoned and sauced up by Joey and then cooked over a fire. |
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| The Cari-Beanz docked at the island with Oliver |
After lunch, we packed up, boarded the boat and headed to another snorkel spot for a bit.
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| nap time for Katie |
We snorkeled and did a drive-by of another island that is very "resorty" - Caye Caulker. Then we headed home and returned to Ambergris Caye by abouut 4:00 p,m. after leaving around 9:00 a.m.
We relaxed and headed to dinner at Blue Water Grill down the beach. It's a sister restaurant to our resort, so we got a discount there.
Fun wall decoration in the restaurant...
They had a reggae band that we thoroughly enjoyed while eating...
After a fun day on the water and a great dinner, we headed back to the room to sleep!
Tomorrow is another relaxing day...Katie will celebrate her birthday with a spa day at the resort and we will hang out by the pool and just enjoy! Don might venture out to find the San Pedro library to get some more pool-side reading and we'll see what else happens while on La Isla Bonita!
Stay Tuned..as there's Seldom a Dull Moment with the Rahns!
