We are family tour - Day 5

Karla · Post by **Karla** » Sun Jul 28, 2013 9:14 pm

Check out Haulover North again – same thing, different day (i.e. still rough). So, decide that we’ll try to rent kayaks and paddle over to Whistling Caye. Every year I say that I’m going to do this, and every year for some reason or other, it doesn’t seem to happen. The wind isn’t quite as bad as previous days so let’s give it a try. The rest of the group is not as excited about this as I am, but they humor me and go along with the idea.

We arrive at Cinnamon Bay to rent kayaks about 8:30AM expecting them to either have opened at 8:00AM or maybe 9:00 at the latest. However, when no one is around at 9:00, we ask at the store and they tell us the rental shack doesn’t open till 10:00. So, we hike around Cinnamon Bay, look in their gift shop, and basically kill time till they finally open.

: Killing time waiting for the rental shack to open

Right at 10:00AM, a women and child drive up and start opening things up. The child (probably around 10 years old) asks what he can help us with. When we tell him we want kayaks, his response is “you know it’s crazy windy out there”? Yep, I say, we know and are planning on staying along the shore around Maho and Francis and then paddling over to Whistling Caye. His response – “Yeah, I don’t think that’s going to happen”! Well, are we going to let a 10 year old kid ruin our plans?.......................uh…..yeah! We’ve watched this adorable curly-headed blond kid grow up on Cinnamon Bay and I’m just guessing that no matter what his age, he has more knowledge of ocean conditions than I'll ever hope to acquire. We’ll take his advice and maybe live to paddle another day. I’m disappointed, but the rest of the group seems a bit relieved

. OK, let’s go for PLAN B. Hm.. too bad we don't have a PLAN B. Oh well, there is a gorgeous beach around ever corner - how hard can it be

?

PLAN B, we decide, is to try something new and head to go over to the Southwest side of the island and see if we can find Klein Bay and Snorkel over to Dietleff. Let’s just say that we saw a lot of that side of the island before we ever found a parking lot for the beach (and on the way home had to fill up with gas!). I was getting a little frustrated, but we were seeing places we’d never seen before on the island so it was all good. After finding the parking lot, we walk to the far end of Klein Bay trying not to disturb the only other 2 people on the beach. This snorkel is definitely a different type of snorkel. Lots of vegetation on the ocean floor swaying with the current. If you stare at it too long, you could almost get dizzy. Highlight of the snorkel was our encounter with another EAGLE Ray, or 2 or 3. We never saw them all together, so it might have been the same one 3 times.

: Klein Eagle Ray

Also saw squid, lobster, and turtle that thought he was hiding from us.

: peek-a-boo turtle

After some downtown at the villa (we stayed at Sweet Winds Villa in Hurricane Hole) we decided to head back to Pelican Rock with our Lionfish markers and try to find our bad boy. We find the spot where he had been, but he is nowhere in site. Swim on out to Pelican Rock and as we are about as far away from shore as you can get, we see a group of young men in a dingy pulling another teen on a wakeboard. They are uncomfortably close to us and to the coral

. We wave at them to make sure they see us and anticipate that they've left to find another spot to play. However, a few minutes later, they are back and even though they clearly see us they come between my sister and my husband. We yell at them and there is another guy in a boat nearby that REALLY game them a piece of his mind. He must have carried more weight than we did cause they left and didn't come back. We didn't see a lot on this snorkel, but when you're lifting your head out of the water every few minutes to see if you are about to get run over, it's hard to focus

. On the way back in toward shore, my sister spots a Lionfish. When I swim down to take a closer look we see that it's actually two lionfish hanging out together - that can't be good.

We deploy the markers and head to shore. Just a few feet from shore my sister shows us a baby drum that she has spotted hanging out near a rock. On closer inspection, I think it was a baby highhat. It was SO cute. Take some pictures and call it a day.

: baby highhat

: highhat2

Tomorrow: The girls snorkel Maho while the guys attend the Emmas Moravian church.

ColumbiaSCTraveler · Post by **ColumbiaSCTraveler** » Sun Jul 28, 2013 9:30 pm

An eagle ray! Lucky you!

I've never snorkeled Klein ... I think I read somewhere about and over abundance of sharks.....?!?

mindehankins · Post by **mindehankins** » Mon Jul 29, 2013 9:18 am

LOVE the story about the little guy at Cinnamon Bay. I think you were wise to heed his warning.
....and the miniature Tophat? SQUEEEEE! He's too adorable. I guess he has to grow into his hat

mnfun2bme · Post by **mnfun2bme** » Mon Jul 29, 2013 8:24 pm

I agree with Minde.... wise to take the warning of the little kid.... no matter how disappointing! Sorry you didn't get to do that one.... next time, right?!?

Did you get any pictures of the lionfish? I have yet to see one while snorkeling St John.... hoping not to, actually but am always curious about the pics people have of them.

The pics of the highhat are adorable.

Sounds like you're having a blast and that is the MOST important thing!

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