USVI-On-Line

Hi,

I just wanted to say thanks to everyone who gave advise on Grand Bahama Island.
I'll give a mini trip report for those who are interested in going.
Our flights were very screwed up by United and it took about 11 hours to get there. Instead of flying into charlotte we had to go to Miami, and of course our flight was delay so we missed our flight to Grand Bahama so we took a van to Ft. Lauderdale and made the 8:00 pm flight on a puddle jumper. We used expedia, United blamed them and expedia blamed United for the screw up. Needless to say we are not happy with either of them. We did get $150 each in vouchers but we are writing a letter to them about our service.

We stayed at the Westin, it was great! It had infinity pools right on the beach with a swim up bar. I counted at least six different pools to choose from.
You can't compare it to St. John but we really enjoyed our stay. We took your advise on not eating at the resort, we had dinner most nights across the street at Lucaya market place. Many places to choose from and it was all great.
Each night we went to the casino, I'm now addicted to Black Jack! we won every night and total for the trip we came home with $1,000.00 basically it paid for our snorkeling trips and dolphin swim and dinners. The casino is very small but a lot of fun, we saw the same people playing every night and made some friends during the week.

I know some people are against the dolphin swim but we had a great time. We didn't get to do the open water swim like we wanted to because the ocean was to rough that day. We talked to the trainer and told us about everything they do. They take the dolphins out in the ocean often and they actually get to play with wild dolphins. They were born in the santuary and are well cared for. It is a very large lagoon area. I think they are ambassadors to educate people about dolphins. We got to swim and interact with them and it was a high light of our trip. There was a lady who was by herself at least 65 and could not hear and could not swim very well. The dolphins took right to her and were so gentle with her. The smile on her face was pricless.
We did not get to snorkel as much as we wanted because of the weather but we did go to the other side of the island to Dead man's reaf. It was comprised of 5 diffent cays and we snorkeled the back side of them it took at least 1 1/2 to go around. It went from very shallow to 20 feet deep in some places, very challenging. Not as good as St. John.
I tried really hard not to compare the Bahamas to St. John. It is totally a different experience.We are going to go back with kids in the spring. One thing that stood out the most is how friendly everyone is in the Bahamas. We didn't have one bad experience on the Island. Thank god we got off the Island when we did because of the Huricane that is on it's way. Thanks again for all the advise your gave me. Our Honeymoon was everything I could hoped for. We are going to be on St. John on Dec 1. Can't wait see everyone at the Beach Bar!

Sandy and Mel

Hi DC. Im glad you had a great honeymoon in the Bahamas! I've had good luck with Black Jack there too, and I also did the dolphin swim. It was so exciting for me and I'll never forget it! I did another one in Mexico that was even better. The dolphins carried us thru the water and played games with us. A truly amazing experience. I know lots of people don't approve, but I enjoyed it so much and can't wait for Mr Ksea, Jr to try it. I also agree that STJ cannot be beat, but the Bahamas have a lot to offer as well. Welcome home!

Sounds like you had a wonderful time. I’m one of the folks that is not keen on swimming with the dolphins – but after reading how they let them out into the ocean and they get to interact with wild dolphins – I felt a little better about it.

The last time I was in the Bahamas was back in the late 70’s. My buddy and I decided to skip work and catch a flight over and spend a long weekend. The best part was the Steel Pans playing in the background as I called in sick to my boss. Ah – the stuff you did when you were younger. Now that we’re older – we just don’t care.

Let us know how the kids like it and have a great time on STJ in December.

congrats! where are the pictures?

I'll post some photos from the trip, still working on them, I'm recovering from a cold I caught while down there Just got home last night. I promise by the end of the week.

Sandy

Florida George,
I was a litte worried about it also. I'm not for animals being abused in any way, but it seemed like they were having fun as much as us! The fact that they can go out in the ocean and not be pinned up all the time made the difference. The trainer is alo great, she really loves what she does and she is very protective of them. If you ever get over there, it is worth checking out. They also have a program for scuba diving with the dolphins in open water. I know you like to dive. Sounds like a lot of fun. When I get certified I might give that a try next.

feel better! I got sick on my honeymoon too! I clearly recall running out of the water at Trunk to blow my nose! VERY attractive