We gathered our masks, snorkels, sunscreen and cameras and drove down the peninsula to Placencia. We parked at Nite Wind and asked if they had room for two more. They did! The destination was Silk Caye. The price was US$65 each, including lunch. We fitted ourselves with fins (ours are so bulky we left them behind in Oklahoma) and went out to the boat, pulled up on the beach.
There were five other people, two couples and a woman whose husband had hurt himself diving the previous day. The boat pulled back, then we went up the coast to pick up the captain's children and girlfriend. We all set out on the 25' Pelican with a single large outboard motor across the sea.
In about an hour, we approached Silk Caye:
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where there were a few boats already beached. We all got out on the beach. The captain started lunch preparations while we all snorkeled off the beach. I took a few snapshots of shallow coral heads:
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Rhea was getting cold and so went back to the island. I swam around a bit more, over the edge of the "wall" surrounding the Caye. This let me see some of the structure:
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and get glimpses of marine life:
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but most of all it made me really, really miss SCUBA diving. I longed to descend and see the lower wall and the fish I could get mere glimpses of. If you do not dive, learn how! It is much more rewarding than snorkeling.
When I got tired, I made my way back to the Caye and looked for my cold wife. She was soaking up the late December sun as best she could:
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I was tired from my swimming and so lay under a coconut palm to doze before lunch. Rhea caught me at it and took a video:
After that, she shot a clip to show the entire island:
Feeling the need to get me in the sun, she had me make a Caribbean version of the classic snow angel:
The sand angel looked like this when I was done:
We posed for a photo together on the beach:
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and then Rhea talked with other snorkelers
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while I wandered around the entire island and took photos of birds
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and palms:
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I took a break to use the deluxe restroom:
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and get ready for lunch. Grilled chicken, coleslaw and potatoes au gratin--all cooked on site. Delicious.
We loaded everything back in the boat and headed east towards the barrier reef. We stopped inside the reef where several other boats were anchored. We donned our gear and went over the side:
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The captain chummed the water with pieces of conch meat. We swam around and waited for animals to come. While waiting, Rhea got cold and got back in the boat. She pulled out her camcorder and prepared to film video from the surface, while I attempted to take stills with my trusty Pentax Optio.
Eventually, something was spotted:
Without the Mrs. in the water with me, I had to follow other snorkelers:
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Rhea passed her camcorder to Erik, who tried and failed to video the sea turtle while snorkeling. He failed (NOT worth watching):
Erik was the last one out of the water as he was having so much fun. He eventually had to be called in by Rhea as everyone else was onboard already, apparently tired of sea life. Vowing to come back another day, he reluctantly crawled gracelessly into the boat (they had already stowed the ladder).
The boat stopped at the Hatchet Caye Resort on the way back. Very nice. You can check it out at their website: http://hatchetcaye.com/ to see photos. It looked even better in person. We walked around the island until it was time to head back to Placencia. On the way back, we stopped briefly three times to watch dolphins.
On shore, we posed for a photo:
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