This was one of my most favorite day we had on the island. They were all great (except the day we had to leave), but there were a few days that shined more than others! ;)
One of the awesome outings provided by Mango Bay resorts was a complimentary Catamaran boat trip to swim with sea turtles. The boat picks you up right at the beach, so all you have to do is walk right up!
Once we took off (the boat used the engine to get to the snorkel point), it took about 15 minutes to get to the sea turtle point. It was really nice to be on the boat, zooming past the island's coastal line. It was a neat view from the boat! I had decided to wear my huge sun hat. I knew that it would probably blow off my head if I didn't hold it in place, but I didn't mind holding it down as I was more concerned about getting a sun burn.
It must be a popular part of the sea for the turtles to frequent because there were multiple boat tours that were anchored there. We were provided diving life jackets & snorkel gear. Ernie & Missy got in first. They are both like fish in water. They zoomed off into the water, almost disappearing! I was next to go in, but I started to hyperventilate with my gear in place on my face. I started to get into the water, but came back up the ladder so I could catch my breath. It was my first time being in the open sea, not being able to touch. I know I had a life jacket on, but it still scared me! So I had Joe go down first, then I followed. I really wish that I wouldn't had freaked out because as soon as Joe got into the water, a sea turtle came by & he touched it! By the time I got in, it was gone :(
I did see a lot of turtles, but I just couldn't swim fast enough to touch one. Ernie & Missy got to touch one too! I was the only one who didn't :( So, before we went on this trip, I ordered an underwater case for our Flip Camera. I got it on Amazon for like $50. I really didn't want to pay that much, but I am so glad that I gave in! It was sooooo amazing to be able to take video of our underwater adventures!! I love it that we can look back and see all of the amazing things we saw & did! And to be able to share it with our kids...and you!! Here are two videos:
The first video was taken by a camera man that the resort had hired to do photoshoots for their new ad campaign. His underwater camera case broke, so he asked us if he could borrow our camera to get some footage. He dove down into the water to take that one. The second one was done by me, I think that I did pretty good, but it was obviously wobbly! I am looking forward to seeing if he uses any of our turtle footage (and to see if we end up in the background of any of his photographs or videos! We were asked by the resort to 'model' for them...acting like we were having a good time at their other resort they have inland. But we all declined. We had some other things to do that day & we all looked 'hit' from being in the water. It would have been cool though!).
After we got done snorkeling with the sea turtles, they put the sails up and we sailed back to our resort. Sailing was sooooo much fun!! We laid on the deck of the boat (shaded by the sails) and enjoyed the sea breeze. I did however almost have a panic attack while on board. We had scheduled a driver to pick us up at the resort at 1:00pm to take us on a submarine ride. We were "suppose" to be back from our snorkeling trip at 11:30, but what I forgot was that boat guys were running on "Barbados" time. We didn't end up getting back until 12:45. We ran off the boat, grabbed our packed lunches (if you plan to not be at the resort for a meal, you can ask them to pack you a lunch! They put it in a real nice cooler bag & have it ready for you! No additional charge!), hurried up and changed into our clothes and ran into the van waiting for us!
Once we got to the drop off point for the Atlantis Submarine, Joe realized that he forgot his wallet...that had our vouchers in it!!!! Thankfully, the night before, Joe had emailed out an itinerary for our trip to all of us. I honestly thought it was a lil corny, but was so thankful that he did because he had included the travel agent's cell number on that itinerary! The ticket people were able to call her & get all of the info they needed! Phew!! Crisis diverted!
We had to take a 15 minute ferry ride to the submarine meeting point in the ocean. The guide for our trip was really funny! I think you have to be a comedian to work there, or at least be able to memorize their funny script! It really made the dive enjoyable!
The dive was really cool. I had never been on a submarine before, so it was super fascinating! I was expecting my ears to "pop" and have a lot of pressure, so I started chomping on some gum right away. But to much to my surprise, I did not experience any pressure issues! I don't know if I was over emotional or what, but seeing the fish & the coral so up close made my eyes fill up with tears. I didn't let myself cry, I didn't want to be the freak who cried on a submarine ride!
I do have to say that as cool as the dive was, I was disappointed by the lack of sea life & color. I guess I was expecting to see mega colorful coral & fish. What we saw was really lacking in color. Everything had a green/brown/blue hue to it. I am wondering if it had anything to do with the fact that we were 145 feet below sea level. I had read prior to coming on this trip that when you dive in a submarine, you loose color. It has something to do with the lack of sun & how the sun is what makes our eyes see different colors. So before we dove down, I took a pic of shirt (coral color), then when we got to the deepest part of our dive, I took another picture. From the picture, it looks like it is just dark down there. While it was dark, you could see that my coral shirt had turned to a gray color! It was pretty neat!
From all of the photos that I have shared with you, everything looks blue. For some reason, the camera couldn't capture what our eyes could. I promise you that there was way more color that what the pics showed...but like I did say before, there really wasn't that much color. Some cool point in the trip was a shipwreck. I guess I had imagined in my mind that what we were going to see was an old ship from the 1700's....but it wasn't. It was a man made ship wreck made by some biologist from Barbados. I guess that ship wrecks encourage coral to grow & somehow the rust from the ship is good for the ecosystem underwater. Even though it was a man made shipwreck, it was pretty cool to see one! Our guide started to sing "My Heart Will go on" from the movie Titanic, as we passed the wreck! So funny! I got it on video, but accidentally deleted it! Joe took some video of the wreck on his camera, but it is going to take him a LONG time to get that footage on the computer! The only video I took (that I didn't delete), was a video I made for the boys:
Would I recommend going on it? Yes! Would I ever go on it again? I would, but only if I was taking the kids!
Once we got back from the resort, we had gotten back just in time for a special "cocktail hour" for the resort. The only reason why we went was because they were giving away door prizes (they ended up being a little lame). Plus, it gave me an excuse to drink another mango smoothie! Haha! The only highlight from that event was the fact that Missy & I were silently cracking up over the two guys standing in front of us. You see, most of the guests on the island are from the UK or Europe. Across the pond, it is normal for guys to wear speedos. That was the first time either one of us had ever seen a guy wearing something like that in real life! We were sitting down in some chairs & these guys were standing RIGHT in front of us. We were eye level with their "buckets". It took everything inside me not to bust out laughing when they would turn around. Missy & I couldn't even look at eachother in fear that we would loose it! Yes, we are silly, immature Americans! LOL!!!
Another amusing, and somewhat embarrassing thing was that I wore my "fanciest" dress for dinner. As we all sat down, all dressed up, people kept looking at us. As I sat down at our table I kept looking around at all the "wardrobe violations". Guys were wearing jeans, girls were wearing shorts, people were wearing flip flops. I started to feel uncomfortable all dressed up. Come to find out, it was casual night!!!! Seriously, I had to wear my fanciest outfit on casual night?!?!? Oh well...what are ya gonna do! HAHAHA!
To read more about our Barbados Adventures, click {HERE}
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