We've been back from vacation for a week, but oh how I wish I was still in my bikini, drinking beer on a beach in the Caribbean. Sigh.
A quick vacation recap:
We booked a 7-night Southern Caribbean cruise on the Celebrity Summit (departed from San Juan, PR).
St. Thomas (US VI)
I booked us on day sail with Fury Charters. We took a quick 20 minute sail to a cove, and then hopped off the boat to snorkel with sea turtles and various other sea creatures (barracuda, a sting ray, an a ton of brightly hued tropical fish). Open bar on the way back to the dock. My kind of sailing trip.
St. Maarten
After hanging out on Orient Beach, I never want to see a nude person on a beach again.
I knew Orient Beach was a clothing optional beach before we headed there, but I (naively) assumed it'd be like the beaches in St. Barts (a handful of topless women, everyone looks like a supermodel). Boy was I wrong. People on Orient Beach let it ALL hang out. There are tons of them (imagine men walking the beach in dental floss bikini bottoms), and they DO NOT look like models.
Fortunately, once I was comfortably ensconced on my beach chair - I didn't really care whether or not people were covered up. The sun was warm, the water clear, and the sand felt like powder.
Antigua
Antigua was my favorite island because is was the least developed, and the people were incredibly friendly. I hired a driver (through Gordon's Island Tour) to take us to/from Valley Church Beach (the tour company's recommendation, I asked for a quiet beach).
When we arrived there were only 4 other people. We were able to rent an umbrella and chair from a woman set up on the beach, and later the little beach bar opened up and we were able to get beer and bbq for lunch.
I definitely want to head back and spend more time on Antigua.
St. Lucia
St. Lucia was Ed's favorite island (my second favorite). We booked a tour with Cosol Tours, and it was a great experience. We were able to see many of the major sites on the island (banana plantation (above), sulfur springs, Marigot Bay), and stopped off a couple times to sample the local food. Towards the end of the tour, we took a water taxi to a beach in between the Pitons where we were able to swim for an hour +.
Barbados
This was one of the most amazing sites on our trip: horses cooling off/swimming in the ocean. A man had his horse so far out in the water they looked like a little speck.
I never knew horses could swim so well.
San Juan (PR)
I hired a private guide to walk around Old San Juan with us, since we only had a few hours there and I wanted to make the most of them.
San Juan was the most historically interesting island we visited. In short: there have been a LOT of battles in San Juan, as various parties have fought for control of the island (Spanish, English, Dutch, Americans...and pirates). The forts lining the coastline are monuments to the island's tumultuous past.
If you'd like to see more pics from my trip, go to:
