Wednesday - Private Island

Apparently many of the cruise lines have their own private island out there in the Bahamas. It is all the rage to have your own little piece of heaven for your guests. Here is a list I found:

• Castaway Cay, Bahamas - Disney Cruise Line.
• Half Moon Cay, Bahamas - Holland America Line.
• Great Stirrup Cay, Bahamas - Norwegian Cruise Line.
• Princess Cays, Bahamas - Princess Cruises.
• CocoCay, Bahamas - Royal Caribbean

So we got to go to CocoCay. Really, this is not a big island. It is Pirates of the Caribbean sized. You can walk from one end to the other in less than an hour, easily. The cruise ship can't dock there, so you take a boat over to the island. Here we are...ready for the day.

One side of the island is quite rocky, but the other has white sandy shores. There was a designated beach for cruise goers. Meaning, they have chairs laid out and areas where you can swim or snorkel. (I think there might have been a small wreck to explore out there.)

We opted to take a nature trail through some of the island's natural terrain and it would spit us out on the same beach a little farther up. It wasn't hard to find the trail head.

The hike was very nice. Much of it was shaded. You had to watch your step, there were lots of rocks and stones to step on or over and a few friends to watch out for. (We even saw some small lizards, but the boys couldn't catch them.)

I was carrying snorkel gear. I put it over my shoulder and it didn't go on right. Beth thought it was funny, so she took a picture. Sadly, it took my two more tries to get it right.  (It shouldn't be that hard.)

Sometimes the trail would lead down to the water, but the guys were pretty intent on following it to the end of the island. We found a look out tower and Tyler took a panorama.

You can see the ship from here.

And our group hiking back. We checked out the umbrella you can barely see to the right. It was a lookout over the rocky side...not quite what we were looking for.

Beth and I knew exactly what we were looking for. We wanted a nice place on the beach. We passed several, so we decided to head back. Jonny and Tyler opted to see the end of the island. As we trekked back down a different path, we came across a wishing well. It looked like a natural hole/cave in the ground, so I think they built a well around it to discourage guests from climbing down.

We didn't want to explore a hole...we were headed for the beach. We came out on a pretty secluded spot and saw two chairs in the water. It was karma...or Beth had made a pretty good wish back at the well. Even better, I found a lizard floating on the water so I scooped him up. (Ha ha boys...who is catching lizards now?)

It was pretty perfect. We pulled the chairs under some shade and kicked back. It was a little breezy, but such a gorgeous day.

We did some snorkeling, but since there was a sandbar that went fairly far out, there wasn't much depth to explore. Instead we found lots of shells and creatures.

This is my favorite picture! I had to take it out of a video, but it seems to capture the essence of that day.

We sent the boys back to cruise central, since they were making lunch out there. Beth curled up with a book, and I took a snooze. I wanted the warmth from the sun, but I did not want any more burn, so I put some layers on. The breeze kept blowing my hat off, so I finally came up with a solution.

The guys came back with some lunch. And then Jonny sees a shark. A shark!! Just a little guy, maybe 4 feet long. Naturally, the boys race into the water to get a closer look. The shark didn't stick around for long. They can be quite speedy when they want to be. Both Jonny and Tyler leaped back at one point because they didn't expect the shark to move quite so rapidly. It was really fun after that to tell passersby to watch out for the shark.

Later Jonny spotted a ray that had also come right up to the shore. It was beautiful. We definitely need to keep him around for his eagle eyes.

Finally, it was time to pack up. We wanted to check out the straw markets before getting back on board. Doesn't Beth look content with her sandy feet, basking in the private island glow?

Saw this guy as we headed back. One guess who spotted him first.

p.s. Do not try to take any shells back. They don't allow that. And I believe there is a fine involved. Luckily they told me before I got back on board. I emptied out my cash of shells. Sorry kids.

Back on board we had extra time before dinner. We played some shuffleboard. Jonny taught us how to play and then creamed us. Okay, we didn't lose by too many points. (I think we got to 60 something before Jonny won.) But I had my own cheer squad. Several ladies lounging nearby said, "We want the girl in white to win!!" (We saw them later in the dining room. They pointed at us and told their friends, "Oh, those guys were so funny." If by funny, they mean I wasn't very good at shuffleboard, they are absolutely correct. But we have fun wherever we go.)

Before dinner we tried one more show. A magician. His tricks were really cool, but he was such a jerk. I've never seen anything quite like it. I wondered if he thought it was comical to insult his audience over and over and yell at children. (I'm not kidding.) If we didn't clap constantly, he thought we were slighting his skill. He kept saying, "Altogether or not at all." I finally gave up clapping. I wanted to see the whole trick through, but he figured we should clap throughout the entire thing. Needless to say, we were less entertained. But the company was still good.

Dinner as always, was fantastic. We took some pictures of the dining room. Oddly, Tyler was the only one who noticed the My Fair Lady statue, for which the room is named, on the first night. I didn't see it until day three.

Then back to our rooms for another creature. He was watching TV. Funny, but oddly a little creepy too.

Tomorrow...Key West. Back in the states, but still on vacation.